Practical
Plants

Butomus umbellatus

Flowering Rush

a perennial member of the Butomus genus in the family Butomaceae.

No photo available

Taxonomy and growth

Genus
Butomus
Life cycle
perennial
Height
1 m
Spread
0.5 m
Fertility
Bees, Flies, Lepidoptera
Flower type
hermaphrodite
Pollinators
Bees, Flies, Lepidoptera

Uses

Edible uses

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Tuber - cooked[13][12][15][2][5]. It should be peeled and the rootlets removed[6]. The root can also be dried and ground into a powder[6], it can then be used as a thickener in soups etc, or be added to cereal flours when making bread[8]. It contains more than 50% starch[3]. Seed[1][8][13][5]. No more details are given, but the seed is very small and fiddly to use[K].

Plant part
Root
Plant part
Seed

Environment

Range
Most of Europe, including Britain, and temperate Asia.
Habitat
Pond margins, ditches and canals, avoiding shade[3][4].
Light
full sun
Shade tolerance
no shade
Water
aquatic
Hardiness
Zone 5+
Soil textures
sandy, loamy, clay
Soil pH
acid, neutral, alkaline
Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
No
Drought
intolerant

Propagation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Seed - best surface-sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe, it usually germinates in the spring. The seed quickly loses its vitality if it is not kept moist[9]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a tray of water in the cold frame, planting them out into their permanent positions in early summer. Division in spring[7]. Very easy, larger clumps can be planted direct into their permanent positions. It is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on in a cold frame until they are well rooted before planting them out in the summer.

Cultivation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Requires a sunny position[9]. A plant of wet habitats, it succeeds in wet soils and in water up to 30cm deep[10][14]. A very ornamental plant[8]. The flowers have a scent of bitter almonds[11].

References

  1. F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951-00-00

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  2. Polunin. O. Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. Oxford University Press 1969-00-00 ISBN 0192176218

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  3. Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975-00-00 ISBN 0-600-33545-3

    ↩1↩2

  4. Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962-00-00

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  5. Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984-00-00 ISBN 3874292169

    ↩1↩2

  6. Reid. B. E. Famine Foods of the Chiu-Huang Pen-ts'ao. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre 1977-00-00

    ↩1↩2

  7. Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990-00-00 ISBN 0-86318-386-7

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  8. Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972-00-00 ISBN 0-486-20459-6

    ↩1↩2↩3

  9. Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5

    ↩1↩2

  10. Baines. C. Making a Wildlife Garden.

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  11. Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994-00-00 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8

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  12. Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959-00-00

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  13. Mabey. R. Food for Free. Collins 1974-00-00 ISBN 0-00-219060-5

    ↩1↩2

  14. Muhlberg. H. Complete Guide to Water Plants. E. P. Publishing Ltd. 1982-00-00 ISBN 0-7158-0789-7

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  15. Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974-00-00 ISBN 0094579202

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