Common New England plants

Miloch · 2013-10-08T22:08:37.000Z

I was just thinking about some of the plants I encountered as a kid that we do not really see in game. Also to confirm some of the ones that are in.
I used to eat tiny lil wild strawberries that grew in my yard. So those are definitely around. I’m not a fan of blueberries, but they definitely grew around in NH. Here is a page that has a bunch of edible plants from New England: http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/Edible_Plants_Ramer_Silver_Weizmann/Pages/ALL_common_name.html
RASPBERRIES
Ones you do not see but that are common are blackberries and raspberries, these grow together. But did I mention they grow on thorn bushes. Briar patches, aka thorn bushes, are pretty common in NH. I’d either have to find a good stick and make a path (press s; gotta aim for the bottom of the plant, they are springy otherwise.) or go around. Did I just say something I’m going to regret in game later…

SKUNK CABBAGE
A relatively unknown plant is called skunk cabbage… not sure about the name, been a while. It has an unpleasant smell all around it. Especially if you manage to damage the plant itself. Maybe it mutated and got worse?

en.wikipedia.org

Symplocarpus foetidus

Symplocarpus foetidus, commonly known as skunk cabbage or eastern skunk cabbage (also swamp cabbage, clumpfoot cabbage, or meadow cabbage, foetid pothos or polecat weed), is a low growing, foul-smelling plant that grows in wetlands of eastern North America. Eastern skunk cabbage has leaves which are large, 40–55 cm (15.5–21.5 in) long and 30–40 cm (12–15.5 in) broad. It flowers early in the spring when only the flowers are visible above the mud. The stems[clarification needed] remain buried bel...

POISON IVY
Let’s not forget about Poison Ivy. Some of the singularly most unpleasant plants to run into. Most people don’t know until well afterwards also. Without survival skill it should look like brush, with survival skill it should be another color so they know to stay away. Touch poison ivy is bad news as you will develop blisters or some other reaction. Some people don’t react at all. Once again, could have potential for mutation.

en.wikipedia.org

Toxicodendron radicans

Toxicodendron radicans, commonly known as eastern poison ivy or poison ivy, is a poisonous Asian and Eastern North American flowering plant that is well-known for causing Urushiol-induced contact dermatitis, an itchy, irritating, and sometimes painful rash in most people who touch it. It is caused by urushiol, a clear liquid compound in the plant's sap. The species is variable in its appearance and habit, and despite its common name it is not a true ivy (Hedera), but rather a member of the The...

CRANBERRIES
These grow in boggy and swampy conditions.

GRAPES
Grapes grow wild on vines and grow wild in New England.
http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/Edible_Plants_Ramer_Silver_Weizmann/Pages/spp_page_grape.html

Belteshazzar · 2013-10-09T00:06:29.000Z

Drosera rotundifolia the Common Sundew. Found in wetlands, swamps, marshes, and particularly acidic bogs. It uses tentacles tipped in ruby red, sugary muscalige to lure and entrap insects and dissolve their proteins as an ammonia/nitrogen source. These tendrils are even capable of some limited, reactionary movement in that they curl around their prize to further ensure it’s doom. The reasoning for it’s predatory habits? Acidic soils usually inhibit nutrient uptake in plants, or leach away the nutrients into the watershed inhibiting the growth of most plants. In this post-cataclysmic landscape insects are getting more robust, and highly acidic rain is a commonality, the humble Sundew is ready to take the stage. Sundews are rich in antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory flavonoids.

Sphagnum v Peat Moss mined for centuries around the world various Sphagnum species are primitive mosses which share a high acidity tolerance with sundews, not only managing to uptake and store minerals in these conditions, but also encouraging them by releasing acids into the surrounding wetlands to drive out other competitors. Aside from their use as fuel and fertilizers they also made excellent wound packing due to antibacterial properties. Additionally, efficient evaporation off the surface serves to cool the plant considerably and it’s been used to fill and chill wine buckets or cellars without the use of ice.

