Trilisa odoratissima
| Trilisa odoratissima | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 3' |
| Blooms: | Early Fall |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
 | |
Trilisa odoratissima (common name: vanilla plant)
Propagation: Seed - sow in a greenhouse as soon as it is ripe in the autumn[1]. 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.
Division in spring[1].
Cultivation: Grows well in any moderately good light soil[1]. Plants grow in very acid soils in the wild[2].
Range: South-eastern N. America - North Carolina to Florida, west to Missouri.
Habitat: Low pinelands[3]. Pine barrens[2].
Edibility: The leaves are used as a flavouring[3], they have the scent of vanilla[1][4]. Some caution is advised, see the notes above on toxicity.
Medicinal: The leaves are demulcent, diaphoretic, diuretic and tonic[5]. They are a folk remedy for coughs, malaria and neuroses[5].
The leaves are high in coumarins and have been experimentally effective in the treatment of high-protein oedema[5]. Some caution is advised, see notes above on toxicity.
Usage: The dried leaves contain coumarin and have a scent like newly mown hay. They can be used as a condiment[6].
Pollinators: Insects
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Known Hazards: The plant contains coumarins[5], this is what gives it the scent of newly mown hay. When used internally, especially from dried plants, it can act to prevent the blood from co-aggulating[7]. Coumarins are implicated in liver disease and haemorrhage[222
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Britton, Nathaniel and Addison Brown. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 1970.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Small, John. Manual of the Southeastern Flora. Blackburn Press, 2004.
- ↑ Hedrick, Ulysses. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Foster, Steven and Billy Tatum. Medicinal Plants of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
- ↑ Buchanan, Rita. A Weavers Garden.
- ↑ Triska, Jan. Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn, 1975.