Seeing Ways to Make an Invasive Plant Species Useful to Humans

This photo was taken in Homer Glen, Illinois on April 27th while taking my dog for an afternoon hike. The flowers in the picture are called Henbit or Lamium amplexicaule. I could not see the flowers up close, but I found that they are part of the mint family and has shallow roots. They are weeds that germinate in the fall and bloom in spring which is the current season. It was interesting how the flowers seemed to grow in one part of the cornfield and semi-circular looking space. It made me wonder how they only grew in that one area instead of the whole field. These flowers are considered to be invasive, or an organism that causes harm ecologically in an area that is not considered to be native. The henbit is in competition, or the interaction between two organisms that use the same resource with other plants such as winter cereals or plants used for landscaping purposes. I believe this would be considered intraspecific competition, or competition among individuals of the same species, since the henbit compete with other plants. Hummingbirds, however, use the flowers in the early spring for nectar. Also, henbit has uses in medicine such as a diuretic, reduces fever, and can be used to prevent bloating. This made me think about the lecture discusses on climate change in that instead of farmers throwing away the flowers, we could compost them or use them more in teas which would reduce waste and make a positive impact in helping to combat climate change, or the change in measures of climate.

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