Conopodium majus
| Conopodium majus | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-7.3 |
| Self Pollinated | |
| Height: | 1' |
| Blooms: | Late Spring-Early Summer |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
 | |
Conopodium majus (common name: pignut)
Propagation: Seed - sow spring in a cold frame. Germination is usually quick and good[K]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle and plant them out when in early summer.
It is also possible to sow in situ, though this requires a lot more seed to produce the same amount of plants from a protected sowing.
Division in late summer as the plant dies down.
Cultivation: Never found on alkaline soils in the wild[1]. See the plants native habitat for other ideas on its cultivation needs.
This species responds to cultivation by producing larger tubers[2]. With careful selective breeding it is probably possible to produce a much more productive plant[K].
Range: Europe, including Britain, from Norway to Spain, east to Italy and Corsica.
Habitat: Woods, hedgerows and fields. It is never found on alkaline soils[1].
Edibility: Tubers - raw or cooked[3][4][1][5][6][7]. A very pleasant food with a flavour somewhat between a sweet potato and hazelnuts, with a hot aftertaste of radish[2][8][K]. We have never detected this hot aftertaste, and feel that the flavour is reminiscent of brazil nuts[K]. There is only one tuber on each plant, this is rather small and difficult to harvest, but the size could probably be increased by cultivation[2][K].
Pollinators: Insects
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Seed Ripens: Mid Summer-Late Summer
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: C. denudatum. Bunium flexuosum.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Loewenfeld, Claire and Philippa Back. Britain's Wild Larder. David and Charles.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Sowerby, John. The Useful Plants of Great Britain. 1862.
- ↑ Hedrick, Ulysses. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972.
- ↑ Mabey, Richard. Food for Free. Collins, 1974.
- ↑ Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ Howes, Frank. Nuts. Faber, 1948.
- ↑ Polunin, Oleg. Flowers of Europe. Oxford University Press, 1969.
- ↑ Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.