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Allium cepa aggregatum

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Botanical Name : Allium cepa aggregatum
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily: Allioideae
Genus: Allium
Species: A. cepa
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales

Common Names: Potato onion,Multiplier onion

Habitat : Potato onion is cultivated in many countries of the world.

Description:
Allium cepa aggregatum is a BULB growing to 1.2 m (4ft).
It is not frost tender. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees, insects.
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Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soils.
It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil.
Cultivation:
Prefers a sunny sheltered position in a light well-drained fertile soil[1] but tolerates most soils. Tolerates a pH in the range 4.5 to 8.3. The potato onion was at one time fairly widely grown as a vegetable, but it has now fallen into virtual disuse. There are still some named forms available[183]. This is a genuinely perennial form of A. cepa, the bulb grows deeper in the soil and divides to produce a number of underground bulbs each year in much the same way as shallots. Large bulbs divide to form 5 – 15 bulbs whilst smaller bulbs grow into one large bulb. According to one report, the bulbs should be planted fairly deeply, whilst another report says that they should be planted just below soil level. Onions grow well with most plants, especially roses, carrots, beet and chamomile, but they inhibit the growth of legumes. This plant is a bad companion for alfalfa, each species negatively affecting the other. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer.

Propagation:
Seed – sow spring in a cold frame. Seed is seldom produced by this plant. Division in late summer. Harvest the bulbs as the foliage dies down and store them in a cool place. In areas with mild winters the bulbs are traditionally replanted on the shortest day of the year, but in colder areas it is best to wait until late winter or even early spring. Plant the bulbs only just below the soil surface

Medicinal Uses:
Although rarely used specifically as a medicinal herb, the onion has a wide range of beneficial actions on the body and when eaten (especially raw) on a regular basis will promote the general health of the body. The bulb is anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antispasmodic, carminative, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge, hypoglycaemic, hypotensive, lithontripic, stomachic and tonic. When used regularly in the diet it offsets tendencies towards angina, arteriosclerosis and heart attack. It is also useful in preventing oral infection and tooth decay. Baked onions can be used as a poultice to remove pus from sores. Fresh onion juice is a very useful first aid treatment for bee and wasp stings, bites, grazes or fungal skin complaints. When warmed the juice can be dropped into the ear to treat earache. It also aids the formation of scar tissue on wounds, thus speeding up the healing process, and has been used as a cosmetic to remove freckles.

Other Uses:
Cosmetic; Dye; Hair; Polish; Repellent; Rust.

The juice of the plant is used as a moth repellent and can also be rubbed onto the skin to repel insects. The plant juice can be used as a rust preventative on metals and as a polish for copper and glass. A yellow-brown dye is obtained from the skins of the bulbs. Onion juice rubbed into the skin is said to promote the growth of hair and to be a remedy for baldness. It is also used as a cosmetic to get rid of freckles. The growing plant is said to repel insects and moles. A spray made by pouring enough boiling water to cover 1kg of chopped unpeeled onions is said to increase the resistance of other plants to diseases and parasites

Known Hazards: There have been cases of poisoning caused by the consumption, in large quantities and by some mammals, of this plant. Dogs seem to be particularly susceptible.
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/Potato_onion
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Allium+cepa+aggregatum

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Rubus chamaemorus

Botanical Name : Rubus chamaemorus
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Rubus
Species: R. chamaemorus
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Rosales

Common Names : Cloudberry , Cloud Berry, Bakeapple Berry, Ground Mulberry

Bakeapple (in Newfoundland and Labrador), Knotberry and knoutberry (in England), Aqpik or low-bush salmonberry (in Alaska – not to be confused with true salmonberry, Rubus spectabilis), and Averin or Evron (in Scotland).
Habitat : Rubus chamaemorus is native to Northern Europe, including Britain, from Scandanavia south and east to Germany and N. Asia. It grows in cool boggy places, often found amongst bilberries on hills and mountain sides, avoiding shade and calcareous soils.

Description:
Rubus chamaemorus is a perennial plant .It grows to 10–25 cm (4-10 inches) high. The leaves alternate between having 5 and 7 soft, handlike lobes on straight, branchless stalks. It is in flower from Jun to August, and the seeds ripen from Jul to September . After pollination, the white (sometimes reddish-tipped) flowers form raspberry-sized aggregate fruits. Encapsulating between 5 and 25 drupelets, each fruit is initially pale red, ripening into an amber color in early autumn.

