Artemisia dracunculoides
| Artemisia dracunculoides | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |   |
| Hardiness: | 3 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 3' |
| Width: | 2' |
| Blooms: | Early Fall |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Artemisia dracunculoides (common name: russian tarragon)
Propagation: Seed - surface sow from late winter to early summer in a greenhouse. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer.
Division in spring or autumn. Very easy, the divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions f required.
Basal cuttings in late spring. Harvest the shoots when 10 - 15cm long, pot them up in a greenhouse and plant out when well rooted. Very easy.
Cultivation: Easily grown in a well-drained circumneutral or slightly alkaline loamy soil, preferring a sunny position[1][2]. Established plants are drought tolerant[2]. Plants are longer lived, more hardy and more aromatic when they are grown in a poor dry soil[3].
Nomenclature is somewhat confused for this species. It is considered by some botanists to be a hardier form of A. dracunculus but with an inferior flavour[4][2], whilst some consider it to be part of A. glauca[5]. It is very similar to A. dracunculus, but is more vigorous and hardier, Its leaves have a pungent and less pleasant flavour than that species[6].
Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer[7].
Range: N. America. N. Europe. N. Asia - Siberia.
Habitat: Prairies, plains and dry slopes[5].
Edibility: Leaves - raw or cooked[8][9][10][11]. The N. American Indians would bake the leaves between hot stones and then eat them with salt water[12][13]. The leaves can also be eaten raw in salads but are inferior to A. dracunculus (Tarragon)[12]. The flavour is said to improve as the plant matures[2][14].
Seed - raw or cooked. An oily texture[8][9][11][12]. The seed is very small and fiddly to use[K].
Medicinal: The herb is antiscorbutic, diuretic, emmenagogue, hypnotic and stomachic[15][8][16]. The fresh herb is eaten to promote the appetite[14].
Usage: Both the growing and the dried plant repels insects[17].
Pollinators: Wind
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Known Hazards: Although no reports of toxicity have been seen for this species, skin contact with some members of this genus can cause dermatitis or other allergic reactions in some people[18].
Also Known As: A. dracunculus dracunculoides.
Links
References
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ Genders, Roy. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale, 1994.
- ↑ Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lyndon, Merritt. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co, 1950.
- ↑ Bown, Deni. Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopaedia of Herbs and Their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, 1995.
- ↑ Thomas, Graham. Perennial Garden Plants. J. M. Dent & Sons, 1990.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Yanovsky, Elias. Food Plants of the North American Indians Publication 237. US Department of Agriculture.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ Whiting, Alfred. Ethnobotany of the Hopi. North Arizona Society of Science and Art, 1939.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Stuart, Malcolm. The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism. Orbis Publishing, 1979.
- ↑ Lust, John. The Herb Book. Bantam Books, 1983.
- ↑ Read, Bernard. Famine Foods Listed in the Chiu Huang Pen Ts'ao. Taipei Southern Materials Centre, 1977.
- ↑ Turner, Nancy. Plants in British Columbian Indian Technology. British Columbia Provincial Museum, 1979.
- ↑ Foster, Steven and Billy Tatum. Medicinal Plants of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin, 1990.