Happy Mystery Monday! Can you guess what is pictured in photo #1?
The answer to last week’s mystery is Indian cucumber-root, Medeola virginiana, pictured in photo #2.
The Indian cucumber-root, Medeola virginiana, is a slender woodland perennial native to rich, moist forests of eastern North America. A common forest understory plant in parts of New England, it grows from a crisp, edible rhizome that gives the plant its name, with a scent and flavor somewhat like cucumber.
This delicate plant typically grows one to 2′ tall on a single, unbranched stem. Flowering plants are easy to recognize by their two tiers of leaves: a lower whorl and a smaller upper whorl that overhangs the flowers. From mid-May into June, small greenish-yellow, nodding flowers emerge from the top tier, sometimes hanging below the leaves on slender stalks.
After flowering, Indian cucumber-root produces pea-sized berries that ripen to a striking bluish-purple in late Summer or Fall. At the same time, the upper leaves often turn vivid red, creating one of the quieter but lovelier color combinations of the forest understory. Though the root is edible and was once eaten raw or added to salads, this plant should not be collected from the wild, as it is not abundant enough to withstand harvesting.
Mystery Monday is sponsored by the Spy Newspapers and Adkins Arboretum.
