Spergularia rubra
| Spergularia rubra | |
| Light: |  |
| Moisture: |   |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-7.3 |
| Self Pollinated | |
| Height: | 1' |
| Blooms: | Late Spring-Early Fall |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Spergularia rubra (common name: sandwort)
Propagation: Seed - sow spring or autumn in situ. Some seed germinates in the autumn in the wild while some germinates in the spring.
Cultivation: This plant is often found growing in paving crevices and other impoverished niches in the garden[1]. It is a calcifuge plant, requiring neutral to acid soils[2].
Range: Europe, including Britain, south and east from Norway to N. Africa and Asia. N. America,
Habitat: Open gravelly or sandy habitats[2]. Sand dunes, heaths and coastal cliffs[1].
Edibility: Seed - cooked. Dried and ground into a meal then used with flour for making bread etc[3]. A famine food, it is only used when all else fails[3].
Medicinal: The leaves are diuretic and lithontripic[4][5]. The plant contains a resinous aromatic substance that is probably the active principle[4]. An infusion is thought to relax the muscle walls of the urinary tubules and so it is used in the treatment of kidney stones, acute and chronic cystitis and catarrh of the bladder[4][6].
Pollinators: Flies, self
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Wind: Tolerates maritime wind exposure
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: Arenaria campestris. Auct. A. rubra. Buda rubra.
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.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ Chevallier, Andrew. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants. Dorling Kindersley, 1996.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.