Heuchera glabra

From Permawiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Heuchera glabra
Light:Full Sun Part Shade
Moisture:Mesic
Hardiness:4
Soil pH:5.6-8.4
Evergreen
Height:2'
Blooms:Mid Summer-Late Summer
Open Woods Forest
Native to:
Edible Rating:PFAF Edibility RatingPFAF Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating:PFAF Medicinal RatingPFAF Medicinal Rating
Tea:Yes
Poisonous

Heuchera glabra (common name: alpine heuchera)

Propagation: Seed - sow early spring in a warm greenhouse and only just cover the seed. Germination is usually fairly rapid. Prick out the seedlings when they are large enough to handle and plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer.

The seed can also be sown in the middle of spring in an outdoor seedbed and planted out in early summer.

Alternatively, you can sow the seed in an outdoor seedbed in the middle of summer for planting out in the following spring.

Division in March or October[1][2]. It is best to divide the plants in August or early September, making sure that the woody roots are planted quite deeply with only the crown of foliage above the ground[3].

Cultivation: Succeeds in any good sweet garden soil that does not dry out in spring[1]. Prefers full sun but tolerates partial shade[1][2]. Prefers a well-drained fairly rich and not too heavy soil[2].

Apt to hybridize with other members of this genus[2].

A very ornamental plant[4].

Range: Western N. America.

Habitat: Stream banks and crevices of moist rocks from the coast to above the timber line[4].

Edibility: Leaves - raw or cooked[5]. Not choice[5].

Medicinal: The root is antiseptic, salve, styptic and tonic[5]. It has been used to treat inflammation of the testicles caused by syphilis[6].

Usage: The root can be used as an alum substitute, this is a mordant used in fixing dyes[5]. The root is rich in tannin(it contains about 9 - 20%), is this the active ingredient that acts as a mordant?[5].

A good ground cover plant for the woodland garden[7].

Pollinators: Bees

Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.

Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.

In Leaf: Evergreen

Seed Ripens: Late Summer-Early Fall

Flower Type: Hermaphrodite

Links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Sanders, Thomas. Popular Hardy Perennials. Collingridge, 1926.
  3. Thomas, Graham. Perennial Garden Plants. J. M. Dent & Sons, 1990.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Hitchcock, Leo. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press, 1955.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Schofield, Janice. Discovering Wild Plants.
  6. Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.
  7. Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.