Practical
Plants

Cephalaria syriaca

Makhobeli

an annual member of the Cephalaria genus in the family Dipsacaceae.

No photo available

Taxonomy and growth

Life cycle
annual
Flower type
hermaphrodite

Uses

Edible uses

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

Seed - ground into a powder and used with wheat to make bread, cakes etc. It adds a nice flavour but quickly goes rancid[2].

Plant part
Seed

Material uses

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

The seed contains 22.6% oil, it is used as a fuel[2].

Product or use
Fuel
Product or use
Oil

Environment

Range
Europe - Spain to W. Asia.
Habitat
Cultivated fields and waste places[2][3].
Light
full sun
Shade tolerance
no shade
Water
moderate
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 - we have no details but suggest sowing the seed in situ in March or April. It might also be worth experimenting with a September/October sowing.

Cultivation

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

Succeeds in an ordinary garden soil[1]. This plant is often encouraged to grow in wheatfields in Russia so that its edible seed will be mixed with the wheat grain when this is harvested[2].

References

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

    ↩

  2. Komarov. V. L. Flora of the USSR. Israel Program for Scientific Translation 1968-00-00

    ↩1↩2↩3↩4

  3. Davis. P. H. Flora of Turkey. Edinburgh University Press 1965-00-00

    ↩

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