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Herbs & Plants (Spices)

Cleome lutea

Botanical Name : Cleome lutea
Family: Cleomaceae
Genus: Cleome
Species: C. lutea
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Brassicales

Synonyms : Peritoma aurea. P. luteum.

Common Names: Yellow Spiderflower, Jones spiderflower, Yellow bee plant

Habitat :Cleome lutea is native to Western N. America – Nebraska to Washington and Arizona. It grows on sandy soils on desert plains to lower montane valleys, it is also found on sandy flatland.

Description:
Cleome lutea is a sprawling plant often exceeding a meter in height. The erect stem has widely spaced leaves all the way along, each leaf made up of three to five small leaflets. Atop the stem is a showy inflorescence of many bright yellow flowers. Each flower has oblong petals around a cluster of long stamens tipped with knobby anthers. As the inflorescence lengthens at the top of the stem, flowers that have opened and been pollinated drop their petals and the ovary develops into a fruit. The fruits are capsules several centimeters long containing many seeds. A flowering plant may have blooming flowers at the top of the stem and ripening capsules dangling off the stem further down.
CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES :

It is frost tender. It is in flower from Jul to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs)Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil.
Cultivation:
Prefers a light fertile soil in a warm dry sunny position with plenty of room to spread. A frost tender plant, it can be grown as a summer annual in Britain.

Propagation:
Seed – surface sow or only lightly cover the seed in spring in a greenhouse. The seed usually germinates in 5 – 14 days at 25°c. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in late spring. Day time temperatures below 20°c depress germination but a night time fall to 20° is necessary.

Edible Uses: Young shoots – cooked. Seed – ground into a meal and used as a flour.

Medicinal Uses: The plant has been used to treat ant bites.

Other Uses: Yields a black dye. No further details are given, but it is probably obtained by boiling down the whole plant

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/Cleome_lutea
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Cleome+lutea

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Crataegus dispessa

 Botanical Name : Crataegus dispessa
Family : Rosaceae
Domain: Eukaryotes
Genus:Hawthorn genus
Kingdom:  Plants
Division : vascular plants
Class : Dicotyledonous angiosperms
Order:Rosales

Synonyms: Crataegus pyriformis Britton

Common Name : Mink hawthorn, Mink glog

Habitat :Crataegus dispessa is native to Southern N. AmericaMissouri. It grows in rich bottom lands by streams.

Description:
Crataegus dispessa is a deciduous Tree growing to 8 m (26ft 3in). It is not frost tender. It is in flower in May, and the seeds ripen in September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Midges.Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in heavy clay soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist or wet soil and can tolerate drought. The plant can tolerates strong winds but not maritime exposure. It can tolerate atmospheric pollution…...CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Cultivation:  A very easily grown plant, it prefers a well-drained moisture retentive loamy soil but is not at all fussy. Once established, it succeeds in excessively moist soils and also tolerates drought. It grows well on a chalk soil and also in heavy clay soils. A position in full sun is best when plants are being grown for their fruit, they also succeed in semi-shade though fruit yields and quality will be lower in such a position. Most members of this genus succeed in exposed positions, they also tolerate atmospheric pollution. Hybridizes freely with other members of this genus. There is some confusion over the correct spelling of this species. It is spelt as above in most floras, but as C. dispersa in . It is also considered by some authors to be no more than a part of C. lanuginosa. Seedling trees take from 5 – 8 years before they start bearing fruit, though grafted trees will often flower heavily in their third year. The flowers have a foetid smell somewhat like decaying fish. This attracts midges which are the main means of fertilization. When freshly open, the flowers have more pleasant scent with balsamic undertones. Seedlings should not be left in a seedbed for more than 2 years without being transplanted.

Propagation: Seed – this is best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a cold frame, some of the seed will germinate in the spring, though most will probably take another year. Stored seed can be very slow and erratic to germinate, it should be warm stratified for 3 months at 15°c and then cold stratified for another 3 months at 4°c. It may still take another 18 months to germinate. Scarifying the seed before stratifying it might reduce this time. Fermenting the seed for a few days in its own pulp may also speed up the germination process. Another possibility is to harvest the seed ‘green’ (as soon as the embryo has fully developed but before the seedcoat hardens) and sow it immediately in a cold frame. If timed well, it can germinate in the spring. If you are only growing small quantities of plants, it is best to pot up the seedlings as soon as they are large enough to handle and grow them on in individual pots for their first year, planting them out in late spring into nursery beds or their final positions. When growing larger quantities, it might be best to sow them directly outdoors in a seedbed, but with protection from mice and other seed-eating creatures. Grow them on in the seedbed until large enough to plant out, but undercut the roots if they are to be left undisturbed for more than two years.
Edible Uses:
Fruit – raw or cooked. It is probably eaten. The fruit is quite large and has a fair flavour. It can be used in making pies, preserves, etc, and can also be dried for later use. The fruit is about 12mm in diameter with a thick flesh. There are up to five fairly large seeds in the centre of the fruit, these often stick together and so the effect is of eating a cherry-like fruit with a single seed.
Medicinal Uses:
Cardiotonic; Hypotensive.

Although no specific mention has been seen for this species, the fruits and flowers of many hawthorns are well-known in herbal folk medicine as a heart tonic and modern research has borne out this use. The fruits and flowers have a hypotensive effect as well as acting as a direct and mild heart tonic. They are especially indicated in the treatment of weak heart combined with high blood pressure. Prolonged use is necessary for it to be efficacious. It is normally used either as a tea or a tincture.

Other Uses: Wood – heavy, hard, tough, close-grained. Useful for making tool handles, mallets and other small items

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://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crataegus_dispessa
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Crataegus+dispessa

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