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The flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required) and are pollinated by Bees, flies.The plant is not self-fertile.

Unlike most Rubus species, the cloudberry is dioecious, and fruit production by a female plant requires pollination from a male plant.

Cultivation:
Easily grown in a good well-drained loamy soil in sun or semi-shade. Avoids calcareous soils in the wild and is often found in boggy soils. Considered to be a gourmet fruit, it is occasionally sold in speciality stores. Dioecious. Male and female plants must be grown if seed is required.

Propagation :
Seed – requires stratification and is best sown in early autumn in a cold frame. Stored seed requires one month stratification at about 3°c and is best sown as early as possible in the year. Prick out the seedlings when they are large enough to handle and grow on in a cold frame. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring of the following year. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame. Division in early spring or just before leaf-fall in the autumn

Edible Parts: Flowers; Fruit.
Edible Uses: Tea.………Fruit – raw or cooked. Sour but delicious, the fruit can be eaten out of hand or stewed, used in preserves, pies etc. Rich in vitamin C. The sweet fruit tastes like baked apples. Flowers – raw. The fresh or dried leaves are used as a tea substitute.

Alcoholic drinks:
In Nordic countries, traditional liqueurs such as Lakkalikööri (Finland) are made of cloudberry, having a strong taste and high sugar content. Cloudberry is used as a spice for making akvavit. In northeastern Quebec, a cloudberry liqueur known as chicoutai (aboriginal name) is made.

Medicinal Uses:
A decoction of the roots has been used as ‘woman’s medicine’. A decoction of the root and lower stem has been used by barren women to try and become pregnant. The root has been used in the treatment of coughs, fevers and consumption.

Other Uses:...Dye.……A purple to dull blue dye is obtained from the fruit.

Cultural references:
The cloudberry appears on the Finnish version of the 2 euro coin.  The name of the hill Beinn nan Oighreag in Breadalbane in the Scottish Highlands means “Hill of the Cloudberries” in Scots Gaelic.

The berry is called Bakeapple in Newfoundland. One explanation for the name suggests it is derived from the French term “Baie Qu’Appelle”, meaning “What is this berry called?

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/Rubus_chamaemorus
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Rubus+chamaemorus
http://www.plantexplorers.com/vandusen/product_info.php/products_id/1089

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Vaccinium angustifolium

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Botanical Name: Vaccinium angustifolium
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Vaccinium
Species: V. angustifolium
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Ericales

Synonyms : V. lamarckii. Camp. V. pennsylvanicun angustifolium. V. pensylvanicum. Lam. non Mill.

Common Names: Low Sweet Blueberry, Lowbush blueberry

Habitat: Vaccinium angustifolium is native to eastern and central Canada (from Manitoba to Newfoundland) and the northeastern United States, growing as far south as the Great Smoky Mountains and west to the Great Lakes region. It grows in dry open barrens, peats and rocks.

Description:
Vaccinium angustifolium is a low spreading deciduous shrub growing to 60 cm tall, though usually 35 cm tall or less. The leaves are glossy blue-green in summer, turning purple in the fall. The leaf shape is broad to elliptical. Buds are brownish red in stem axils. The flowers are white, bell-shaped, 5 mm long. The fruit is a small sweet dark blue to black berry. This plant grows best in wooded or open areas with well-drained acidic soils. In some areas it produces natural blueberry barrens, where it is practically the only species covering large areas.

