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Saturday, August 14, 2010

A new cordage plant



A few years back I wrote an article on cordage from wild plants. Here: http://ronsprimitiveskills.blogspot.com/2008/09/cordage-in-north-america.html It was posted at a few websites and I got a lot of good comments from readers asking more about certain species and their use. I enjoy making cordage. Its a hobby with me like most other primitive skills. I recently received an email from a lady in Missouri. Her name is Martha and she asked me if I knew about rattlesnake master, Eryngium yuccifolium . Its also known as button snakeroot. The name itself speaks of cordage. Yuccifolium = "like yucca leaves". Which, if you look at the picture at the top of this article, they do look similar. This is a photo taken of her back yard. It shows both rattlesnake master and blazing star, the purple flowers. Both of these are prairie habitat plants. She was so kind as to send me a package of the plant, but, I have been so busy that I haven't had a chance to work with any yet. The ethno-botanical literature makes no mention of its use for cordage but several references for medicine, especially Native American Ethnobotany by Moerman. Martha uses it for basketry and I hope to find references as to how often its used. Its an interesting plant and as soon as I finish playing with it I'll post the results.

1 comment:

Ash said...

I just found your site and I like the collage of information and tidbits. I like the references and the experience especially about plants and the use in new and exciting ways.
Thanks for the information.