My first sip of this tea was a revelation.

In my childhood home of Connecticut, I learned about Russian Olive, and its close relative the Autumn Olive, as being an invasive species, not exactly evil, but definitely undesirable. These thorny, dense shrubs/trees would take over areas that had been disturbed, completely pushing out and keeping out native species of all kinds.

It was a colder than usual March day, and I was teaching a plant walk at the edge of a farm. We had just had 10 inches of snow, and whilst digging through a drift to get at some burdock, several students suddenly stepped back with a squelch and a chorus of “ewwwwws!!!”. They had found the storm broken branches of Siberian elm. The cracked bark, when meeting the melting snow, had begun to ooze mucilage onto their boots, leaving 8-inch strings of slime as they lifted their feet. At the time I remember thinking, Now that’s a moistening herb.

Doctor Seuss was definitely consulted when this plant was created.

From the fluffy, alien looking fruits, to the scraggly antler-like fuzzy branches, this plant is straight out of the Lorax.
 
Its also one of our more charismatic New England plants, and makes one of my favorite teas for hot weather.

Invasive. Exotic. Introduced.

These are dirty words in the lingo of many botanists and naturalists. The division that this creates in the botanical/herbal world is astonishing.

Cyme comes from the French word cime, meaning ‘top/summit’. This one is a bit more capitalist, as the flowers on cymes essentially bloom from the top down.

Take away the mint family and your spice rack becomes a very boring place. Many of the most common cooking herbs are in this family. Not so coincidentally, they are also some of our most common medicinal herbs.

Pancakes. Fall. Canada. 

None of these would be quite the same without maple trees. From delicious syrup, to habitat for a host of native critters, maple trees are just plain magical.

Alpinus: Pertaining to the Alps. When you see this one, don’t think Julie Andrews in a nun outfit. Some plants with this species name have never even heard of the Alps.