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Calligonum aphyllum

Common name:		Family:	Polygonaceae
Author:	(Pall.)Gürke.	Botanical references:	1, 50, 266
Synonyms:	Calligonum pallasia (L'Hér.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Europe to Asia - Caspian Sea.
Habitat:	Sandy soils in dry arid regions[1, 50].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Pterococcus aphyllus[G]
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	aphyllum = leafless;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Polygonales. Buckwheat family

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen shrub growing to 1.2m. It is hardy to zone 4. It is in leaf all year, in flower in May, and the seeds ripen in July. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Cultivated Beds, Sunny Edge.

Edible Uses

Fruit; Gum; Leaves.

Young shoots - cooked[105].
An edible gum or mucilage is obtained from the leaves[105].
The pounded root furnishes an edible mucilaginous substance resembling gum tragacanth (see Ferula species)[2, 177].
One report says that the plant has an edible fruit[105]. This possibly refers to the seed.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires a dryish sunny position and a sandy loam[1]. Plants are tolerant of extreme cold but they are impatient of shade or excessive moisture[1].

Propagation

Seed - we have no information on this species. The seed is probably best sown in late winter in a greenhouse. Prick out the seedlings when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant out in early summer of the following year.

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

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

References for the family Polygonaceae.

[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

[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]).

[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.

[50] ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964
An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. 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.

[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.

[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?Calligonum+aphyllum
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Calligonum+aphyllum

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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.