This is a native plant. It is blooming in our schoolyard garden for the first time this summer of 2001. It has been here for two years before this.

For a very nice horticulture reference site with all the nitty-grittty on this plant go to the UConn Plant Database! They have a great selection of photos from all seasons, basic information, AND you can hear someone pronounce the botanical name if you like.

http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/r/rhutyp/rhutyp1.html

The flowers are SO cool! It is the little fuzzy hairs that are the source of the malic acid that makes a refreshiing pink summer drink. "Malic acid" sounds so serious and sort of dangerous, but it is the same stuff that is in unripe apples!

You have to gather the fuzz covered fruits before a heavy rain leaches the tartness. Native American peoples enjoyed this drink, gathering the heads when they were in their prime to store for use through the winter.

According to Euell Gibbons, you can place the heads in a large container, cover them with water, then pound and stir for ten minutes. Strain the liquid through several layers of cloth to get all those hairs out!!!! Sweeten to taste and enjoy like you would lemonade. He has a funny anecdote about his son who was fed up with having to stand around and pound fuzzy berries. He loaded them into the washing machine and caught the water as it was pumped from the tub after the agitation cycle!

The plant has a great many things in its favor. It can flourish without watering for one! Another is its flaming fall colors. The cutleaf varieties 'Dissecta' and 'Laciniata' are lovely in a more delicate way. I always feel the regular foliage is quite light and airy looking, sort of tropical. I would like to get a good sized cluster of them going in our garden. If we let them get to be taller they could give kids a bit of shade. If you want to you can cut them down each year to have them stay shorter. I think the cutting encourages a plant to send up more plants from the roots.

On the down side, Wyman mentions that this shrub is prone to ice and wind damage. Several places mention it will spread by underground suckers, so watch out if you have a small garden or like to be in control!

Study Pointers:

• To learn more about Native American uses of plants go to NativeTech.org 

to Schoolyard Habitat Index to What's New! at the school

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