Equisetum telmateia the Giant Northern Horsetail, is another useful plant that is edible when cooked (albeit long term use can affect the thyroid) and were often been used as a polishing agents (hence their alternative name, ‘scouring rushes’). However the most interesting factor may be the spores borne by the strobilli (knobbly bits on the end of their stalk, the plants being little more than siliceous stalk in most cases.) The plentiful, easily-ignited spores were used as a flash powder in bygone days. Their hardy structure, spore dispersal and resilience over the eons lends them to survive even when man may not.

Miloch · 2013-10-09T06:57:04.000Z

Belteshazzar, you sir, are a scholar and gentleman. I don’t care what iamroy says about you (j/k).

DrPepperNapalm · 2013-10-09T08:23:27.000Z

I can imagine raspberry seeds being something sought after by the settled survivor do to being both a food source and an obstacle.

Miloch · 2013-10-09T08:50:58.000Z

That’s a valid thought. Not sure if you’ve ever tangled (literally) with a nettle patch. It’s an experience you are sure to remember.

kevin.granade · 2013-10-09T15:12:05.000Z

Not raspberries, but I’ve tithed quite a lot of blood and skin to appease the local blackberry gods
I’m super in favor of expanding the available harvestable plants, this has pointed out that I need to make bushes/vines/trees a more extensible, so we can easily add all these varieties without having custom code for each and every one.

GlyphGryph · 2013-10-09T15:40:16.000Z

Raspberries? Really. Real New Englanders use proper blackberries as their combined barrier/food plant. Much bigger and more painful thorns on that variant.

Anyways, I’ve argued for a while that we need to add Dogbane (the premier thread generation plant of New England) and Cranberries and a few other plants, so would like to see this done. I eat wild grapes around here all the time (grapes and raspberries fill the nearby parks, but the grapes are the best because they are so sour and the leaves are delicious too).

system · 2013-10-10T23:25:06.000Z

Goddamn, wild cherry trees. Wild apple trees. Wild grapes. Wild Blackberries. Wild Ivy.

What’s next? You going to tell me that some plants have mutated tentacles?

DrPepperNapalm · 2013-10-11T02:49:24.000Z

[quote=“gtaguy, post:8, topic:3417”]Goddamn, wild cherry trees. Wild apple trees. Wild grapes. Wild Blackberries. Wild Ivy.

What’s next? You going to tell me that some plants have mutated tentacles?[/quote]

at least it’s not the south east, mutated kudzu

kevin.granade · 2013-10-11T17:35:09.000Z

[quote=“DrPepperNapalm, post:9, topic:3417”][quote=“gtaguy, post:8, topic:3417”]Goddamn, wild cherry trees. Wild apple trees. Wild grapes. Wild Blackberries. Wild Ivy.

What’s next? You going to tell me that some plants have mutated tentacles?[/quote]

at least it’s not the south east, [del]mutated[/del] kudzu[/quote]
FTFY
/Deep south native
//Don’t sleep too close to Kudzu in the Summer
///On my third watch of Evil Dead II, I realized it had a vegatative tentacle rape scene.
////Need more Evil Dead references
/////no, not THAT one <_<
//////slashies4eva

moist_zombie · 2013-11-16T09:55:27.000Z

http://www.umass.edu/umext/jgerber/nativeplants.pdf covers all kinds of useful New England plants I’d love to see more than mutant poppy and our fairly thin selection of wild forage (currently!)… Identifying these plants “professionally” as what they are could be tied to survival skill or even to certain books (until then they’d just be “yellow flower” or whatever generic name…)

That first link is all plants and trees though, just noticed there isn’t a fungus among us…er, them And after a pretty mean googling I’m mostly just seeing EDIBLE fungi, where I was looking for both the “friendly and edible” along with the hideous and highly poisonous (for potential toxin/paralysis crafting…). GIVING UP ON SHROOMS!

