As we set out, we spy the tiny purple flowers of the filaree or storksbill with characteristic seed stalk resembling needles or long beaks. A member of the geranium family, filaree possesses astringent, hemostatic, and galactogogue properties and is administered as a tea to treat abnormal uterine bleeding and increase milk production in nursing mothers. It is a traditional afterbirth remedy in northern Mexico and New Mexico, said to reliably decrease bleeding and help prevent infection. It is also applied externally as a poultice to the skin to heal animal bites, skin inflammation, wounds, and rashes.​

Fuzzy, cabbage-like rounds of mullein or gordolobo grow robustly along the trail. This attribute has changed little since Culpeper’s time, as he described in Complete Herbal and English Physician,  "It groweth by waysides and lanes, in many places of this land.” Mullein has tissue affinity for the lungs, ears, and urinary tract and the American Eclectic physicians advocated the use of mullein for inflammatory conditions of the genitourinary tract and the respiratory tract. Key constituents of mullein include flavonoids, mucilage, gum, resin, bitter glycosides, iridoid monoterpenes, triterpene saponin, and volatile oils and its main actions are as an expectorant, mucolytic, emollient, wound healer, and digestive. The seeds of mullein are bronchial dilators, and its astringent and diuretic actions are more potent in the roots. ​

The ubiquitous dandelion or 蒲公英 (pugongying) has been used in traditional medical systems, including Native American, traditional Chinese, and traditional Arabic medicine, for centuries. We find it in abundance, as Culpeper noted in 1653, “It groweth frequently in all meadows and pasture-grounds” and “it flowereth in one place or other almost all the year long.” Dandelion's opening and cleansing qualities make it very effective for obstructions of the liver, gall, and spleen, and the diseases that arise from them, as the jaundice. As a diuretic, dandelion is unique in its ability to replace potassium. The various bioactive components in dandelion include polyphenolics, sequisterpenes, triterpenes, and phytosterols. The leaves are a source of coumarin, carotenoids, and minerals with diuretic properties for the treatment of high blood pressure. Dandelion root is an effective detoxifying herb that works in the liver and gallbladder to help remove waste and it stimulates the kidneys to remove toxins in urine. Studies have demonstrated the physiological effects of dandelion; it is considered a key anti-diabetic plant for its antihyperglycemic, antioxidative, and anti-inflammatory properties. In Chinese medicine, dandelion has an affinity for liver and stomach, clears heat and counteracts toxicity, and disperses swelling, and it is indicated for urinary infections, acute tonsillitis, hepatitis, and appendicitis. Dandelion tea has been used as a remedy for eye ailments and juice squeezed from fresh plants is applied directly as an antidote to snake bites.