Catabrosa aquatica
| Catabrosa aquatica | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 3 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 2' |
| Blooms: | Early Summer-Late Summer |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
 | |
Catabrosa aquatica (common name: water whirlgrass)
Propagation: Seed - surface sow in the spring in a pot standing in shallow water. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out into their permanent positions in the summer.
Division in the spring. The divisions can be planted direct into their permanent positions.
Cultivation: We have no information on this, though judging by the plants native habitat it requires a wet soil and also succeeds in shallow water. It will also probably require a fairly sunny position[K].
Range: Most of Europe, including Britain but absent in Spain and Portugal, N. and W. Asia, Algeria.
Habitat: Shallow streams and ditches, at the muddy margins of ponds and in wet sandy places near the sea all over Britain[1].
Edibility: Seed[2]. No more information is given, but the seed is very small and fiddly to use. It would probably have been used as piñole or have been ground into a powder and used as a mush, as a thickener in soups and stews, or in making cakes, bread etc[K].
Medicinal: A decoction of the plant has been used as a stimulant and tonic[2].
Usage: The plant has been burnt as an incense[2].
Pollinators: Wind
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Seed Ripens: Mid Summer-Early Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: Glyceria aquatica.
Links
References
- ↑ Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.