Lithospermum officinale
| Lithospermum officinale | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 6 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 2' |
| Blooms: | Early Summer-Mid Summer |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Lithospermum officinale (common name: gromwell)
Propagation: Seed - sow spring in a cold frame. 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.
Cuttings.
Division.
Cultivation: Prefers a moderately fertile well-drained soil[1].
Range: Europe, including Britain, except the extreme southwest and north, east to Iran and the Caucasus.
Habitat: Hedges, bushy places and woodland borders, usually on basic soil[2].
Edibility: The leaves are used as a tea substitute[3][4][5].
Medicinal: The mature seeds are diuretic, lithontripic and oxytocic[6][7]. They are ground into a powder and used in the treatment of bladder stones, arthritis and febrile conditions[6].
An infusion of the leaves is used as a sedative[7].
The root is depurative[7]. A syrup made from a decoction of the root and stems is used in the treatment of eruptive diseases such as smallpox, measles and itch[7].
All parts of the plant contain a substance that inhibits the secretion of the pituitary gonadotrophic hormone[7]. Extracts of the herb possess contraceptive properties[7].
Usage: A purple dye is obtained from the roots. It is best harvested in the spring[8].
Pollinators: Bees, flies
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Seed Ripens: Mid Summer-Late Summer
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Launert, Edmund. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn, 1981.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Chopra, R. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, 1986.
- ↑ Stuart, George. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei Southern Materials Centre.