Picris echioides
| Picris echioides | |
 | |
| Light: |  |
| Moisture: |   |
| Hardiness: | 6 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Self Pollinated | |
| Height: | 3' |
| Width: | 1' |
| Blooms: | Early Summer-Mid Fall |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
 | |
Picris echioides (common name: bristly ox-tongue) is a forb with yellow flowers similar to dandelions. In the wild it can be an indicator plant of soils high in calcium carbonate.[1]
Propagation: Seed - sow spring in situ, only just covering the seed. Germination should take place quite quickly.
Cultivation: Succeeds in most soils.[1]. Dislikes shade.
Seed is often produced apomictically[2]. Any seedlings from this seed will be genetically identical to the parent plant.
Range: S. Europe. Possibly native but certainly established in Britain.
Habitat: Roadsides, hedgebanks, field margins and waste places, usually on stiff and calcareous soils[2].
Edibility: Young leaves - raw or cooked[3][4][5][6]. Not wonderful raw, the leaves are slightly better cooked[6]. A rather bitter flavour[K].
Pollinators: Bees, flies, apomictic
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Seed Ripens: Mid Summer-Mid Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Heavy Clay: Grows in heavy-clay soils.
Also Known As: Helmintia echioides.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ Hedrick, Ulysses. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972.
- ↑ Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Crowe, Andrew. Native Edible Plants of New Zealand. Hodder and Stoughton, 1990.