Empetrum rubrum
| Empetrum rubrum | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 8 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-7.3 |
| Evergreen Cross Pollinated | |
| Height: | 1' |
| Width: | 2' |
| Speed: | Slow |
| Blooms: | Late Spring |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Empetrum rubrum
Propagation: Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. The seed can be very slow to germinate, stored seed requires 5 months warm then 3 months cold stratification at 5°c[1]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 3cm with a heel, July/August in a frame. Takes 3 weeks. Good percentage[2][1].
Cuttings of mature wood of the current year's growth, 3cm with a heel, October in a frame. Requires shade. Good percentage[2][1].
Cultivation: A calcifuge plant, it is easily grown in a moist lime-free peaty soil[3][4][1]. Tolerates exposed positions, including maritime exposure in Cornwall[4].
This species is closely related to E. nigrum.
Dioecious. Male and female plants must be grown if seed is required[4].
Range: S. America - Chile and Tierra Del Fuego.
Habitat: Dwarf shrub heath, feldmark communities, bogs and swamps, in open Nothofagus forest and occasionally frequent in the understorey[5].
Edibility: Fruit - raw or cooked[6][7][8][5]. It is supposed to have tonic properties[9].
Medicinal: Tonic[7].
Usage: Plants can be used for groundcover in exposed locations[1].
Pollinators: Bees, flies, lepidoptera
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Wind: Tolerates maritime wind exposure
In Leaf: Evergreen
Flower Type: Dioecious
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sheat, Wilfrid. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. St Martin, 1948.
- ↑ Bean, William. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Murray, 1981.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Thomas, Graham. Ornamental Shrubs, Climbers and Bamboos. Murray, 1992.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Moore, David. Flora of Tierra del Fuego. Anthony Nelson, 1983.
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.