Nourish your wild side by getting to know the wild plants that grow freely on the hills, cliffs, mountains, and prairies.
Have you ever walked into a store looking for a product, and as you picked up a plastic bottle you noticed a long list of ingredients, and then realized over half of them are unfamiliar to you? What is the purpose for these lengthy-named synthetical produced chemicals, and why are they in so many of the products we use? Are they necessary, or worth unknown risks? Are they caring for our skin like they claim to?
After watching a documentary, The Human Experiment, I began researching unknown chemicals being exposed to my body. This inspired me to start the journey of making my own body products. My experience as a field botanist gave me the confidence to properly identify plants in the wild. Each year I am increasing what I gather and make. As my knowledge for producing quality skin care products grows I think it is important to share what I learn with others.
Products have become overly complicated with
unnecessary ingredients and unknown effects. Skin care industry is largely self
regulated using industrial by-products that contain unknown toxins. Because the
skin is the largest organ, our skin will absorb toxic chemicals applied via
body-products, affecting our internal cells and organs. Learning to
make your own products is easy, safe, rewarding, and saves money in the long term—depending on
your methods. If you are interested in the former topic, there is plenty
of information worth seeking, but this post will teach you the basics of salve making, ethics to harvesting wild plants, and how to confidently identify Arnica cordifolia. 
Basics of Salve Making
Salve making is simple. The base materials are beeswax, oil, essential oil (for aroma), and botanical properties, which can be extracted from plants you gather. There are many recipes out there, and personally I like to experiment with different ones, but I would recommend starting with a 1 to 5 ratio of beeswax to oil. Depending on the type of oil, you may want to add more oil or beeswax to get a desired consistency. After you melt the beeswax with at least one botanically infused oil, which can be purchased or made, you can add desired essential oils. I use the smell method to guide my oil blending. Keep in mind that some oils carry a stronger scent then others, so avoid dominating scents if you want to harness a milder aroma. If you need more info, this link has more tips for herbal salve making. |
| Using two pots to melt the wax with oil- the bottom one is filled with water |
Ethics to Harvesting
If you are interested in harvesting plants to infuse their botanical properties then know some basic ethical guidelines to harvest plants sustainably. Here are some that I find useful: 1) know your plant because every plant is different, and by reading about your plant of interest you will be able to develop the best harvest practice for that particular species (e.g. Mahonia spp, commonly known as Oregon Grape, has a large mother plant that feeds nutrients to the smaller plants through a rhizomatous- underground root system, and by harvesting from the larger mother plant you risk killing an entire colony; harvesting the smaller plants of Mahonia spp is actually better for the colony); 2) know what species are threatened or at risk of being threatened in your bioregion; 3) only harvest what you need, or can reasonably use; 4) scout out an area to discover the best place, or places, to harvest; 5) be aware of the health of the environment, if plants are already stressed from other disturbances find a better area to harvest; 6) in getting to know your plant, learn the best time of year to harvest the parts you will need (e.g. Arnica spp is best harvested in the spring or earlier summer when the flowers are full of valuable compounds); and 7) try to harvest less than 5 % of a population. |
| Figure 1: Involucral bract of A. cordifolia |
Identify Arnica
The first wild plant I harvested was Arnica cordifolia. Flowering A. cordifolia is a fairly easy species identifiable by sight. Starting at the base are fuzzy cordate or heart-shaped leaves with loosely serrated margins. White hairs, also referred to as pubescence, grow along the stem and involucral bracts, which has set of whorled bracts (Figures 1, 2). |
| Figure 2: Cross section of Asteraceae family characteristics |
Members of the Asteraceae family have common characteristics such as an involucral bract subtending the receptacle, which is the point of attachment for the ray and disc florets (Figure 2). Together ray and disc florets appear as one showy flower, but are actually many small modified flowers. Ray florets are attached around the outter circumference, having a flat extending petal outward. Disc florets have small united, or fused, petals. You will also notice a pappus on both florets. The pappus are either soft or stiff white hairs whorled above the achene, or seed (Figure 3). Most of us have picked a dandelion head after the petals fall off, and blown the white fluff. That white fluff is the pappus.
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| Figure 3: Disc Floret (left), Ray Floret (right) |
Arnica cordifolia can be found in meadows and forest clearings along the foothills to subalpine regions along the Rocky Mountain and Sierra range from California to Alaska. Keep your eyes open for this special little plant. That is all I have for now. Hopefully this was inspirational, and helpful in some way. Please feel free to leave questions and comments. Happy harvesting, and thanks for reading!
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| Arnica cordifolia; photo credit: Easter Colorado Wild Flowers |
