Categories
Herbs & Plants

Gratiola pedunculata

[amazon_link asins=’B01FVQHUDC,B00BSU2HFW,B00014FRVW,B00BEJV60O,B06XPHMLMM,B001GCU934,B00F1J7LGG,B0014AU67W,B000OO1Z0Q’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’23971853-540e-11e8-9358-73aaa652a114′]

Botanical Name : Gratiola pedunculata
Family :Plantaginaceae
Genus :Gratiola
Species :Gratiola pendunculata
Domain : Eukaryotic
Kingdom : Plantae
Division :Tracheophyta
Class :Magnoliopsida
Order :Lamiales
Habitat : Gratiola pedunculata is native to AustraliaNew South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland. It grows on wet or damp sandy to clayey soils on river or lagoon banks, and other damp places.
Description:
Gratiola pedunculata is a perennial herb growing to 13–50 cm high, with golden sessile glands on leaves, bracteoles and sepals, topped on all parts except the corolla by a glabrescent glandular indumentum; branches often rooting at base.

Leaves ovate to lanceolate, 0.8–3 cm long, 3–10 mm wide, base stem-clasping, margins toothed to ± entire.

Flowers single, rarely 2, in bract axils; pedicels 8–26 mm long; bracteoles 1–3.5 mm long. Sepals 4–4.5 mm long. Corolla 5–9 mm long, white to pink with yellow in mouth. Staminodes 2 or 0.

Capsule broad-ovoid, 3.5–5 mm long, caducous style 1.5–2.4 mm long.

Flowering: spring–summer.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES
The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs)Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.

Cultivation: Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil

Propagation : Seed –

Medicinal uses: Used in the treatment of liver complaints, though it should be used with care.
Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.
Resources:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Gratiola_pedunculata
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Gratiola+pedunculata
http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Gratiola~pedunculata

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Potentilla supina

[amazon_link asins=’B006EKYEZ2,B01LMMRTS0′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’bbf49201-fa3f-11e6-9ea8-23071ff5e118′]

Botanical Name: Potentilla supina
Family : Rose Family (Rosaceae)
Subfamily :Rosoideae
Category :Finger Herbs ( Potentilla )
Type : Low finger herb
Order : Rosey (Rosales)

Common Name : Lower fingerwort

Habitat : Potentilla supina is native to C. Europe to W. Asia. It grows on dampish waste ground and ditches, 200 – 2500 metres in Turkey.

Description:
Potentilla supina is a annual/perennial herb growing to 0.3 m (1ft). It is a bald to soft-haired, one- year to short-lived perennial, krautige plant . It usually has several, descending, ascending, 10 to 40 centimeter long, branched and rich-flowered stems . The leaves are unpaired feathered two to six pairs of leaflets . The lateral leaflets are elongated to obedient, egg-shaped, coarse-sawed to spatially split, and the endblade is often deeply split, with a length of 1 to 3 centimeters. The top of the page and bottom is green.

The flowering period is rich from May to September. The leaves are inflated in the inflorescence up to the leaf-like shape of the leaves and surpass the young flowers. The flowers are foliage-shaped or seemingly armpit and sit on 5 to 20 millimeters long, after the anthesis downwards bent bloom stalks. The bipedal flowers are radial symmetric and five-fold in diameter from 6 to 10 millimeters. The five sepals are 3 to 4 millimeters long and triangular. The five free, yellow petals are usually shorter than the sepals.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects.The plant is self-fertile.
Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.
Cultivation:
We have very little information on this species and do not know if it will be hardy in Britain, though judging by its native range it should succeed outdoors in most parts of the country. The following notes are based on the general needs of the genus. Easily grown in a well-drained loam, preferring a position in full sun but tolerating shade. Prefers an alkaline soil but tolerates a slightly acid soil. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer.

Propagation:
Seed – sow early spring or autumn in a cold frame. 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 spring. Larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. We have found that it is better to pot up the smaller divisions and grow them on in light shade in a cold frame until they are well established before planting them out in late spring or early summer.

Edible Uses:     Young leaves – cooked. An emergency food, it is only used when all else fails.
Medicinal Uses:

Astringent; Febrifuge; Odontalgic; Tonic.

The root is astringent, febrifuge and tonic. Pieces of the root are held in the mouth for 1 – 2 hours to relieve toothache. The juice of the root is used in the treatment of indigestion.
Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.
Resurces:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niedriges_Fingerkraut
http://www.pfaf.org/User/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Potentilla+supina

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Potentilla simplex

[amazon_link asins=’B004V30T9Y,B004V304TY’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’8af269f9-8bba-11e7-9884-f7556e914bda’]

[amazon_link asins=’B00DL0GO0G,B0031AY1LA,B06XT5RY9H,B0000X1MCW,B00PJ0SKB2,B000H4HQZG,B001TOR9F0′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’addda04b-8bba-11e7-a689-bda4536ee37b’]

Botanical Name: Potentilla simplex
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Potentilla
Species: P. simplex
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Rosales

Common Names: Common cinquefoil, Old-field five-fingers, Oldfield cinquefoil

Habitat: Potentilla simplex is native to eastern North America from Ontario, Quebec, and Labrador south to Texas, Alabama, and panhandle Florida.It grows in dry open woods, prairie hillsides, roadsides, old fields and waste places.

