Native plants long served as food, medicine, and useful materials in Michigan. Michigan Indians wove cattail leaves into floor mats, used cattail down to insulate moccasins and clothing, mixed it with coyote fat to soothe smallpox sores, and used its flammability to start fires, while nearly every part of the cattail could be eaten. Gooseberries, which ripen from May to August, could be eaten raw or made into pies, jams, and jellies. Lowbush blueberries grow in well-drained acidic soils, ripen in August, often thrive after fire, and are favored by berry pickers as well as black bears, rodents, and birds. Partridgeberry is a creeping evergreen vine whose bitter berries are a staple food for game birds and are also eaten by red fox, raccoon, and white-tailed deer. Native people used red osier dogwood to make red dye, tea for malaria, jaundice, and cholera, and wedding baskets, while many birds and mammals ate its berries and browsed its twigs and foliage. Stinging nettle, though covered with spines that cause stinging and itching, could be boiled to remove the irritation and was used medicinally and woven into fish nets and mats. Wild strawberries were eaten and also used to treat colds, irritated eyes, sunburn, toothache, skin sores, kidney ailments, and stomach ailments. Wintergreen provided a minty flavor and medicinal leaves and tea for muscle strain, skin inflammation, sore throats, and upset stomachs. Yarrow was used to dress wounds, make poultices for burns and skin sores, reduce fever, treat toothache, and soothe sunburn. Yellow pond lily roots were used to treat skin sores and rheumatism, and the roots and seeds were also edible.