Jewelweed

Its another sign of the changing season. The Jewelweed is in full bloom. Not many people know of this plant. Not by this name anyway. What you see here is Touch-me-nots. I have to admit that this is one of my favourite plants. Come late August, you will find me in waist deep grass checking this interesting plant out. Why do I like it? Easy answer there, exploding seed pods! This member of the Impatient family has seed pods that pop when you touch them. Each pop spreads its seeds over an area of about a meter. This plant is a Scouters dream, its easy to find and it does something. This is a big factor when you are trying to teach the youth something. It works with all ages too! You get the same reaction from Beavers as you do with Scouts. A lesson on these plants should include a warning about damaging surrounding vegetation as things can tend to get out of hand a bit once the "secret" is reveled. But the learning need not stop there, Jewelweed has been linked to finding where poison ivy is. While the the plant thrives in locations where poison ivy can't, you can find them together. Always good to have a look around before you let the kids loose. Another old Scouter trick, break off a stalk and rub it on a bee sting, poison ivy, or insect bite. It's supposed to stop the itching. While science can not confirm that this really works, I know leaders that swear by it. If you look in forested areas or near water you should be able to find this plant. When I checked this morning the seeds were ready to pop, so good luck and good hunting!

Yis

Bear