Practical
Plants

Dracocephalum heterophyllum

a perennial member of the Dracocephalum genus in the family Labiatae.

No photo available

Taxonomy and growth

Family
Labiatae
Life cycle
perennial
Height
0.3 m
Flower type
hermaphrodite

Uses

Edible uses

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

Root - cooked[2][4].

Plant part
Root

Environment

Range
E. Asia - Himalayas from Pakistan to S.E. Tibet.
Habitat
Open slopes in dry areas[7]. Stony slopes of mountain streams, pebbles, clayey, stony and sometimes sandy mountain slopes[8].
Light
full sun
Shade tolerance
light shade
Water
moderate
Hardiness
Zone 7+
Soil textures
sandy, loamy, clay
Soil pH
acid, neutral, alkaline
Drainage
well drained
Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
No
Drought
intolerant

Propagation

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

Seed - sow in an outdoor seedbed in April/May. The seed usually germinates in 1 - 4 weeks at 15°c[3]. If seed is in short supply then we would recommend sowing it in a pot in a cold frame, potting it up as soon as it is large enough to handle and growing it on in the frame for the first winter, planting out in late spring. Division in spring or autumn[5]. Basal cuttings in April/May[1][5]. Harvest the shoots when they are about 10 - 15cm long with plenty of underground stem. 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.

Cultivation

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

Grows best in a sunny position in a fertile well-drained soil according to some reports[5][6] whilst other reports say that it prefers a cool position and some shade[1][3]. Prefers some shelter and a moist but not wet soil[3].

References

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

    ↩1↩2

  2. Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976-00-00

    ↩

  3. Bird. R. (Editor) Focus on Plants. Volume 5. (formerly 'Growing from seed') Thompson and Morgan. 1991-00-00

    ↩1↩2↩3

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

    ↩

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

    ↩1↩2↩3

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

    ↩

  7. Polunin. O. and Stainton. A. Flowers of the Himalayas. Oxford Universtiy Press 1984-00-00

    ↩

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

    ↩

Edit this page