In the Dawson City Visitor’s Center, one of the guides gave us a little booklet about wildflowers in the region. I think she probably realized how good of a fit this gift was – considering the number of hours that we stare at the edge of the road!
Most of the flowers below prefer “dry, rocky soil.” That condition exactly describes the gravel shoulder on every road we’ve been riding. So, you can imagine that we’ve been seeing these flowers a lot.
Tufted Fleabane (Sunflower family). It was believed that bunches of the dried plant would drive out fleas. (Luckily we haven’t had to test this with our tent!)
Tall Lungwort (Borage family). The leaves of this plant are edible. Instead of making a salad, we added some to our rice and it added a nice almost oregano-like flavor. Eaten raw, the leaves were like a sweet lettuce.
Showy Jacob’s Ladder (Phlox family). The name refers to the ladder-like arrangement of the leaves.
Northern Sweet-vetch (Pea family). This one is known to be poisonous, but there is a flower that looks very similar (“Bear-root” or “Indian Potato”) for which the roots are edible.
Arctic Lupine (Pea family). Very common throughout the Yukon, and also poisonous.
Horned Dandelion (Sunflower family). This probably looks very familiar, but it is slightly different than the ones that probably grow in your yard!
Beautiful photos of flowers! Thank you!
Be very careful identifying these plants when you are going to eat them! That could really ruin your day. :)
Cousin Ruth Ann
Hi Daisy so enjoying your blog!!! Do miss you here at the department hearing the click of your bike when you depart the elevator in the morning. Happy to hear your travels are going so well for you guys, continue to stay safe and enjoy!!!!!
Jenn