CLICK  &  SEE THE PICTURES

The Vaccinium angustifolium plant is fire-tolerant and its numbers often increase in an area following a forest fire. Traditionally, blueberry growers burn their fields every few years to get rid of shrubs and fertilize the soil. In Acadian French, a blueberry field is known as a “brûlis” (from brûlé, burnt) because of that technique, which is still in use.
Cultivation :
Requires a moist but freely-draining lime free soil, preferring one that is rich in peat or a light loamy soil with added leaf-mould. Prefers a very acid soil with a pH in the range of 4.5 to 6, plants soon become chlorotic when lime is present. Succeeds in full sun or light shade though it fruits better in a sunny position. Requires shelter from strong winds. A very hardy plant, tolerating temperatures down to about -40°c. Dislikes root disturbance, plants are best grown in pots until being planted out in their permanent positions. Cultivated for its edible fruits, there are some named varieties. It succeeds in cold northerly locations such as Maine in N. America] and in C. Sweden. However, it is said to have little or no value as a fruit crop in Britain. The typical species is not as well known as its subspecies V. angustifolium laevifolium. House. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus.
Propagation:
Seed – sow late winter in a greenhouse in a lime-free potting mix and only just cover the seed. Stored seed might require a period of up to 3 months cold stratification. Another report says that it is best to sow the seed in a greenhouse as soon as it is ripe. Once they are about 5cm tall, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a lightly shaded position 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. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 5 – 8cm with a heel, August in a frame. Slow and difficult. Layering in late summer or early autumn. Another report says that spring is the best time to layer. Takes 18 months. Division of suckers in spring or early autumn

Edible Uses:
Fruit – raw, cooked or used in preserves etc. A very sweet pleasant flavour with a slight taste of hone. Largely grown for the canning industry, it is considered to be the best of the lowbush type blueberries. The fruit can be dried and used like raisins. The fruit is about 12mm in diameter. This is the earliest commercially grown blueberry to ripen. A tea is made from the leaves and dried fruits.
Medicinal Uses :
The Chippewa Indians used the flowers to treat psychosis. The fruit contains anthocyanosides. These chemical compounds are very powerful antioxidants that are very effective in the prevention of heart disease and cancer. A tea made from the leaves has been used as a blood purifier and in the treatment of infant’s colic. It has also been used to induce labour and as a tonic after a miscarriage

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/Vaccinium_angustifolium
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Vaccinium+angustifolium
http://www.piam.com/mms_garden/plants.html

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Fragaria vesca

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Botanical Name : Fragaria vesca
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Fragaria
Species: F. vesca
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Rosales

Synonyms: Fragaria vesca californica. (Cham.&Schldl.)Staudt.

Common Names: Wild strawberry, Woodland strawberry, Alpine strawberry, European strawberry, or Fraise des bois

Habitat: Fragaria vesca is native to South-western N. America – California. It grows in Shaded, fairly damp places in woodland.

Description:
Fragaria vesca is a perennial plant , growing to 0.3 m (1ft).
It is not frost tender. It is in flower from Apr to May, and the seeds ripen from Jun to July. Five to eleven soft-hairy white flowers are borne on a green, soft-hairy 3–15 centimetres (1.2–5.9 in) stalk that usually lifts them above the leaves. The light-green leaves are trifoliate (in threes) with toothed margins. The plant spreads by means of runners (stolons)The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects....CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES
Cultivation:
Prefers a fertile, well-drained, moisture retentive soil in a sunny position. Tolerates semi-shade though fruit production will be reduced. A vigorous plant, spreading rapidly by means of runners. It flowers freely with us, but has not set fruit on our Cornwall trial ground as yet, possibly because all our plants are one clone.

Propagation:
Seed – sow early spring in a greenhouse. The seed can take 4 weeks or more to germinate. The seedlings are very small and slow-growing at first, but then grow rapidly. Prick them out into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and plant them out during the summer. Division of runners, preferably done in July/August in order to allow the plants to become established for the following years crop. They can also be moved in the following spring if required, though should not then be allowed to fruit in their first year. The runners can be planted out direct into their permanent positions.
Edible Uses:
Edible Parts: Fruit; Leaves.
Edible Uses: Coffee; Tea.

Fruit – raw. Aromatic, sweet and succulent. The fruit can also be dried for later use. The fruit is about 15mm in diameter. The fresh or dried leaves are used to brew an excellent tea.
Medicinal Uses:

Antidiarrhoeal; Antirheumatic; Astringent; Diuretic; Laxative; Tonic.

America Indians and Europeans found multiple medicinal uses for this plant. The leaves are mildly astringent so that they can be used as a gargle to treat sore throats. The leaves as well as the fruit contain a diuretic.

The leaves are astringent. A decoction has been used in the treatment of dysentery.

