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Acaenia anserinifolia

Common name:	Pirri-Pirri Bur	Family:	Rosaceae
Author:	(J.R.Forst.&G.Forst.)Druce.	Botanical references:	44, 200
Synonyms:	Acaenia sanguisorbae ((L.f.)Vahl.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Eastern Australia, New Zealand. Naturalized in Britain[17].
Habitat:	Open positions from lowland to the montane zone in North, South and Stewart Islands of New Zealand[44].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Acaena anserinifolia[B,G,P] Acaena novae-zelandica[B,P] Acaena sanguisorbae[B,E,G,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	New Zealand Acaena [P],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Rosales. Rose family
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: California, Hawaii, Oregon.

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen perennial growing to 0.1m by 1m at a fast rate. It is hardy to zone 6 and is not frost tender. It is in leaf all year, in flower from June to July. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Wind. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil. The plant can tolerate maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Ground Cover.

Edible Uses

Tea.

The leaves are used as a substitute for tea[2, 144, 173, 183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antiphlogistic; Diuretic; Vulnerary.

The leaves are antiphlogistic, carminative, diuretic and vulnerary[61].

Other Uses

Ground cover.

A good ground-cover plant, tolerating some treading[200]. A carpeting plant, rooting as it spreads[208].

Cultivation details

An easily grown plant, it succeeds in ordinary well-drained soil in sun or semi-shade[133, 200]. Requires a warm position[208]. Adaptable to poorly-drained soils in Australia[157].
A very invasive plant, spreading freely by its procumbent rooting stems[K]. It is low-growing, however, and so can be grown as a ground cover amongst taller plants[K].

Propagation

Seed - sow March in a greenhouse. Germination, which can be very poor, usually takes place within 1 - 3 months at 10°c[133]. When the seedlings are large enough to handle, prick them out into individual pots, planting them out in the summer.
Division in April or October. Very easy, the plants can be divided at any time of the year if required, though it will need to be done in a greenhouse during the winter months.
Cuttings - August in a cold frame.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Acaena anserinifolia (a possible synonym).

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.

References for Acaena novae-zelandica (a possible synonym).

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for Acaena sanguisorbae (a possible synonym).

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[44] Allan. H. H. Flora of New Zealand. Government Printer, Wellington. 1961
The standard work, in 3 volumes though only the first two are of interest to the plant project. Very good on habitats.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[133] Rice. G. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 1. Thompson and Morgan. 1987
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.

[144] Cribb. A. B. and J. W. Wild Food in Australia. Fontana 1976 ISBN 0-00-634436-4
A very good pocket guide.

[157] Wrigley. J. W. and Fagg. M. Australian Native Plants. Collins. (Australia) 1988 ISBN 0-7322-0021-0
A lovely book, written in order to encourage Australian gardeners to grow their native plants. A little bit of information for the plant project.

[173] Crowe. A. Native Edible Plants of New Zealand. Hodder and Stoughton 1990 ISBN 0-340-508302
A very well written and illustrated book based on the authors own experiments with living on a native diet.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[208] Thomas. G. S. Plants for Ground Cover J. M. Dent & Sons 1990 ISBN 0-460-12609-1
An excellent detailled book on the subject, very comprehensive.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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