The July 24 Wild Guess featured a pale jewelweed plant. The "pale" variety has a yellow flower as opposed to the orange blossom perhaps more typically seen.
Jewelweed is considered a herb that has medicinal properties. Even today it is used to relieve itching and skin irritations caused by contact with poison ivy and stinging nettle or from insect bites. The watery, sticky juice inside the plants stem provides relief.
An old wives' tale states that jewelweed and poison ivy or stinging nettle are companion plants that grow close to each other in the wild.
Jewelweed is in the touch-me-not family. Touching its seed pods when they are swollen and ripe causes the pod to burst, slinging tiny seeds in all directions.
According to the National Park Service, jewelweed can be found in most of the U.S., except Wyoming, Montana and southwestern states such as California.
While some say the yellow and orange flowers resemble gems, the plant's name came from a quality its leaves possess. Dew and rain beads up on the smooth leaves, creating sparkling drops that shimmer like jewels.
Next Sunday, July 8, we will announce the winner of the June Take a Wild Guess prize drawing.
Today we begin a new month - mammals of Pennsylvania.
