Frasera caroliniensis
| Frasera caroliniensis | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 2 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-7.3 |
| Height: | 8' |
| Blooms: | Mid Summer-Late Summer |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Medicinal Rating: | |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Frasera caroliniensis (common name: american columbo)
Propagation: Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse[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.
Division in late winter[1].
Cultivation: Requires a moist but well-drained position and a stony peaty soil[2][1]. Requires an acidic soil[1].
Plants are hardy to at least -12°c[1].
Plants can be grown in a woodland garden[1].
Range: Eastern N. America - New York to Ontario and Wisconsin, south to Georgia and Tennessee.
Habitat: Dry soils[3].
Medicinal: The powdered plant is applied externally to ulcers as a poultice[4].
The plant is a feeble simple bitter[4].
The root is cathartic, emetic, stimulant and tonic[5][4][6]. When dried it is a simple bitter that can be used as a digestive tonic in a similar way to gentian root (Gentiana spp), but the fresh root is cathartic and emetic[5]. The root is used in the treatment of dysentery, stomach complaints and a lack of appetite[7]. It should be harvested in the autumn of its second year, or the spring of its third year[5].
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: Swertia caroliniensis
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ Britton, Nathaniel and Addison Brown. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 1970.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Coffey, Timothy. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File, 1993.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ Davis, Ray and Frank Craighead. A Field Guide to Rocky Mountain Wildflowers. The Riverside Press, 1963.
- ↑ Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.