Tropaeolum patagonicum
Taxonomy and growth
- Family
- Tropaeolaceae
- Genus
- Tropaeolum
- Life cycle
- perennial
- Height
- 0.15 m
- Flower type
- hermaphrodite
Uses
Edible uses
Tuber - cooked[5][6][1]. They are used like potatoes[2].
- Plant part
- Root
Environment
- Range
- Southern S. America - Chile. Argentina.
- Habitat
- Mud or open wet grassland, especially in seasonally dry shallow lakes, between latitudes 42 and 54°south[7].
- Light
- full sun
- Shade tolerance
- no shade
- Water
- high
- Soil textures
- sandy, loamy, clay
- Soil pH
- acid, neutral
- Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
- No
- Drought
- intolerant
Propagation
Seed - sow early spring in a greenhouse. Prick the seedlings out into individual pots once they are large enough to handle and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant out in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division of the tubers in the autumn or spring. In cold winter areas the tubers can be harvested in the autumn after top-growth has died down and they can then be stored in a cool frost-free position until planting them out in the spring. Cuttings of basal stems in the spring[3]. Pot them up into individual pots and place them in light shade in a frame until they are established. Plant out in early summer.
Cultivation
Prefers a sunny position in a well-drained humus-rich neutral or slightly acidic loam[3]. This species is unlikely to be hardy in the colder areas of the country, but the tubers can probably be lifted in the autumn after the plant has been cut back by frost, stored in a cool but frost-free place over the winter and planted out in April[3]. A climbing plant, it supports itself by twisting its leaf stalks around other plants etc[4]. Sometimes cultivated for its edible root in S. America[7]. The caterpillars of the cabbage white butterfly can be a nuisance and often cause considerable damage to the leaves[4].
References
Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976-00-00
Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984-00-00 ISBN 3874292169
Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Grey-Wilson. C. & Matthews. V. Gardening on Walls Collins 1983-00-00 ISBN 0-00-219220-0
Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959-00-00
Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974-00-00 ISBN 0094579202
Moore. D. M. Flora of Tierra del Fuego. Anthony Nelson. 1983-00-00 ISBN 0-904614-05-0