Cardamine heptaphylla
| Cardamine heptaphylla | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |   |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Self Pollinated | |
| Height: | 1' |
| Width: | 2' |
| Blooms: | Mid Spring-Late Spring |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
 | |
Cardamine heptaphylla
Propagation: Seed - sow spring in a cold frame. Germination usually takes place within 1 - 3 weeks at 15°c[1]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in light shade in a greenhouse or cold frame for the first two years, planting them out when dormant in late summer.
Division in early spring or after the plant dies down in the summer. Larger clumps can be replanted direct into their permanent positions, though it is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on in a cold frame until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the spring.
Cultivation: Prefers a moist humus rich soil in shade or semi-shade[2] but succeeds in most soils that are not dry[3]. This species was seen growing and thriving in well-drained soil in fairly heavy dappled shade in a woodland garden at Cambridge Botanical Gardens in 1999[K].
Range: Western and Central Europe.
Edibility: Leaves - raw or cooked[K]. A fairly acceptable cabbage-like flavour with a hint of radish and not very hot when eaten raw, it will probably be somewhat nicer when cooked[K].
Flowers - raw[K]. A cabbage-like flavour with a hint of radish and not very hot when eaten raw, the taste is somewhat nicer than the leaves[K].
Pollinators: Bees, flies, lepidoptera
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ Bird, Alfred. Focus on Plants Volume 5. Thompson and Morgan, 1991.
- ↑ Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.