Cirsium oleraceum
| Cirsium oleraceum | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |   |
| Soil pH: | 6.6-8.4 |
| Self Pollinated | |
| Height: | 4' |
| Blooms: | Mid Summer-Early Fall |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Shelter | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
 | |
Cirsium oleraceum (common name: cabbage thistle)
Propagation: Seed - sow early spring or autumn in situ. Germination usually takes place within 2 - 8 weeks at 20°c[1].
Division in spring or autumn.
Cultivation: An easily grown plant, succeeding in any ordinary garden soil in a sunny position[2]. Plants avoid acid soils in the wild[3].
A good bee and butterfly plant[3].
Range: C. Europe. Naturalized in Britain[3].
Habitat: Marshes, fens, streamsides and wet woods in Britain, avoiding acid soils[3].
Edibility: Young leaves - cooked and used as a vegetable[4][5][6][7][8][9].
Root - cooked[4][10]. Harvested before the plant flowers, it was formerly used as a table vegetable[9]. The root is likely to be rich in inulin, a starch that cannot be digested by humans. This starch thus passes straight through the digestive system and, in some people, ferments to produce flatulence[K].
Usage: The seed fluff is used as a tinder[11].
The seed of all species of thistles yields a good oil by expression[12]. No details of potential yields etc are given[K].
Pollinators: Bees, flies, lepidoptera, beetles, self
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Seed Ripens: Late Summer-Mid Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: Cnicus oleraceus.
Links
References
- ↑ Bird, Alfred. Growing from Seed Volume 4. Thompson and Morgan, 1990.
- ↑ Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hedrick, Ulysses. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972.
- ↑ Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Polunin, Oleg. Flowers of Europe. Oxford University Press, 1969.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ Vilmorin-Andrieux. The Vegetable Garden. Ten Speed Press.
- ↑ Coon, Nelson. The Dictionary of Useful Plants. Rodale Press, 1975.
- ↑ Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.