Other Uses:
Cosmetic; Teeth.

Its leaves serve as significant food source for a variety of ungulates, such as mule deer and elk, and the fruit are eaten by a variety of mammals and birds that also help to distribute the seeds in their droppings.

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=Fragaria+vesca
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fragaria_vesca

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Spigelia marylandica

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Botanical Name : Spigelia marylandica
Family: Loganiaceae
Genus: Spigelia
Species: S. marilandic
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Gentianales

Synonyms: Maryland Pink. Wormgrass. American Wormgrass. Carolina-, Maryland-, American-Wormroot. Starbloom.

Common Names: Pink Root, Indian pink or Woodland pinkroot

Parts Used: Dried rhizome and rootlets, or entire plant.

Habitat: Spigelia marylandica is native to South-eastern N. America – New Jersey to Florida. It grows in rich, dry soils on the edges of woods.

Description:
Spigelia marylandica is a herbaceous perennial plant. It has several smooth simple stems, arising from the same rhizome; these stems are rounded below and square above. Leaves, few, opposite, sessile, ovatelanceolate, at apex acuminate, tapering at the base. It grows 1 to 2 feet high with a spread of 0.5 to 1.5 feet. The flowers are borne in a brilliant red-pink spike at top of the stem, the long corollas (terminating in spreading, star-like petals), externally red, yellow within, surrounding a double, many-seeded capsule. It flowers from May to July. The entire plant is collected in autumn and dried, but only the rhizome and rootlets are official in the United States Pharmacopceia, though in several other pharmacopoeias on the Continent, in which Spigelia is official, a closely allied species is named and the flowering plant is specified. The rhizome is tortuous, knotty and dark-brown externally, with many thin, wiry motlets attached to it and the short branches on the upper side are marked with scars of the stems of former years; internally, the rhizome is whitish, with a darkbrown pith; the rootlets are lighter coloured than the rhizome, thin, brittle and long. Odour, aromatic; taste, bitter, sweetish, pungent and somewhat nauseous. It is usually powdered and then is of a greyish colour. Age impairs its strength. When imported from the Western United States, where it is very abundant, it is received in bales and casks……….CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Cultivation:
Succeeds in most fertile soils in semi-shade. Tolerates full sun if the soil remains reliably moist in the growing season, in a shady position it tolerates considerably drier soils. Plants are hardy to about -15°c. A very ornamental plant.

Propagation:
Seed – requires stratification, pre-chill for 3 weeks prior to sowing. It will usually germinate in 1 – 3 months at 20°c. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots once they are large enough to handle and grow on in a cold frame for their first winter. Plant out in late spring or early summer. Division in the spring. Basal cuttings in late spring. Harvest the shoots with plenty of underground stem when they are about 8 – 10cm above the ground. Pot them up into individual pots and keep them in light shade in a cold frame or greenhouse until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the summer.

Constituents: A poisonous alkaloid, named Spigeline; also a bitter acrid principle, soluble in water or alcohol, but insoluble in ether; a small amount of volatile oil, a tasteless resin, tannin, wax, fat, mucilage, albumen, myricin, a viscid, saccharine substance, lignin, salts of sodium, potassium and calcium. The reactions of the poisonous alkaloid resemble those of nicotine, lobeline and coniine.
Medicinal Uses:
Anthelmintic; Narcotic.

The whole plant, but especially the root, is anthelmintic and narcotic. A safe and effective anthelmintic when used in the proper dosage, it is especially effective with tapeworms and roundworm. Its use should always be followed by a saline aperient such as magnesium sulphate otherwise unpleasant side effects will follow. Another report says that it can be used with other herbs such as Foeniculum vulgare or Cassia senna. These will ensure that the root is expelled along with the worms since the root is potentially toxic if it is absorbed through the gut. The root is best used when fresh but can be harvested in the autumn then dried and stored. It should not be stored for longer than 2 years. Use with caution and only under professional supervision. The plant contains the alkaloid spigiline,which is largely responsible for the medicinal action but side effects of an overdose can include increased heart action, vertigo, convulsions and possibly death.
Known Hazards: This plant is poisonous in large quantities.

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/Spigelia_marilandica
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/p/pinkro39.html
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Spigelia+marilandica

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