#Nature Awareness 5/19/2013 - Jewelweed. This herbaceous native plant has distinctive succulent, translucent, hollow stem, along with beautiful bright blooms, partitioned by nodes, making the plant easy to identify. Jewelweed grows up to five feet tall, branching toward the top, and toughening with age. There is a clear, watery liquid inside, especially in the nodes. The delicate, long-oval, long-stalked, leaves are 1/4 to 1/2" long, with a few rounded teeth. The upper leaves are alternate, the lower ones opposite. They're water-repellent, so they look like they're covered with tiny jewels (raindrops) after it rains, accounting for the name jewelweed. It's common, widespread, easy to recognize, and invaluable to anyone venturing out-of-doors, because it's a virtual panacea for skin irritation. It is especially well known for helping with stinging nettle and poison ivy. Symbolism: beauty, delicate nature, healing, abundance, trust, simplicity, new life.
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![Portrait of an Eastern Screech Owl - Masters of Disguise [Credit: Graham McGeorge] #evolution #nature](http://d3j5vwomefv46c.cloudfront.net/photos/thumb/771943615.jpg?1368936451)
