Practical
Plants

Proboscidea louisianica

Unicorn Plant

an annual member of the Proboscidea genus in the family Martyniaceae.

No photo available

Taxonomy and growth

Life cycle
annual
Height
1 m
Flower type
hermaphrodite

Uses

Edible uses

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

Young fruits, harvested whilst still tender enough to be pierced with a fork, can be sliced and added to soups as a thickening agent[13][2]. They can also be parboiled and eaten as a vegetable or pickled in vinegar[2]. They are sometimes pickled when immature[1][8][12]. The fruit is about 4 - 6mm long[4]. Seed - raw or cooked. High in protein[2] and in oil[5]. An edible oil is obtained from the seed[2]. Root[3]. No more details are given.

Plant part
Fruit
Product or use
Oil
Plant part
Root
Plant part
Seed

Material uses

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

A black dye can be obtained from the seedpods[7]. The long pointed seed capsule horns can be used as the black pattern material in coiled basketry[7].

Product or use
Basketry
Product or use
Dye

Environment

Range
Southern N. America - Indiana to Iowa, Utah, Texas and New Mexico.
Habitat
River banks and waste places[10]. Naturalized as a weed in Portugal and S.E. Russia[11].
Light
full sun
Shade tolerance
no shade
Water
moderate
Hardiness
Zone 10+
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 spring in a warm greenhouse. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out after the last expected frosts[4].

Cultivation

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

Requires a well-drained porous soil in a warm sheltered position[4]. A frost-tender species, it can be grown outdoors in Britain as a half-hardy annual. This species is closely related to P. fragrans[4]. This species has occasionally been cultivated as a food crop[5][9].

References

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

    ↩

  2. Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990-00-00 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9

    ↩1↩2↩3↩4

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

    ↩

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

    ↩1↩2↩3↩4

  5. Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993-00-00 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6

    ↩1↩2

  6. Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970-00-00 ISBN 0-486-22642-5

  7. Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998-00-00 ISBN 0-88192-453-9

    ↩1↩2

  8. Vilmorin. A. The Vegetable Garden. Ten Speed Press ISBN 0-89815-041-8

    ↩

  9. Diggs, Jnr. G.M.; Lipscomb. B. L. & O'Kennon. R. J Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas Botanical Research Institute, Texas. 1999-00-00 http://artemis.austincollege.edu/acad/bio/gdiggs/NCTXpdf.htm

    ↩

  10. Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950-00-00

    ↩

  11. ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964-00-00

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

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  13. Harrington. H. D. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press 1967-00-00 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9

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