Patrinia triloba

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Taxonomy and growth

Family: Valerianaceae
Genus: Patrinia
Life cycle: perennial
Height: 0.5 m
Spread: 0.6 m
Flower type: hermaphrodite

Uses

Edible uses

Leaves - cooked. A famine food, it is only used when all else fails^[3].

Plant part: Leaves

Material uses

Plants can be grown as a ground cover when spaced about 30cm apart each way^[6].

Ecology and functions

Ecosystem niche: Soil surface

Environment

Range: E. Asia - Japan.
Habitat: Grassy places in the mountains of C. Japan^[7]^[4].
Light: full sun
Shade tolerance: light shade
Water: moderate
Soil textures: sandy, loamy, clay
Soil pH: acid, neutral, alkaline
Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil: No
Drought: intolerant

Propagation

Seed - sow in situ in April^[2]. If you only have a small quantity of seed it is probably better to sow it in a pot in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in early summer. Division in spring or autumn.

Cultivation

Easily grown in any light rich soil^[1]. Requires a moist soil and a cool position^[4]. Thrives in any moderately retentive fertile soil in sun or part shade^[5]. Plants are hardy to about -15°c^[4]. A very ornamental plant^[1], it grows well in the rock garden^[1] or the woodland garden^[5].

References

F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951-00-00
↩1 ↩2 ↩3
Sanders. T. W. Popular Hardy Perennials. Collingridge 1926-00-00
↩
Reid. B. E. Famine Foods of the Chiu-Huang Pen-ts'ao. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre 1977-00-00
↩
Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Perennials Volumes 1 and 2. Pan Books 1991-00-00 ISBN 0-330-30936-9
↩1 ↩2 ↩3
Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
↩1 ↩2
Thomas. G. S. Plants for Ground Cover J. M. Dent & Sons 1990-00-00 ISBN 0-460-12609-1
↩
Ohwi. G. Flora of Japan. (English translation) Smithsonian Institution 1965-00-00
↩

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