Calystegia hederacea

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Calystegia hederacea
Light:Full Sun
Moisture:Mesic
Hardiness:5
Soil pH:5.6-8.4
Height:16'
Blooms:Late Summer-Mid Fall
Native to:
Edible Rating:PFAF Edibility RatingPFAF Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating:PFAF Medicinal RatingPFAF Medicinal Rating
Tea:Yes
Poisonous

Calystegia hederacea

Propagation: Seed - sow spring in a cold frame in a free draining compost and only just cover. The seed usually germinates in 1 - 3 months at 15°c[1]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a cold frame for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.

Division in early spring whilst dormant[2].

Cultivation: Easily grown in ordinary garden soil in a sunny position, but plants are apt to become invasive[3][2].

Nearly all taxa in Calystegia intergrade geographically into neighboring taxa with the exception of the widespread coastal species, C. soldanella (Linnaeus) R. Brown. It is impossible to draw clearly defined specific limits, and intermediate forms are always found where two taxa approximate geographically[4].

Range: E. Asia - Japan, Korea, Manchuria.

Habitat: Sunny grassy places and thickets in lowland and hills of C. and S. Japan[5].

Edibility: Root - cooked[6][7], then washed and steamed. Considered to be very nutritious, it is rich in starch and sugar but it should not be eaten regularly[8].

Young shoots - cooked[6][7].

Medicinal: The seed is simmered in water as a diuretic to stimulate kidney secretions[9].

Pollinators: Bees, lepidoptera

Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.

Flower Type: Hermaphrodite

Known Hazards: Although no reports of toxicity have been seen for this species, at least some, if not all members of this genus are purgative[10], some caution is advised.

Links

References

  1. Bird, R. Growing from Seed Volume 3. Thompson and Morgan, 1989.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
  3. Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
  4. Flora of China. 1994.
  5. Ohwi, Jisaburo. Flora of Japan. Smithsonian Institution, 1965.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
  8. Read, Bernard. Famine Foods Listed in the Chiu Huang Pen Ts'ao. Taipei Southern Materials Centre, 1977.
  9. Duke, James and Edward Ayensu. Medicinal Plants of China. Reference Publications, 1985.
  10. Crowe, Andrew. Native Edible Plants of New Zealand. Hodder and Stoughton, 1990.