Frasera speciosa
| Frasera speciosa | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 3 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-7.3 |
| Height: | 5' |
| Blooms: | Mid Summer-Late Summer |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Frasera speciosa (common name: green gentian)
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].
A very ornamental plant[2].
Range: Western N. America - California to Washington.
Habitat: Dryish or dampish places[3]. Rich soils in open pine woods, aspen groves etc, 1500 - 3000 metres[4].
Edibility: Root[5][6][4][7]. It has been reported that the N. American Indians ate the fleshy root of this plant, but caution is advised since the roots of closely related plants are used medicinally as emetics and cathartics[8]. See the notes above on toxicity.
Medicinal: The whole plant is febrifuge, pectoral, laxative and tonic[4][9]. An infusion of the dried, powdered leaves, or the root, has been used in the treatment of diarrhoea[9]. A cooled decoction of the roots has been used in the treatment of asthma, colds, digestive complaints etc[9].
An infusion of the plant has been used as a contraceptive[10].
Caution is advised in the use of this plant, see the notes above on toxicity.
Usage: The root, when ground into a powder and then mixed with oil, has been used as a parasiticide in order to kill lice[4].
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Known Hazards: When used medicinally, large doses of the powdered root have proved fatal[4].
Also Known As: Swertia radiata. Kuntze.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ Munz, David. A California Flora. University of California Press, 1959.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Arnberger, Leslie. Flowers of the Southwest Mountains. Southwestern Monuments, 1968.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ Coon, Nelson. The Dictionary of Useful Plants. Rodale Press, 1975.
- ↑ Yanovsky, Elias. Food Plants of the North American Indians Publication 237. US Department of Agriculture.
- ↑ Davis, Ray and Frank Craighead. A Field Guide to Rocky Mountain Wildflowers. The Riverside Press, 1963.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.
- ↑ Weiner, Michael. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books, 1980.