My friend Melissa took this great, though scary, picture. If you'll notice, the snake is nestled in a vining plant with round leaves. The plant is in the Malva family, and is sometimes called "low mallow" or "cheeses." The name "cheeses" refers to the little round fruits that appear after the flowers fade. The fruits resemble the homemade cheeses of bygone years. It was considered to be something of a "cure-all" in ancient times. It has a lot of mucilage in it - it's in the same family as okra! Anyway, that gooey texture has led to it being used both externally, as a soothing salve, and internally as a cough syrup, etc. Of course, if your sample is being guarded as well as this one, you might want to wait about harvesting it. :-)
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