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Bassia scoparia
| Common name: |
Summer Cypress |
Family: |
Chenopodiaceae |
| Author: |
(L.)A.J.Scott. |
Botanical references: |
60, 200, 274 |
| Synonyms: |
Kochia trichophila (Stapf.), Kochia scoparia ((L.)Schrad.), Chenopodium scoparia (L.) |
| Known Hazards: |
Plants contain some saponins and should not be eaten in large quantities. Saponins are a toxin found in many of our daily foods such as many beans. They are usually present in quantities too small to be concerned about and are also very poorly absorbed by the body, tending to pass straight through without causing any problems. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish[K]. |
| Range: |
Europe to Western N. America. |
| Habitat: |
Roadsides, ditches and wasteland in western N. America[60]. |
| Edibility Rating (1-5): |
2 | Medicinal Rating (1-5): | 2 |
| Other Possible Synonyms: | From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below. |
| B. sieversiana[B,P]
Kochia alata[B,P]
Kochia childsii[G]
Kochia scoparia f. trichophylla[G]
Kochia scoparia var. culta[B,P]
Kochia scoparia var. pubescens[B,P]
Kochia scoparia var. subvillosa[B,P]
Kochia scoparia var. trichophila[B,P]
Kochia sieversiana[B,P]
Kochia trichophylla[G]
|
| Other Common Names: | From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below. |
| Belvedere Cypress [H], Belvedere Cypresss [H], Common Kochia [P], Hahakigi [E], Haitham [E], Kochia [L], Mexican-fireweed [B], Sha'R Banat [E], Summer-cypress [FEIS], |
| Epithets: | From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets |
|
scopa = broom twig
scoparia = broom like
|
| Systematics: | From a USDA Plants Database |
|
Order: Caryophyllales. Goosefoot family
|
| Other Range Info: |
From the Ethnobotany Database |
|
China
Iraq
|
| Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds | From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia
, DEFRA Injurious Weeds | | Listed as noxious/invasive for: Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland. |
Physical Characteristics
Annual growing to 0.3m. It is hardy to zone 6 and is frost tender. It is in flower in September, and the seeds ripen in October. The flowers are pollinated byWind.
We rate it 2/5 for edibility and
2/5 for medicinal use.
The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils.
The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils.
It cannot grow in the shade.
It requires moist soil.
The plant can tolerates strong winds but not maritime exposure.
Habitats and Possible Locations
Cultivated Beds.Edible Uses
Leaves
Seed.
Young leaves - cooked[105, 177]. A delicious taste, they are used as a
vegetable[179]. A nutritional analysis is available[218]. Some caution is
advised, see the notes above on toxicity.
Seed - dried and ground into a powder then mixed with cereals when making
bread, biscuits etc[61, 105, 177]. Very small and fiddly to use, it is also
not a very reliable crop in Britain due to its late season of flowering[K].
On a zero moisture basis, the seed contains 20.4 - 27.5% protein, 8.8 - 16%
fat and 3.4 - 9.4% ash[218]. Composition
- Seed (Dry weight)
-
In grammes per 100g weight of food:
Water: 0
Protein: 24
Fat: 12.4
Ash: 6.4
Source: [218]
Notes
: The values here are based on the median figures of those quoted in the report.
- Leaves (Dry weight)
-
In grammes per 100g weight of food:
Water: 0
Protein: 21.5
Fat: 2.4
Carbohydrate: 56.8
Fibre: 19.7
Ash: 19.2
Source: [218]
Medicinal Uses
Disclaimer
Antibacterial
Antifungal Antiphlogistic Astringent Cardiotonic Diuretic Skin.
Antibacterial, antifungal[178].
The leaves and fruits are cardiotonic and diuretic[218, 240].
The stems are used in the treatment of dysentery, diarrhoea and
dyspepsia[218].
The seed is antiphlogistic, astringent and diuretic[176, 218]. It is used to
treat skin infections such as eczema ad scabies, and diseases of the urinary
tract[176, 218, 279]. The seed contains harmine, which can have adverse
effects upon the gastro-intestinal tract and the central nervous system[279].
Other Uses
Broom.
The whole plant is used as a broom[61, 151]. The green form is used[1].
Cultivation details
An easily grown plant[200], it succeeds in ordinary garden soil[1].
Succeeds in any reasonably fertile light well-drained but moisture retentive
soil in a sunny position[200].
A frost tender plant, it is grown as a spring-sown annual in Britain[1].
This species is cultivated in Korea for its use as a broom[151].
The subspecies B. scoparia trichophylla. (Schmeiss.)Schinz.& Thell. is the
form most often found in cultivation in Britain[200].
Propagation
Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse and plant out in May. The seed can
also be sown in situ in late April or early May.
Suppliers
For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.
Web References
References for Chenopodium scoparia (a possible synonym).
- [H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
References for Kochia scoparia (a possible synonym).
References for the family Chenopodiaceae.
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]).
[60] Hitchcock. C. L. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press 1955
A standard flora for Western N. America with lots of information on habitat etc. Five large volumes, it is 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.
[151] Wilson. E. H. and Trollope. M. N. Corean Flora. Royal Asiatic Society 1918
A very small handbook, it does give a little bit of information on Korean plants.
[176] Yeung. Him-Che. Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas. Institute of Chinese Medicine, Los Angeles 1985
A very good Chinese herbal.
[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.
[178] Stuart. Rev. G. A. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre
A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.
[179] Reid. B. E. Famine Foods of the Chiu-Huang Pen-ts'ao. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre 1977
A translation of an ancient Chinese book on edible wild foods. Fascinating.
[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.
[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.
[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
Readers Comments
Bassia scoparia
Majid Jami Al-Ahmadi
(majid.jami@wali.um.ac.ir)
Sat Jan 18 07:33:38 2003
I am a Ph-D student of crop physiology. i want to work about domestication of kochia scoparia as a foliage crop for saline soils of iran. I`m searching information about this plant from an agronomical prospective, but the little information is available in this field. I would appreciated anyone who can help me and send me some information about this crop. we can establish a mutual relation.
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