Aralia nudicaulis
| Aralia nudicaulis | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 4 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 1' |
| Width: | 1' |
| Blooms: | Early Summer |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
 | |
Aralia nudicaulis (common name: wild sarsaparilla)
Propagation: Seed - best sown as soon as ripe in a cold frame. Stored seed requires 3 - 5 months of cold stratification. Germination usually takes place within 1 - 4 months at 20°c[1]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in light shade in a greenhouse for at least their first winter. Once the plants are 25cm or more tall, they can be planted out into their permanent positions, late spring or early summer being the best time to do this.
Root cuttings 8cm long, December in a cold frame[2][3]. Store the roots upside down in sand and pot up in March/April. High percentage[3].
Division of suckers in late winter[2]. Very easy, the suckers can be planted out direct into their permanent positions if required.
Cultivation: Prefers a good deep loam and a semi-shady position[4][1]. Requires a sheltered position[4].
Plants are hardier when grown in poorer soils[5].
The young growth in spring, even on mature plants, is frost-tender and so it is best to grow the plants in a position sheltered from the early morning sun[K].
Range: N. America - Newfoundland to Manitoba, south to N. Carolina and Missouri.
Habitat: Moist, shady, rocky woods[6][7].
Edibility: The rootstock is used as a flavouring[8], it is a substitute for sarsaparilla[9] and is also used for making 'root beer'[10]. It is also used as an emergency food[11] (usually mixed with oil[12]), having a sweet spicy taste and a pleasant aromatic smell[6]. A nutritious food[13], it was used by the Indians during wars or when they were hunting since it is very sustaining[14].
Young shoots - cooked as a potherb[13].
A refreshing herbal tea is made from the root[10]. Pleasantly flavoured[15][16]. The roots are boiled in water until the water is reddish-brown[17].
A jelly is made from the fruit[13]. The fruit is also used to make wine[12]. The fruit is about 6mm in diameter[5].
Medicinal: Wild sarsaparilla is a sweet pungent tonic herb that acts as an alterative. It had a wide range of traditional uses amongst the North American Indians and was at one time widely used as a substitute for the tropical medicinal herb sarsaparilla[15][12].
The root is alterative, diaphoretic, diuretic, pectoral and stimulant[6][7][14][15]. The herb encourages sweating, is stimulating and detoxifying and so is used internally in the treatment of pulmonary diseases, asthma, rheumatism, stomach aches etc[6][14][16][18][12]. Externally it is used as a poultice in treating rheumatism, sores, burns, itchy skin, ulcers and skin problems such as eczema[6][15][18]. The root is collected in late summer and the autumn and dried for later use[6][14].
A drink made from the pulverised roots is used as a cough treatment[14].
A poultice made from the roots and/or the fruit is applied to sores, burns, itchy skin, ulcers, swellings etc[14][15].
A homeopathic remedy made from the roots is important in the treatment of cystitis[16].
Pollinators: Bees
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Seed Ripens: Late Summer-Early Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Rice, Graham. Growing from Seed Volume 2. Thompson and Morgan, 1988.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bean, William. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Murray, 1981.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sheat, Wilfrid. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. St Martin, 1948.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lust, John. The Herb Book. Bantam Books, 1983.
- ↑ Kavasch, Barrie. Native Harvests. Vintage Books, 1979.
- ↑ Lyndon, Merritt. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co, 1950.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Coffey, Timothy. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File, 1993.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 Weiner, Michael. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books, 1980.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 Foster, Steven and Billy Tatum. Medicinal Plants of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Bown, Deni. Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopaedia of Herbs and Their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, 1995.
- ↑ Turner, Nancy. Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples. UBC Press Vancouver, 1995.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Chevallier, Andrew. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants. Dorling Kindersley, 1996.