Metaplexis japonica
| Metaplexis japonica | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 26' |
| Blooms: | Mid Summer-Early Fall |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Metaplexis japonica
Propagation: Seed - we have no information for this species but suggest sowing the seed in early spring in a greenhouse. 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. Give the plants some protection from the cold for at least their first winter outdoors.
Cultivation: Succeeds in ordinary garden soil[1].
This species is not very hardy in Britain, the plants succeed outdoors in south-west England but are apt to be cut to the ground by severe frosts[1][2].
Cultivated as a vegetable in China[3].
Range: E. Asia - China, Japan.
Habitat: Sunny slopes and thickets in hills and low mountains[4].
Edibility: Young leaves - raw or cooked[5][3][6].
Young fruits - raw or pickled[5].
Medicinal: The seed and the leaves are haemostatic and tonic[3][9]. The hairs on the seeds are styptic whilst the pounded leaves are applied to abscesses and swellings[9].
The stems and roots are used as medicine for traumatic injury, snake bites, impotence, and infantile malnutrition due to intestinal parasites[10].
Usage: The seed hairs could possibly be used as a stuffing material for pillows etc[1][K].
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: M. chinensis. M. stauntonii. Pergularia japonica. Urostelma chinense.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ Bean, William. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Murray, 1981.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Stuart, George. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei Southern Materials Centre.
- ↑ Ohwi, Jisaburo. Flora of Japan. Smithsonian Institution, 1965.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ Read, Bernard. Famine Foods Listed in the Chiu Huang Pen Ts'ao. Taipei Southern Materials Centre, 1977.
- ↑ Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Duke, James and Edward Ayensu. Medicinal Plants of China. Reference Publications, 1985.
- ↑ Flora of China. 1994.