Here’s a link for invasive plant life in New England… Considering they’re already unloved and proliferous species, perhaps some of them are candidates for enemy-ization (goutweed and hairy jointgrass sound particularly evil…): http://www.eddmaps.org/ipane/ipanespecies/current_inv.htm

In the same festive spirit here’s a link to invasive insects (as well as a couple blights/plant dieseases/weeds) of the New England area (Viburnum Leaf Beetle and Leek Moths sound especially sinister): http://massnrc.org/pests/factsheets.htm

Unrelated to the topic but mildly creepy when reanimation is considered: http://www.neob.org/CSSNE6362/Default.aspx?Tab=49aeac98-5fd8-4358-90ec-29082a553af6

And, for unrelated good measure, and because its really late and I shouldn’t be typing things:

en.wikipedia.org

Mothman

In West Virginia folklore, the Mothman is a legendary creature reportedly seen in the Point Pleasant area from November 12, 1966, to December 15, 1967. The first newspaper report was published in the Point Pleasant Register dated November 16, 1966, titled "Couples See Man-Sized Bird ... Creature ... Something". The national press soon picked up the reports and helped spread the story across the United States. The Mothman was introduced to a wider audience by Gray Barker in 1970 and later populari...

en.wikipedia.org

Owlman

The Owlman, sometimes referred to as the Cornish Owlman, or the Owlman of Mawnan, is a purportedly mysterious owl-like creature that, according to local folklore, was sighted around mid-1976 in the village of Mawnan, Cornwall, England. The Owlman is sometimes compared to America's Mothman; however, a giant eagle owl is likely the source of the legend. The story originated when paranormal researcher Tony "Doc" Shiels claimed to have investigated a report of two young girls on holiday in Mawnan w...

Sloot · 2013-11-16T21:03:05.000Z

Guys you forgot the most common wild edible

Dandelions!

Every part of a dandelion is edible and nutritious. They’re very bitter but if you chop and boil them for 6-8 minutes without a cover then the bitter chemicals mosly dissipate. Then you have a slightly bitter but very nourishing green, much healthier then watery domestic greens.

Another common one is wild spinach.

en.m.wikipedia.org

Taraxacum

Taraxacum (/təˈræksəkʊm/) is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae which consists of species commonly known as dandelion. They are native to Eurasia and North America, but the two commonplace species worldwide, T. officinale and T. erythrospermum, were introduced from Europe and now propagate as wildflowers. Both species are edible in their entirety. The common name dandelion (/ˈdændɪlaɪ.ən/ DAN-di-ly-ən, from French dent-de-lion, meaning "lion's tooth") is given to mem The...

en.m.wikipedia.org

Wild spinach

Wild spinach is a common name for several plants with edible leaves and may refer to: Species in the genus Chenopodium: Species in the genus Cleome

Luissen · 2013-11-16T22:11:33.000Z

Can’t forget the “Evilnut” aka Black Walnuts. The trees’ wood apparently makes great gunstocks and knifegrips, but I know them mostly due to their ‘fruit’ and its ability to shatter windshields

GrizzlyAdamz · 2013-11-17T01:37:24.000Z

I lile this thread.

+1 to disguising plants and tieing it to survival.

Derschlact · 2013-11-17T01:53:14.000Z

[quote=“GrizzlyAdamz, post:14, topic:3417”]I lile this thread.

+1 to disguising plants and tieing it to survival.[/quote]

Don’t know about any lilin’ goin’ on 'round here…

I agree with the “discoverable” plants ‘n’ stuff. Maybe even a book that teaches you what each plant is, so you don’t have to grind up survival.

GrizzlyAdamz · 2013-11-17T02:14:05.000Z

Like a system of trial & error? Maybe concurrently…but we don’t want to give ourselves too much info- metaknowledge could circumvent learning the hard way or investing time in survival.

So the description would be like:
“A thorny vine with red berries”

Vs

“A wiry thorned vine whose sparse leaves have dark red petioles, the bright red aggregate berries look unripe”

Jack_Root · 2013-11-17T14:58:46.000Z

Luissen:

Can’t forget the “Evilnut” aka Black Walnuts. The trees’ wood apparently makes great gunstocks and knifegrips, but I know them mostly due to their ‘fruit’ and its ability to shatter windshields

Oh. Yeah those things. They would make great weapons.