Bassia scoparia
| Bassia scoparia | |
| Light: |  |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 6 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 1' |
| Blooms: | Early Fall |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Bassia scoparia (common name: summer cypress)
Propagation: Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse and plant out in May. The seed can also be sown in situ in late April or early May.
Cultivation: An easily grown plant[1], it succeeds in ordinary garden soil[2]. Succeeds in any reasonably fertile light well-drained but moisture retentive soil in a sunny position[1].
A frost tender plant, it is grown as a spring-sown annual in Britain[2].
This species is cultivated in Korea for its use as a broom[3].
The subspecies B. scoparia trichophylla. (Schmeiss.)Schinz.&Thell. is the form most often found in cultivation in Britain[1].
Range: Europe to Western N. America.
Habitat: Roadsides, ditches and wasteland in western N. America[4].
Edibility: Young leaves - cooked[5][6]. A delicious taste, they are used as a vegetable[7]. A nutritional analysis is available[8]. Some caution is advised, see the notes above on toxicity.
Seed - dried and ground into a powder then mixed with cereals when making bread, biscuits etc[9][5][6]. Very small and fiddly to use, it is also not a very reliable crop in Britain due to its late season of flowering[K]. On a zero moisture basis, the seed contains 20.4 - 27.5% protein, 8.8 - 16% fat and 3.4 - 9.4% ash[8].
Medicinal: Antibacterial, antifungal[10].
The leaves and fruits are cardiotonic and diuretic[8][11].
The stems are used in the treatment of dysentery, diarrhoea and dyspepsia[8].
The seed is antiphlogistic, astringent and diuretic[12][8]. It is used to treat skin infections such as eczema ad scabies, and diseases of the urinary tract[12][8][13]. The seed contains harmine, which can have adverse effects upon the gastro-intestinal tract and the central nervous system[13].
Usage: The whole plant is used as a broom[9][3]. The green form is used[2].
Pollinators: Wind
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Wind: Tolerates strong winds
Seed Ripens: Mid Fall
Known Hazards: Plants contain some saponins and should not be eaten in large quantities. Saponins are a toxin found in many of our daily foods such as many beans. They are usually present in quantities too small to be concerned about and are also very poorly absorbed by
Also Known As: Chenopodium scoparia. Kochia scoparia. (L.)Schrad. K. trichophila.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wilson, E and M Trollope. Korean Flora. Royal Asiatic Society, 1918.
- ↑ Hitchcock, Leo. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press, 1955.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ Read, Bernard. Famine Foods Listed in the Chiu Huang Pen Ts'ao. Taipei Southern Materials Centre, 1977.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Duke, James and Edward Ayensu. Medicinal Plants of China. Reference Publications, 1985.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Stuart, George. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei Southern Materials Centre.
- ↑ Chopra, R. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, 1986.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Yeung, Him-Che. Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas. Institute of Chinese Medicine, 1985.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Medicinal Plants in the Republic of Korea. World Health Organisation, 1998.