Dicentra canadensis
| Dicentra canadensis | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 5 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-7.3 |
| Height: | 0.5' |
| Blooms: | Late Spring |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Dicentra canadensis (common name: squirrel corn)
Propagation: Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame[1]. Stored seed should be sown in early spring[2]. Germination usually takes place within 1 - 6 months at 15°c[2]. Two weeks warm stratification at 18°c followed by six weeks at 2°c can shorten up the germination time[1]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Division in early spring[3]. 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.
Root cuttings 7 - 10cm long in sandy soil in a cold frame[3].
Cultivation: Easily grown in a rich light soil[4], preferably neutral to slightly acid[3]. Prefers light shade and a sheltered position according to one report[2] whilst another says that it prefers heavier shade[3]. Grows well in a sheltered corner of the rock garden.
The seed is very difficult to harvest, it ripens and falls from the plant very quickly[1].
Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer[5].
Range: Eastern N. America - S. Quebec, Minnesota, N. Carolina, Tennessee.
Habitat: Rich woods[6].
Edibility: Root. No further details are given.
Medicinal: The dried tubers are alterative, diuretic and tonic[7][8][9]. The tubers are useful in the treatment of chronic cutaneous affections, syphilis, scrofula and some menstrual complaints[7][10].
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Known Hazards: The plant is potentially poisonous and can also cause skin rashes[11].
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Rice, Graham. Growing from Seed Volume 2. Thompson and Morgan, 1988.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Bird, Alfred. Focus on Plants Volume 5. Thompson and Morgan, 1991.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ Thomas, Graham. Perennial Garden Plants. J. M. Dent & Sons, 1990.
- ↑ Lyndon, Merritt. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co, 1950.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Weiner, Michael. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books, 1980.
- ↑ Foster, Steven and Billy Tatum. Medicinal Plants of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin, 1990.