Description:
otentilla simplex is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.1 m (0ft 4in) by 0.5 m (1ft 8in). It is a familiar plant with prostrate stems that root at nodes, with yellow flowers and 5-parted palmately pinnate leaves arising from stolons (runners) on separate stalks. Complete flowers bearing 5 yellow petals (about 4-10 mm long) bloom from March to June. It bears seed from April to July. It is commonly found in woodlands, fields, and disturbed areas.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects.The plant is self-fertile.
Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.

Pollinators include mason bees, small carpenter bees, cuckoo bees, halictid bees, syrphid flies, tachinid flies, blow flies, and others. Less common pollinators are wasps and butterflies. Rabbits and groundhogs eat the foliage.

Cultivation:
Easily grown in a well-drained loam, preferring a position in full sun but tolerating shade[1]. Prefers an alkaline soil but tolerates a slightly acid soil. Plants grown in rich soils produce more foliage at the expense of flowering. Hardy to about -25°c. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer.
Propagation:
Seed – sow early spring or autumn in a cold frame. 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 spring. Larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. We have found that it is better to pot up the smaller divisions and grow them on in light shade in a cold frame until they are well established before planting them out in late spring or early summer.

Edible Uses: Young shoots and leaves are edible as a salad or pot herb.

Medicinal Uses:
The plant is mildly astringent and antiseptic. A decoction is used as a gargle for loose teeth and spongy gums. An infusion of the roots has been used in the treatment of dysentery.
Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potentilla_simplex
http://www.pfaf.org/User/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Potentilla+simplex

Categories
Herbs & Plants (Spices)

Arum dioscoridis

[amazon_link asins=’B00GQLLQPK,B00HTG8XJI,B00GNYIKPY,B00GGKCC86′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’52574641-443b-11e7-a054-7bb1d251bd3a’]

Botanical Name : Arum dioscoridis
Family: Araceae
Genus: Arum
Species: A. dioscoridis
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Alismatales

Synonyms : A. hygrophyllum. Boiss.

Habitat :Arum dioscoridis is native to forests in the east of the Mediterranean in southern Turkey, Cyprus, and the Middle East.It grows in hedges and rocky places, often on calcareous soils.
Description:
Arum dioscoridis is a perennial plant growing to 0.3 m (1ft) by 0.3 m (1ft in). It is not frost tender. In winter appear green, arrow-shaped leaves. In spring, the short-stalked inflorescence appears consisting of a black, rod-shaped spadix surrounded by a yellow-green, purple-mottled brown or even purple bract (spathe). The female flowers are located at the bottom of the spadix; above are the male flowers; and the top is a sterile area (appendix). The spadix emits a pungent smell that attracts flies as pollinators.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

It is in leaf 7-Oct It is in flower in May. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by Flies.Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.
Cultivation:
Prefers a humus rich soil and abundant water in the growing season. Grows well in woodland conditions. Succeeds in sun or shade. This species is not hardy in the colder areas of the country, it tolerates temperatures down to between -5 and -10°c. Because it comes into growth in the late autumn it is best grown by a warm wall or in a bulb frame A polymorphic species. The inflorescence is pollinated by flies and it smells of dung and carrion in order to attract the flies. It also has the remarkable ability to heat itself above the ambient air temperature to such a degree that it is quite noticeable to the touch. This probably protects the flowers from damage by frost, or allows it to penetrate frozen ground. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer.

Propagation:
Seed – best sown in a greenhouse or cold frame as soon as it is ripe. The seed usually germinates in 1 – 6 months at 15°c. Stored seed should be sown in the spring in a greenhouse and can be slow to germinate, sometimes taking a year or more. A period of cold stratification might help to speed up the process. Sow the seed thinly, and allow the seedlings to grow on without disturbance for their first year, giving occasional liquid feeds to ensure that they do not become mineral deficient. When the plants are dormant in the autumn, divide up the small corms, planting 2 – 3 in each pot, and grow them on in light shade in the greenhouse for a further year, planting out when dormant in the autumn. Division of the corms in summer after flowering. Larger corms can be planted out direct into their permanent positions, though it is best to pot up the smaller corms and grow them on for a year in a cold frame before planting them out.

Edible Uses :
Edible Parts: Root…..Tuber – cooked and used as a vegetable. It must be thoroughly dried or cooked before being eaten, see the notes above on toxicity.
Medicinal Uses : Abortifacient….The root is abortifacient.
Other Uses:
The plant can be grown as an ornamental plant in rock gardens Mediterranean regions. In the Benelux, the plant can be grown indoors as a pot plant. The plant can be propagated by seeding.

Known Hazards: The plant contains calcium oxylate crystals. These cause an extremely unpleasant sensation similar to needles being stuck into the mouth and tongue if they are eaten, but they are easily neutralized by thoroughly drying or cooking the plant or by steeping it in water.

Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Arum+dioscoridis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arum_dioscoridis

css.php