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Astelia alpina

Common name:		Family:	Asteliaceae
Author:	R.Br.	Botanical references:	154
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Australia - New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania.
Habitat:	Mountain moorlands, especially in boggy situations, in the alpine and sub-alpine zones[154].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	alpina = alpine;

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.3m. . The flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required). The plant not is self-fertile. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

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

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Dappled Shade.

Edible Uses

Fruit; Leaves.

Fruit - raw. Sweet, fleshy and juicy, it is pleasant to eat[144, 154, 157, 173].
Leaf base[154, 173]. No more details.

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, though judging by its native range it could succeed outdoors at least in the milder parts of this country. It survives temperatures down to at least -7°c in Australian gardens[157] but this cannot be directly translated to British gardens because of our cooler summers and longer colder and wetter winters. The following notes are based on the general needs of the genus.
Requires a damp humus-rich fertile soil in sun or semi-shade, sheltered from cold drying winds[200].
Dioecious. Male and female plants must be grown if seed is required.

Propagation

Seed - sow late winter in a greenhouse. Germination can be very slow, sometimes taking more than 12 months.
When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in light shade for at least the first winter in a greenhouse. Plant out in late spring or early summer once they are 15cm or more tall.
Division in spring[200].

Suppliers

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

Web References

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant 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

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

[154] Ewart. A. J. Flora of Victoria.
A flora of eastern Australia, it is rather short on information that is useful to the plant project.

[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.

[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.

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

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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.