Non-Traditional Plants

Pineapple weed grows in hard packed soil such as road side and trails and is considered a weed but it is a useful plant. Standing about 3-6 inches high in Golovin, the plant dots the ground outside everyone's homes. The fine, feathery leaves are only about and inch long. The flowers are found in a rounded, yellowy-green head. Pineapple weed is in the composite family, similar to the goldenrod and sunflowers and daisies. When the plant is crushed it smells something like a pineapple, but is mostly just a sweet smell.

Like the goldenrod, pineapple weed is not a traditionally used plant in Golovin. It is an introduced species, but grows profusely. I included it here to give the people in Golovin the opportunity to begin using it. I made a pot of pineapple weed tea for Agnes Amorak. She tasted it and said, "That's Good!" The taste is something like chamomile. Janice Shoefield states several uses. "Add flowers to salads and soups. Nibble blossoms as a trail snack." (Schofield, p. 27) She notes medicinal uses to help soothe insomnia or stress by drinking the tea, soaking in a herb bath, or sleeping with pineapple weed filled pillow. Miscellaneous uses she describes are for hair rinses, or as an air freshener or hand refreshener.