Anaphalis margaritacea
| Anaphalis margaritacea | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |   |
| Hardiness: | 3 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Cross Pollinated | |
| Height: | 3' |
| Width: | 3' |
| Blooms: | Late Summer |
| Meadows | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
 | |
Anaphalis margaritacea (common name: pearly everlasting)
Propagation: Seed - sow spring in a cold frame[1][2]. The seed is best sown when it is ripe in the autumn. It usually germinates in 4 - 8 weeks at 15°c[2]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Division is very easy at almost any time of the year, the divisions can be planted straight into their permanent positions if required.
Cultivation: Prefers a light well-drained soil and a sunny position[1][2]. Requires a moist soil[3]. Succeeds in most soils[4], including poor ones[1], and also in light shade[4]. Succeeds in the shade of buildings, but not of trees[5].
Plants are hardy to about -25°c[6].
The flowering stems can be dried and used as everlasting flowers[7].
Plants seem to be immune to the predations of rabbits[5].
Dioecious. Male and female plants must be grown if seed is required.
Range: N. America. N.E. Asia. Naturalized in Britain.
Habitat: Moist meadows, by rivers, on wall tops and in sandy and waste places[8].
Edibility: Young leaves - cooked[9][10].
Medicinal: Pearly everlasting was often employed medicinally by native North American Indian tribes who used it in the treatment of a range of ailments[11]. It is little used in modern herbalism.
The whole plant is anodyne, antiseptic, astringent, expectorant and sedative[12][13][14][15]. Used internally, it is a good remedy for diarrhoea, dysentery and pulmonary affections[12]. A poultice of the flowers or the whole plant is applied to burns, sores, ulcers, bruises, swellings and rheumatic joints[12][15][11]. An infusion of the plant is steamed and inhaled in the treatment of headaches[11].
a cooled infusion of the roots and shots has been used as a laxative and emetic to treat 'poison stomach'[11].
Usage: Yellow to gold, also green and brown dyes can be obtained from the flowers, stems and leaves combined[14].
The leaves, flowers and stems have been used as an incense, especially in baby cradles[11].
Pollinators: Insects
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Seed Ripens: Early Fall
Flower Type: Dioecious
Also Known As: Antennaria margaritacea. Gnaphalium margaritaceum.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Rice, Graham. Growing from Seed Volume 1. Thompson and Morgan, 1987.
- ↑ Thomas, Graham. Plants for Ground Cover. Everyman, 1990.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Thomas, Graham. Perennial Garden Plants. J. M. Dent & Sons, 1990.
- ↑ Phillips, Roger and Martyn Rix. Perennials - The Definitve Reference. Pan Books, 1991.
- ↑ Davis, Ray and Frank Craighead. A Field Guide to Rocky Mountain Wildflowers. The Riverside Press, 1963.
- ↑ Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Grae, Ida. Nature's Colors. MacMillan Publishing, 1974.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Foster, Steven and Billy Tatum. Medicinal Plants of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin, 1990.