Bunium bulbocastanum
| Bunium bulbocastanum | |
| Light: |  |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 5 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Self Pollinated | |
| Height: | 2' |
| Width: | 1' |
| Blooms: | Early Summer-Mid Summer |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Bunium bulbocastanum (common name: pig nut)
Propagation: Seed - sow spring in a cold frame. The seedlings only have one cotyledon[1]. Germination is usually free and quick, prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle and grow on for their first season in pots. Plant them out into their final positions when dormant in the autumn.
The seed can also be sown in situ, but this is best done only if you have lots of seed since far fewer plants will result.
Division in spring or autumn.
Cultivation: See the plants native habitat for ideas on its cultivation needs.
The pig nut has at times been cultivated for its edible root[2]. Although quite small in the wild, there is a potential to improve the size of this root through selective breeding and cultivation.
Range: Western and Southern Europe, including Britain, from the Netherlands to Italy.
Habitat: Rough grassland and banks on chalk[1].
Edibility: Root - raw or cooked[3][2][4]. A delicious taste very much like sweet chestnuts when cooked[5][K], but the tubers are very small and fiddly to harvest[6].
Seed and flowers. Used as a flavouring[2][6], they are a cumin substitute[3].
Leaves - raw or cooked. They are used as a garnish and a flavouring in much the same way as parsley[3][2][6].
Medicinal: Astringent[2].
Pollinators: Insects
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Seed Ripens: Mid Summer-Late Summer
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: Apium bulbocastanum. Ligusticum bulbocastanum.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Sowerby, John. The Useful Plants of Great Britain. 1862.
- ↑ Hedrick, Ulysses. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.