#smooth sumac

[dvoeverie-stitches]

A Fruitful Wander in the Shadow of the Boston Mountains

Started at my parent’s house this morning (about three miles from our place) to harvest their beautyberries and ended up with some other treats.

The blue line of mountains in the photo is the beginnings of the Boston Mountain range. “The Boston Mountains are a rugged, mountainous region in the Ozark Plateau, primarily located in Arkansas and extending into Oklahoma. They form the highest and most dissected part of the Ozarks, characterized by deep valleys and high peaks.”

While researching the Boston mountains, I realized that what I’m always referring to as the Ozark foothills is the Arkansas Valley Hills—basically a region where the Arkansas River valley is shifting into the Ozarks. Same diff? 🤷‍♀️

I focused on beautyberries in the pine woods around their house first. Stopping to admire the Carolina buckthorns (another Carolina!).

And then I found the first ripe persimmon! In this fuckity-fuckity-fucking mess. The photo just doesn’t do justice to the amount of greenbrier thorny vines I crawled through to stubbornly harvest what will probably be my first 1/2 cup of purée. I was excited ok? Excited and bleeding . . . and rocking a delightfully twiggy hair-do . . . and a few little holes in my tee . . . and a potty mouth that set off every dog in a two mile radius. 🤦‍♀️

Next I stumbled on another variety of wild poinsettia (toothed spurge)—I think. All my apps agreed but I haven’t really studied it yet. I’ve been seeing Japanese poinsettia all over the place at ours. Ignore the pink flower, it’s some kind of pea/bean/vetch that I didn’t stop to identify. The poinsettia is the cluster of buds and the leaves.

And then I found a TON of smooth sumac! Beautiful red berries. Much brighter than the winged sumac I’ve been harvesting so far this season.

And Cujo followed me home for the last five minutes. He had a collar, so I don’t think he was dangerous. But he was loud and territorial and I forced myself to walk at a steady pace. I’m a large dog person and they don’t usually make me nervous, but he was sticking to me like glue and wouldn’t shut up. Followed me all the way to mom and dad’s front door and then loped off across the road to what I assume was his home. We don’t have any dogs loose around our place, but I always get them following me further out in the country where mom and dad are at. But usually they are shy.

Same view, different season:

Not pictured: I did grab a little bit more sassafras leaves too.

[lilybug-02]

Texas Winter 2023 🌧️

The Common Clover, Smooth Sumac, and various succulents and cacti my dogs photobombed.

The Smooth Sumac is one one of the most vibrant, fall colored shrubs I have ever seen. In a sea of brown and green it is a mini sunset bursting to life.

[uxbridge]

Summer flowers are here

[faguscarolinensis]

Rhus glabra / Smooth Sumac at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[archaeologicalnews]

Non-tobacco plant identified in ancient pipe for first time

People in what is now Washington State were smoking Rhus glabra, a plant commonly known as smooth sumac, more than 1,400 years ago.

The discovery, made by a team of Washington State University researchers, marks the first-time scientists have identified residue from a non-tobacco plant in an archaeological pipe.

Unearthed in central Washington, the Native American pipe also contained residue from N. quadrivalvis, a species of tobacco not currently grown in the region but that is thought to have been widely cultivated in the past. Until now, the use of specific smoking plant mixtures by ancient people in the American Northwest had only been speculated about. Read more.

[tlatollotl]

Non-tobacco plant identified in ancient pipe for first time

People in what is now Washington State were smoking Rhus glabra, a plant commonly known as smooth sumac, more than 1,400 years ago.

People in what is now Washington State were smoking Rhus glabra, a plant commonly known as smooth sumac, more than 1,400 years ago.

The discovery, made by a team of Washington State University researchers, marks the first-time scientists have identified residue from a non-tobacco plant in an archeological pipe.

Unearthed in central Washington, the Native American pipe also contained residue from N. quadrivalvis, a species of tobacco not currently grown in the region but that is thought to have been widely cultivated in the past. Until now, the use of specific smoking plant mixtures by ancient people in the American Northwest had only been speculated about.

"Smoking often played a religious or ceremonial role for Native American tribes and our research shows these specific plants were important to these communities in the past," said Korey Brownstein, a former WSU Ph.D. student now at the University of Chicago and lead author of a study on the research in the journal Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences. "We think the Rhus glabra may have been mixed with tobacco for its medicinal qualities and to improve the flavor of smoke."

The discovery was made possible by a new metabolomics-based analysis method that can detect thousands of plant compounds or metabolites in residue collected from pipes, bowls and other archeological artifacts. The compounds can then be used to identify which plants were smoked or consumed.

"Not only does it tell you, yes, you found the plant you're interested in, but it also can tell you what else was being smoked," said David Gang, a professor in WSU's Institute of Biological Chemistry and a co-author of the study. "It wouldn't be hyperbole to say that this technology represents a new frontier in archaeo-chemistry."

Previously, the identification of ancient plant residues relied on the detection of a limited number of biomarkers, such as nicotine, anabasine, cotinine and caffeine. Gang said the issue with this approach is while the presence of a biomarker like nicotine shows tobacco was smoked it doesn't distinguish which species it was.

David Gang and Shannon Tushingham Credit: WSU

"Also, if you are only looking for a few specific biomarkers, you aren't going to be able to tell what else was consumed in the artifact," Gang said.

In addition to identifying the first non-tobacco plant smoked in an archaeological pipe, the WSU researchers' work also helps elucidate the complex evolution of tobacco trade in the American Northwest.

Analysis of a second pipe that was used by people living in Central Washington after Euro-American contact revealed the presence of a different tobacco species, N. rustica, which was grown by native peoples on the east coast of what is now the United States.

"Our findings show Native American communities interacted widely with one another within and between ecological regions, including the trade of tobacco seeds and materials," said Shannon Tushingham, an assistant professor of anthropology at WSU and co-author of the study. "The research also casts doubt on the commonly held view that trade tobacco grown by Europeans overtook the use of natively-grown smoke plants after Euro-American contact."

Korey Brownstein Credit: WSU

Moving forward, the WSU researchers' work could ultimately help scientists studying ancient societies in the Americas and elsewhere around the globe identify which plant species ancient people were consuming, providing important information about the evolution of drug use and similar plant-human dynamics.

Closer to home, the WSU team is also putting their work to use helping confirm connections between ancient plant management practices from before the arrival of Western settlers with cultural traditions of modern indigenous communities such as the Nez Perce. The researchers shared their work with members of the tribe who also used some of the seeds from the study to grow some of the pre-contact tobacco. The smoking of tobacco is a sacred tradition for Native American groups including the Nez Perce, Colville and other northwest Tribes and before now it was impossible to tell which kind of tobacco their ancestors smoked.

"We took over an entire greenhouse to grow these plants and collected millions of seeds so that the Nez Perce people could reintroduce these native plants back onto their land," Brownstein said. "I think these kinds of projects are so important because they help build trust between us and tribal communities and show that we can work together to make discoveries."

[faguscarolinensis]

Rhus glabra / Smooth Sumac at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[faguscarolinensis]

Rhus glabra / Smooth Sumac at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC