Medicine Plants
To understand the type and health of indigenous medicine plants, the Joint Stewardship Board contracted Indigenous Consulting and Training to conduct an inventory and develop a recovery plan for medicines in the Red Hill Valley. Throughout 2006 and 2007, Haudenosaunee plant specialists searched the valley and determined the availability and absence of numerous medicine plants. Protection efforts for threatened plant stands involved seed recovery, replanting or relocation of some rare or significant species (e.g., Sweet Fern, Ladies Fern, Sassafras).
Shown below is a sample of the plants contained in the valley including their common, mohawk, and latin names.
Mohawk Name: Wahta’kenra
Latin Name: Acer rubrum
Acer rubrum (Red Maple, also known as Swamp, Water or Soft Maple) is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern North America. Red Maple showing fall foliage
Common Name: Sugar Maple
Mohawk Name: Wahta
Latin Name: Acer saccharum saccharum
Acer saccharum(sugar maple) is a species ofmaple native to the hardwood forests of northeastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southernOntario, and south to Georgia and Texas.
Common Name: Red Baneberry
Mohawk Name: Onegwundara’ niyuhiodun
Latin Name: Actaea rubra
Actaea rubra (red baneberry, chinaberry, doll’s eye) is a poisonous herbaceous flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to North America.
Common Name: Canada Wild Onion
Mohawk Name: Ononkseri
Latin Name: Allium canadense
Wild onion (Allium canadense), also known as Canada onion, wild garlic, meadow garlic, and Canadian garlic,[1] is a perennial plant native to North America. It has an edible bulb covered with a dense skin of brown fibers and tastes like an onion.
Common Name: Wild Leek
Mohawk Name: O’nohsowa:nes (Seneca)
Latin Name: Allium tricoccum
Allium tricoccum (commonly known as ramp,[1] ramps, spring onion, ramson, wild leek,[1] wood leek,[1] and wild garlic) is an early spring vegetable, a perennial wild onion with a strong garlic-like odor and a pronounced onion flavor.
Common Name: Speckled Alder
Mohawk Name: Onenhara (red)
Latin Name: Alnus incana
Alnus incana (Grey Alder or Speckled Alder) is a species of alder with a wide range across the cooler parts of the Northern Hemisphere. It is a small to medium size tree 15–20 metres (49–66 ft) tall with smooth grey bark even in old age, its life span being a maximum of 60–100 years.
Common Name: Giant Ragweed
Mohawk Name: Oo dee neh threh (Tuscarora)
Latin Name: Ambrosia trifida
Common Name: June Berry
Mohawk Name: Ha-donh (Seneca)
Latin Name: Amelanchier arborea
Downy serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea), closeup of flowers showing cuplike base, 5 narrow white petals, 5-compound pistil, many stamens, and downy hairs on young leaves and twigs. Also called “sarvis”, or “shadbush” because it blooms in early spring when the shad are running in the rivers. Duke Forest Durham Division, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
Common Name: Smooth Juneberry
Mohawk Name: Ha’donh (Seneca)
Latin Name: Amelanchier laevis
Amelanchier laevis bark and leaf
Amelanchier laevis (commonly known as the smooth shadbush or Allegheny serviceberry) is a small tree, growing up to 9 metres (30 ft). The fruit, which are pomes, are edible and can be eaten raw or cooked. The fruit has a sweet flavor. The bark can be made into a herbal medicine for expectant mothers. It is a deciduous tree.
Common Name: Thimbleweed
Mohawk Name: Enisnosoruks
Latin Name: Anemone virginiana
Anemone virginiana is an upright growing herbaceous plant species in the genus Anemone and family Ranunculaceae. Plants grow 30–80 centimetres (12–31 in) tall, flowering early summer but often found flowering till late summer, the flowers are white or greenish-white.