Linnaea borealis
| Linnaea borealis | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 2 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-6.5 |
| Evergreen | |
| Height: | 1' |
| Width: | 3' |
| Blooms: | Late Spring-Late Summer |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
 | |
Linnaea borealis (common name: twinflower)
Propagation: Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a cold frame[1]. Sow stored seed as soon as possible, it is likely to require a period of cold stratification. 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 of rooted runners in the spring[1].
Layering.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood in the summer[1]. They are rather slow to root[2].
Cultivation: Prefers a rather shaded position in a rock garden in a moist peaty soil[3][4]. It grows well in pine woods[5]. Requires an acid soil[4].
Plants can be rather difficult to establish[4]. The sub-species L. borealis americana grows more freely than the European form.
The plant is polymorphic[2].
The flowers have an evening fragrance like that of the honeysuckle[5].
Range: Northern Europe, including Britain, from Norway south and east to Germany, the Alps and N. Asia.
Habitat: Woods, especially pine, and in the shade of rocks to elevations of 725 metres in N. Britain[6].
Edibility: A food plant[7][8]. No more details are given.
Medicinal: The plant has been used as a tonic in pregnancy and also in the treatment of painful or difficult menstruation[9].
The mashed plant is used as a poultice on inflamed limbs and is also applied to the head to ease the pain of headaches[8].
Usage: The plant forms an extensive twiggy mat and is useful as a ground cover on peat beds and in rock gardens[1]. Plants form a dense carpet when growing in god conditions, rooting as they spread, but otherwise the cover is sparse[10]. Plants should be spaced about 60cm apart each way[10].
Pollinators: Insects
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
In Leaf: Evergreen
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Brickell, Christopher. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers. Dorling Kindersley Publishers, 1990.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ Bean, William. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Murray, 1981.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Genders, Roy. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale, 1994.
- ↑ Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.
- ↑ Foster, Steven and Billy Tatum. Medicinal Plants of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Thomas, Graham. Plants for Ground Cover. Everyman, 1990.