Genius

This morning, Thomas Jefferson is on my mind.  He is probably my favorite President although he is certainly not without controversy.  I think what sets him apart to me is the breadth of his interests and his affinity to agriculture.  He was wealthy but always in debt, likely because his varied interests kept him from focusing on making money.  He was too busy exploring new ideas or building his library of which he had three different ones during his lifetime.  The first was lost to fire, the second he gave to the Library of Congress after it was destroyed by fire by the British and the third was those books collected subsequently.

He is an interesting individual of what I would describe as "broad genius."  Most of the time when we think of genius it is in regard to individuals who have a level of understanding which surpasses the norm, but often in a very narrow field (Stephen Hawking comes to mind).  They typically have the capacity to learn deeply outside their primary field of expertise but rarely do so.  That "focused genius" is what we recognize.

I believe a significant number of the Founding Fathers of our country had "broad genius."  The most prominent to come to mind is Benjamin Franklin.  Others would include Thomas Paine and James Madison.  Those were the types of genius rarely seen today in our world of specialization.

Perhaps Elon Musk would fit into that category and possibly our current President.  Whether you like them or hate them, they exhibit the characteristics of "broad genius" to me.  I don't wish to make this blog political and would appreciate that any comments avoid politics.  I am merely observing the behavior and accomplishments.

Back to Jefferson -- he was one of the most advanced agriculturalists of his time.  He constantly sought to improve his production practices and breadth of knowledge.  In some ways he may be at least partially the inspiration for my looking at the medicinal and other uses of the various plants growing on our small property.  Today I wish to point out the Dewberries which are just now pushing their way up through the debris of winter.  Dewberries are of the genus Rubus and are closely related to Blackberries.  There are many different varieties.  They typically grow low to the ground and send out long tendrils as they seek to spread across the landscape.  It is just now the beginning of their time to bloom in our part of the world.  Besides their uses in cobblers, jam and pies they are often eaten raw.  What is not widely known is that the leaves can be used to make an herbal tea (tisane).  It is claimed to aid in relaxation, sleep and immune health.  Many birds, mammals and insects love them.

 Tangled

The woods of Northeast Texas are often a tangled mess of trees and vines.  Many of the vines are not particularly friendly such as Poison Ivy or Greenbriar.  Often, however, the most prolific vines are Honeysuckle.

Sometimes the vines wind around young trees to the point of killing them due to strangulation.  They tightly surround the tender bark and as the tree grows, the vines cut into the bark and cut off the flow of sap to higher points in the young trees.  Eventually the trees succumb.

We like the biodiversity of plants growing on our small piece of Texas, but some have been allowed to get out of control.  It seems a never-ending chore to tame them into spaces that make better sense for managing the land.  It also allows less aggressive species to flourish since we are unlikely to use nature's tool of fire to burn the dense undergrowth.  There are far too many houses within range.

I am not a fan of using chemical means for control, so much of our effort is simply mechanical.  It is more labor intensive, but the result is flourishing plant, insect and animal life.  One small example is the Tiger Swallowtails of which I posted a few days ago.  We see many of them daily.  Yesterday we saw our first Monarch butterfly of the year.

The benefits of our efforts will be realized over coming years but occasionally the reward is immediate.  The photo below is of Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens).  The flowers attract Hummingbirds, Bees and Butterflies.  The fruit is favored by many bird species.  Traditional medicinal uses include for asthma (dried and smoked), for bee stings (chewed and applied to the sting) and for sore throats and coughs (a tea).  I just think it is a nice splash of color against the greens and browns of the forest.