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Agriophyllum squarrosum

Common name:	Sand Rice	Family:	Chenopodiaceae
Author:	(L.)Moq.	Botanical references:	266
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	E. Asia - Siberia to Mongolia
Habitat:	Dunes and sandy places in northern China[266].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	squarrosum = spreading horizontally;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Caryophyllales. Goosefoot family

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.4m. . The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 0/5 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.

Edible Uses

Seed.

Seed - raw or cooked[2, 46, 105]. An important local food[61].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

We have very little information on this species and do not know if it will be hardy in Britain. However, judging by its native range, it is likely to succeed outdoors as a spring sown annual at least in the drier eastern areas of the country. The plant is likely to require a very well drained soil and a sunny position[K].

Propagation

Seed - we have no information for this species but would recommend sowing the seed in the spring. If you have sufficient seed, then an outdoor sowing in situ in late spring would probably work, otherwise sow the seed in pots in a greenhouse in early spring, pricking out the seedlings as soon as they are large enough to handle and planting them out in late spring after the last expected frost[K].

Suppliers

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

Web References

References for the family Chenopodiaceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

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.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[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.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[266] Flora of China 1994
On-line version of the Flora - an excellent resource giving basic info on habitat and some uses.

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
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Agriophyllum+squarrosum
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Agriophyllum+squarrosum

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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.