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Did you know ragweed is part of the ambrosia family?

Ambrosia - ah! Just the sound of the word is pleasing. Ragweed - ugh! The sound of that word makes us shudder.

Ragweed is ambrosia, botanically speaking.

Ambrosia is the name of a genus, or group of plants, that includes common ragweed and giant ragweed. Both are native North American plants. Both are noxious weeds.

The origin of the name and the reputation of the plants are worlds apart.

Whose idea was this, anyway, to christen such nasty plants with such a lovely name?

Blame it on Carl von Linnaeus, way back in the 18th century. This Swedish taxonomist's claim to fame is the binomial system of naming organisms. It was Linnaeus who finally narrowed down a universal system whereby every species was assigned a two-parted name, consisting of the genus and the species.

He pored over thousands of plant specimens that were coming in from the New World during the Age of Discovery. Among the "new" plants from America were common and giant ragweed. He named these ambrosia, perhaps because two other botanists had given that name to similar plants in the Mediterranean region.

The word ambrosia comes from the Greek and is translated as "immortal." In mythology, ambrosia was the food of the gods. The average Joe couldn't eat ambrosia (unless he wanted to suffer severe punishment for this act of hubris).

Only gods and goddesses could eat ambrosia, for it gave them immortality. The ambrosia of mythology didn't come from plants, as one might assume. It came instead from the horns of a magical goat named Amalthaea.

Back in the real world, the botanical ambrosia has some good attributes. Native Americans in various parts of North America used ambrosia medicinally, as food, and as a dye. Anthropologists have found giant ragweed seeds stored with corn, beans, squash and pumpkin seeds, indicating that ragweed was intentionally grown along with cultivated crops.

The oil of the seeds is edible. The leaves of both giant and common ragweed were put to good use as an astringent, an emetic, and a tea.

Drinking ragweed tea ("ambrosia tea" would sound much better) is said to be good for just about whatever ails you - "fevers, pneumonia, nausea, intestinal cramps, diarrhoea (sic) and mucous discharges" to name a few maladies (read more at www.ethnobotanical.info/eflora).

The roots of giant ragweed were steeped in tea and taken for menstrual disorders. Common ragweed roots could also be chewed as a sedative.

A New Age herbalist, inspired by the traditional Native application, went so far as to say, "Chew the root of the ragweed at night to drive away all fear."

The flower heads of giant ragweed yield a red color when crushed, and the leaves produce a light green dye.

Linnaeus may or may not have known about the many uses of our North American ragweed species. But by the time he assigned the botanical name ambrosia, ragweeds were rapidly becoming established as invasive species in Europe.

Today, common ragweed has the dubitable distinction of being the most noxious of the invasive alien plants in Europe. Giant ragweed is a close second.

As allergens and crop weeds, they pose a huge challenge to public health and to agriculture in Europe.

The negative rap on their home turf is similar. Ragweeds are the topmost allergens to plague allergy sufferers in the United States. The fact that ragweeds are native and "belong" here is little consolation to the millions of Americans sneezing, sniffling, wheezing and tearing.

An interesting development in the quest to provide relief is immunotherapy. In this treatment, a small amount of the allergen (in this case, ragweed pollen) is taken to stimulate the body's resistance. This joins a long list of medications, treatments, tricks and home remedies for those desperate to find relief. For many, true relief will only come when the last pollen grain disappears.

It's easy to wax eloquent about the ambrosia of mythology and ethnobotany. Not so easy for the ambrosia of the ragweed ilk.

Maybe the gods are trying to tell us something.

•Valerie Blaine is the nature programs manager for the Forest Preserve District of Kane County. You can reach her at blainevalerie@kaneforest.com.

Giant ragweed towers above neighboring plants in this St. Charles field. The male flowers grow at the top of the plant, poised for the wind to carry pollen away. Courtesy of Valerie Blaine

Six things to know about ragweed

1. Giant ragweed earns its title - it really is giant! It can grow to a whopping 10 feet tall, towering over corn stalks and grasses.

2. Common ragweed is small but mighty. It can thrive in tough conditions that other plants can't handle. The seeds may remain dormant in the soil for many years, and germinate by the thousands when the time is right.

3. There are separate male and female flowers on ragweed plants. The male flowers are the culprits in hay fever season. They are situated at the top of the plant, so that the wind can readily disperse the pollen.

4. One individual giant ragweed plant can produce 10,000 seeds and release a billion pollen grains in one season.

5. Female flowers are tucked away in the crook of the stem and the leaf. Once pollinated, they will produce edible, oil-rich seeds.

6. Ragweed is a good food source for wildlife. In Illinois, the caterpillars of 10 different species of moths are known to feed on common and giant ragweed leaves. Twenty-three species of birds in Illinois eat the nutritious seeds.

- Valerie Blaine

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