There's a small lake in Thompson Park named Marlu Lake. Sometimes hubby and I take his mother and my father to the lake just to sit for a while and watch the scenery. Sometimes there are Canadian geese floating around on the lake. Last week, we saw a whole family of swans. Often, there are kayakers paddling along on the water.
There were some very tall reeds growing at the edge on one side, but recently the reeds were cut down and I saw the white flowers pictured above. I didn't know what they were, but I am always curious to learn the names of things I don't know. After all, I might be able to use it in a story.
From what I gather, the plant is called Arrowhead. You can find more information about it at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittaria_latifolia
Another site (http://www.gpnc.org/arrowhea.htm) stated, "The corms were harvested by Native Americans (usually the women) in the fall. They would feel around with their toes to locate and dislodge the tubers, which would float to the surface where they could be gathered. Bitter when raw, they become quite tasty after cooking. For long periods of time when they were following the lower Columbia River in present-day Oregon, the Lewis and Clark expedition lived mainly on elk meat (which they killed themselves) and wapato purchased from the local tribes."
So if I was going to send a character off into the wilderness, I might have them eat the tubers of the arrowhead. :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment