‘Medicinal Plants of the Civil War’ with Lesley Parness

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — On Sunday, Sept. 30, at 2 p.m., Durand-Hedden will host noted horticulturalist and educator Lesley Parness, who will explain how plants were crucial in every aspect of the Civil War — on the battlefields and on the home fronts of both the North and the South. Her talk will encompass 30 plants and the medicinal properties for which they were known in the 19th century. Haunting images from the era will intrigue history lovers as well as gardeners.

Audiences are often surprised to see how many Civil War plants they are already growing, such as cornus florida. The dogwood, a familiar native understory tree, whose lovely white flowers set woodland alight in spring, played a major role in allaying the vicious symptoms of malaria. Growing the poppy was encouraged by the Confederate Army and the sight of these papery red blooms soon became common in Southern front yards. Effective as it is was in combating pain, it also created America’s first opioid epidemic. Parness will provide a handout about the 30 plants that includes “receipts,” or recipes, for popular herbal remedies, such as horehound lozenges and witch hazel tonic.

Parness retired in 2017 as superintendent of horticultural education at New Jersey’s Morris County Park Commission, where she oversaw interpretation at The Frelinghuysen Arboretum, Willowwood Arboretum and Bamboo Brook Outdoor Education Center. She is a member of the Herb Society of America, The Council on Horticultural and Botanical Literature, and Garden State Gardens, a consortium of New Jersey’s public gardens, which include the Durand-Hedden House and Garden.

Durand-Hedden House is located in Grasmere Park at 523 Ridgewood Road in Maplewood. For more information or to arrange group tours, call 973-763-7712 or visit www.durandhedden.org.

  Durand-Hedden