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Aralia racemosa
| Common name: |
American Spikenard |
Family: |
Araliaceae |
| Author: |
L. |
Botanical references: |
43, 200 |
| Synonyms: |
|
| Known Hazards: |
None known |
| Range: |
Eastern N. America - Quebec to Georgia, west to Kansas and Minnesota. |
| Habitat: |
Rich woodlands and thickets[21, 43]. |
| Edibility Rating (1-5): |
4 | Medicinal Rating (1-5): | 3 |
| Other Common Names: | From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below. |
| American Spikenard [B,S,H,P], Indian Nard [H], Indian Spikenard [H], Spikenard [S,L], Spikenard, American [S], Syrian Nard [H], Yabani Saparna [E], |
| Epithets: | From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets |
|
racemosa = with racemes;
|
| Systematics: | From a USDA
Plants Database |
|
Order: Apiales. Ginseng family
|
| Other Range Info: |
From the Ethnobotany Database |
|
Mexico; Turkey; Us; Us(Amerindian); Us(Appalachia)
|
Physical Characteristics
Perennial growing to 1.8m by 1.2m . It is hardy to zone 4 and is frost tender. It is in flower in June. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees.
We rate it 4/5 for edibility and
3/5 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 full shade (deep woodland) or semi-shade (light woodland).
It requires moist soil.
Habitats and Possible Locations
Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge, Deep Shade.Edible Uses
Condiment; Fruit; Leaves; Root.
Young shoot tips - cooked[161]. Used as a potherb[207] or as a
flavouring in soups[257].
Root - cooked. Large and spicy, it is used in soups[43, 105, 161, 177].
Pleasantly aromatic, imparting a liquorice-like flavour[183]. A substitute
for sarsaparilla (Smilax spp.)[200], it is also used in making 'root
beer'[183].
Fruit - raw or cooked[207]. Pleasant and wholesome to eat[207]. They can be
made into a jelly[183, 207]. The fruit is about 4mm in diameter[200].
Medicinal Uses
Disclaimer
Alterative; Antirheumatic; Diaphoretic; Expectorant; Poultice; Skin; Stimulant.
American spikenard is a sweet pungent tonic herb that is often used in
modern herbalism where it acts as an alterative[238]. It had a wide range of
traditional uses amongst the North American Indians and was at one time
widely used as a substitute for the tropical medicinal herb sarsaparilla[222,
257].
The root is alterative, diaphoretic, diuretic, pectoral and stimulant[4, 21,
46, 222]. The herb encourages sweating, is stimulating and detoxifying and so
is used internally in the treatment of pulmonary diseases, asthma, rheumatism
etc[4, 213, 238, 254]. Externally it is used as a poultice in treating
rheumatism and skin problems such as eczema[4, 213, 238, 254]. The root is
collected in late summer and the autumn and dried for later use[4, 213].
A drink made from the pulverised roots is used as a cough treatment[213].
A poultice made from the roots and/or the fruit is applied to sores, burns,
itchy skin, ulcers, swellings etc[213, 222]. We have a more details factsheet on the history and medicinal use of this plant. Email webmaster@pfaf.org for details.
Other Uses
None known
Cultivation details
An easily grown plant, succeeding in sun or part shade in any fertile
soil[233]. Prefers a good deep loam and a semi-shady position[1, 111, 134].
Requires a sheltered position[1]. Plants are hardier when grown in poorer
soils[200].
The young growth in spring, even on mature plants, is frost-tender and so it
is best to grow the plants in a position sheltered from the early morning
sun[K].
Grows well by water[111].
Propagation
Seed - best sown as soon as ripe in a cold frame. Stored seed requires
3 - 5 months of cold stratification. Germination usually takes place within 1
- 4 months at 20°c[134]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out
into individual pots and grow them on in light shade in a greenhouse for at
least their first winter. Once the plants are 25cm or more tall, they can be
planted out into their permanent positions, late spring or early summer being
the best time to do this.
Root cuttings 8cm long, December in a cold frame[11, 78]. Store the roots
upside down in sand and pot up in March/April. High percentage[78].
Division of suckers in late winter[11]. Very easy, the suckers can be
planted out direct into their permanent positions if required.
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
- Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
- [H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
- [E] Ethnobotany Data
(common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
- [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.
- [S] Image
from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
- [S] Image
from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
- [S] Image
from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
- [S] Image
from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
- [S] SW USA Dist. Maps
from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
- [S] Illustration
from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
- [S] Illustration
from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
- [G] Data
(Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
- [P] Data.
(uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
- [HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
References for the family Araliaceae.
See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.
Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.
[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.
[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).
[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.
[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.
[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.
[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.
[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.
[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.
[111] Sanders. T. W. Popular Hardy Perennials. Collingridge 1926
A fairly wide range of perennial plants that can be grown in Britain and how to grow them.
[134] Rice. G. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 2. Thompson and Morgan. 1988
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. An interesting article on Ensete ventricosum.
[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.
[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
[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.
[207] Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.
[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.
[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.
[233] Thomas. G. S. Perennial Garden Plants J. M. Dent & Sons, London. 1990 ISBN 0 460 86048 8
A concise guide to a wide range of perennials. Lots of cultivation guides, very little on plant uses.
[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.
[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.
Readers Comments
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Plant information taken from the
Plants For A Future -
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Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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