Cardamine amara
| Cardamine amara | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 5 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Self Pollinated | |
| Height: | 2' |
| Blooms: | Mid Spring-Early Summer |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Cardamine amara (common name: large bittercress)
Propagation: Seed - sow outdoors in situ in a shady position in April.
Cultivation: Easily grown in most moist soils[1]. Prefers a moist humus rich soil in shade or semi-shade[2].
Plants are hardy to at least -20°c[1].
An invasive plant spreading freely by self-sowing, it is best suited to the wild garden[1].
A polymorphic species[3].
Range: Most of Europe, including Britain, north to 64° N., east to the Balkans and W. Asia.
Habitat: By springs, in fens and on streamsides, preferring a peaty soil[4]. Often found in trickling water[1]. Often the dominant ground flora in alder woods with moving damp water[4].
Edibility: Leaves - raw[5][6][7]. A hot cress-like flavour[8], nice in small quantities in a salad and available all year round in most years[K]. A somewhat bitter flavour[9].
Medicinal: Antiscorbutic, diuretic, stimulant[3].
Pollinators: Bees, flies, beetles, lepidoptera
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Seed Ripens: Late Spring-Early Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Phillips, Roger and Martyn Rix. Perennials - The Definitve Reference. Pan Books, 1991.
- ↑ Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Corbetta, Francisco. The COmplete Book of Fruits and Vegetables. 1985.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ Hedrick, Ulysses. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Sowerby, John. The Useful Plants of Great Britain. 1862.
- ↑ Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ Launert, Edmund. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn, 1981.