Should there ever be another toilet paper shortage, just grow this plant in your yard, and you’ll be good to go.

Music by James Milor from Pixabay

Information provided by:

1. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2016/jul/29/plant-lambs-ears-and-keep-wool-carder-bees-happy
2. https://hilltop.indiana.edu/news-events/_news/news9i.html
3. https://mimiciftligi.com/en/blogs/gastronomi_ve_dogal_sifa/kuzu-kulagi-bitkisi-faydalari-nelerdir
4. https://www.joellane.org/history/the-gardens/lambs-ear
5. https://shorehomeandgarden.com/2022/08/02/the-lore-behind-alluring-lambs-ears/
6. https://ourpermaculturelife.com/edible-medicinal-ornamental-herb-lambs-ear/
7. https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/stachys-byzantina/
8. https://nativebeeology.com/2020/05/12/carder-bees-and-lambs-ear/
9. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stachys_byzantina

We haven’t done a fungus in a while, and this one was separately sent to me by both of my parents. So, it was practically an order from on high.

Music by James Milor from Pixabay

Information provided by:

1. https://www.purdue.edu/fnr/extension/dead-mans-fingers-purdue-landscape-report/
2. Xylaria polymorpha (Pers.)Grev. (Dead man's fingers) and its ethnomycological study by Ganesh Hedawoo (2021)
3. https://www.allianceforthebay.org/2019/10/from-the-grave-dead-mans-fingers/
4. https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/dead-mans-fingers
5. https://first-nature.com/fungi/xylaria-polymorpha.php
6. https://extension.psu.edu/spooktacular-flora-and-fungi
7. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylaria_polymorpha
8. https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/dead-mans-fingers/
9. https://woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/fungi-and-lichens/dead-mans-fingers/

I was hoping this plant was going to be a little more explode-y, but you can paint and make cheese with it, so that’s pretty cool.

I didn’t really think about the fact that my day off was also the day everyone sets off fireworks (even though they’re illegal in North Carolina) before I decided it would be a good time to record. At least it’s kind of on theme.

Music by James Milor from Pixabay

Information provided by:

1. Prokinetic and Laxative Effects of Chrozophora tinctoria whole plant extract by Ayaz Ali Sher, et al. (2022) https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fmolecules27072143
2. https://discoverpollinators.org/all-about-pollinators/ants/
3. A review on medicinal aspects of Chrozophora tinctoria (L.) A. (Euphorbiaceae) by Sumaiya Fatima, et al. (2022)
4. Desert Plants of Egypt’s Wadi El Gemal National Park by Tamer Mahmoud
5. Pharmacological evaluation of Chrozophora tinctoria as wound healing potential in diabetic rat's model by Harikesh Maurya, Monika Semwal, & Susheel Kumar Dubey (2016) https://doi.org/10.1155%2F2016%2F7475124
6. The book on how to make all the colour paints for illuminating books: unravelling a Portuguese Hebrew illuminators’ manual by Maria J. Melo, et al. (2018)
7. https://www.maltawildplants.com/EUPH/Chrozophora_tinctoria.php
8. A 1000-year-old mystery solved: Unlocking the molecular structure for the medieval blue from Chrozophora tinctoria, also known as folium by P. Nabais, et al. (2020) https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fsciadv.aaz7772
9. Phytochemical analysis, antiproliferative and antioxidant activities of Chrozophora tinctoria: a natural dye plant by Feyza Oke-Altuntas, et al. (2017) https://doi.org/10.1080%2F13880209.2016.1277767
10. https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/wildflowers/pollinators/who-are-the-pollinators/ants
11. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrozophora_tinctoria