Mertensia maritima
| Mertensia maritima | |
| Light: |  |
| Moisture: |   |
| Hardiness: | 3 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Self Pollinated | |
| Height: | 1' |
| Width: | 0.5' |
| Blooms: | Early Summer-Late Summer |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Mertensia maritima (common name: oyster plant)
Propagation: Seed - sow as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. Spring sown seed is also successful[K]. Germination usually takes place within a month. 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 in April or early September. With care since the plant resents root disturbance.
Cultivation: Thrives in nutritionally poor sandy or gravelly soils in a sunny position[1]. Requires a very well-drained soil[2]. Dislikes shade[3].
Plants are resentful of root disturbance and should be planted out into their permanent positions as soon as possible[1]. This species is not very easy to cultivate[4].
Plants are very susceptible to slug damage[2][K]
Range: Throughout the temperate regions of both hemispheres, including Britain.
Habitat: Shingle by the sea[5]. Uncommon and declining[1].
Edibility: Leaves - raw or cooked[6][7]. They are said to taste of oysters[8]. No-one has yet noticed a resemblance to oysters though not many of the tasters have ever eaten oysters! The flavour is fairly bland, the leaf is thick and has a very mucilaginous texture - it is probably this texture that reminds people of oysters[K].
Root[9][10][11][12]. Eaten by the Inuit of Alaska[7][13].
Flowers - raw[6].
Pollinators: Insects? Self
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Wind: Tolerates maritime wind exposure
Seed Ripens: Mid Summer-Early Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: Pulmonaria maritima.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Brickell, Christopher. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers. Dorling Kindersley Publishers, 1990.
- ↑ Thomas, Graham. Perennial Garden Plants. J. M. Dent & Sons, 1990.
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Schofield, Janice. Discovering Wild Plants.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ Mabey, Richard. Food for Free. Collins, 1974.
- ↑ Douglas, James. Alternative Foods.
- ↑ Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.