Not to long ago I asked what spring wildflower can be used in the cheese making process.  The plant is bedstraw.  If ye be of Scottish ancestry, the highland Scots used yellow lady bedstraw juice (Galium verum) to curdle milk and color their cheese yellow.  The genus Galium comes from the Greek word gala or milk.  The plants stems and leaves also make a yellow dye. Some related plant's roots would make a yellow or a red dye.  It has also been reported that it has an effect on wounds, epilepsy and hysteria.  As has been stated before, be careful with wild remedies.
 
This plant has also been called Our Lady's Bedstraw.  It has the ability to stick to itself.  So here all along you thought a scientist invented Velcro.  The ladies of the court used it to stuff their beds. Its self-sticking nature kept the natural stuffing from shifting in the bed or comforter tick.  After a seasons use, people would re-stuff their beds and bedding with fresh spring bedstraw.  The flower was also used as a hair garland for me lady's hair.
 
What does ladies bedstraw look like?  It has very narrow leaves found on the stem in a whorl. The flowers are clustered and are yellow.  This Galium is an alien in this country.  It has very successfully naturalized in many areas.  As is the case with many non-indigenous species, our European ancestors are responsible for its introduction. 
 

We do have our own native bedstraw.  Galium pilosum, Hairy Bedstraw is common to dry woods and thickets.  It has greenish white flowers and is very sticky. (As in Velcro sticky) It will even stick to your finger's papilla.
 
We finally have an answer to the true local hibernator. Great job Mary Wingo for identifying the ground hog as the true hibernator.
Here is an example of true hibernation. In the torpor state, the body temperature of mammals can fall to between 38?f to 57?f and breathing rate may fall to once every six minutes.
 
Here is your next month's question. What other substance will cause milk to form a curd and how do we get it?
 
I would have like to announce a specific person for this month's Non Consumptive Wildlife Conservation Award. However, I did not receive permission to do so. Instead, as I have stated before, I know that youth organization encourage conservation efforts. There are numerous Eagle Scouts that put in countless hour on conservation efforts. Everything from butterfly gardens to nesting boxes are but few examples. Therefore, congratulations to the April 2008 recipient of The Non Consumptive Wildlife Conservation Award. It goes to The Black Swamp Council of The Boy Scouts Of America for their support of these local conservation projects. Please e-mail me with other deserving candidates.
 
Take Care Mr. B     bowerman4@verizon.net
Nature is as Nature Does!