Reply To: Wild Medicinals
Hello my name is Laura,
I just finished the video portion of the wild medicinal course, although I haven’t yet received my books (which I am looking forward to).
I have some confusion about the taxonomy of one of the wild medicinals, the cottonwood. In the video it is discussed as Populus balsamifera (balsam cottonwood), but other sources describe the cottonwoods of Vancouver Island as Populus trichocarpa (black cottonwood). I have also seen them referenced as Populus balsamifera spp trichocarpa (black cottonwood) and Populus balsamifera spp balsamifera (balsam poplar).
I thought that our Vancouver Island cottonwood was the black cottonwood (spp trichocarpa) and that the range of the balsam poplar (balsamifera) was further north. Are there several species on Vancouver Island or is this just taxonomy and common names describing one species in different ways?
Is there any chance you could help shed some light on this?
Thank you,
Laura