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Cardamine bulbifera

Common name:	Coral Root	Family:	Cruciferae
Author:	(L.)Crantz.	Botanical references:	17
Synonyms:	Dentaria bulbifera (L.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Central Europe from Britain and France to Sweden, east to the Balkans, W. Asia and the Caucasus.
Habitat:	Very local in woods, usually on calcareous soils, in Devon, S.E. England, the Chilterns and Ayr[17]. A characteristic species of base-rich beech woodlands[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	bulbifer = bulb producing; bulbifera = bulb producing;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Capparales. Renamed to Brassicaceae -- Mustard family

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.45m. It is hardy to zone 4 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from April to June, and the seeds ripen from May to July. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. The plant 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. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soil. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Edible Uses

Leaves; Root.

Leaves - raw or cooked[K]. A hot cress-like flavour.
Bulbils - raw or cooked. They are rather small, about the size ofa lentil, but have a pleasant mild cress-like flavour[K].
Root - raw or cooked[K]. A hot flavour, it is pleasant but rather small[K].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Prefers a moist humus rich soil in shade or semi-shade[200].
The flowers are rarely visited by pollinating insects and seed is rarely set, propagation is carried out by means of bulbils formed on the axils of the upper leaf stems[17, K].

Propagation

Seed - best sown when ripe, otherwise sow it in the spring. If you have sufficient seed it can be sown in situ, otherwise it is best to sow it in pots in a cold frame. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and pant out in the summer.
The bulbils can be collected in early summer and potted up. Keep them in a cold frame over the winter and plant out when in active growth in the spring.

Suppliers

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

Web References

References for Dentaria bulbifera (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names 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

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[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

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

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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.