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Chenopodium botrys

Common name:	Jerusalem Oak	Family:	Chenopodiaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	43, 200, 266
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	The leaves and seeds of all members of this genus are more or less edible. However, many of the species in this genus contain saponins, though usually in quantities too small to do any harm. Although toxic, saponins are poorly absorbed by the body and most pass straight through without any problem. They are also broken down to a large extent in the cooking process. Saponins are found in many foods, such as some beans. 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]. The plants also contain some oxalic acid, which in large quantities can lock up some of the nutrients in the food. However, even considering this, they are very nutritious vegetables in reasonable quantities. Cooking the plants will reduce their content of oxalic acid. People with a tendency to rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones or hyperacidity should take especial caution if including this plant in their diet since it can aggravate their condition[238].
Range:	S. Europe to C. Asia.
Habitat:	Waste places, roadsides and disturbed soil in eastern N. America[43]. Valleys, river terraces, around houses and roadsides in Tibet[266].
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.
	Botrydium botrys[B,P] Teloxys botrys[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Ambrosia [H], Ambrosia Jerusalem Oak [H], Biengranada [E], Druifkruid [D], Feather Geranium [H], Jerusalem Oak [H], Jerusalem Oak Goosefoot [P], Jerusalem-Oak [L], Jerusalem-oak [B],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	botrys = grape
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Caryophyllales. Goosefoot family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Europe France Spain

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.6m. . It is in flower from July to October, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Wind. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Leaves Seed Tea.

Leaves - cooked[106, 177, 183]. A popular vegetable[105] (the report does not say where!). The raw leaves should only be eaten in small quantities, see the notes above on toxicity.
Seed - cooked. It can be ground into a meal and used with flour in making bread etc[106, 177]. The seed is small and fiddly, it should be soaked in water overnight and thoroughly rinsed before it is used in order to remove any saponins.
The leaves are a tea substitute[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Anthelmintic Antiasthmatic.

The plant is antiasthmatic. It is also used in the treatment of catarrh[145].
The plant has been used as an anthelmintic as a substitute for C. ambrosioides[240, 257]. It contains 0.04% essential oil, but this oil does not contain the active ingredient ascaridol[240].

Other Uses

Dye Essential Repellent.

Gold/green dyes can be obtained from the whole plant[168].
The dried plant is a moth repellent. The aromatic and ornamental flower spikes are used[1, 74, 200].
The whole plant is very aromatic and is used as a scent in pillows, bags, baskets etc[207, 257].

Cultivation details

An easily grown plant, succeeding in most soils but disliking shade[1, 200]. It prefers a moderately fertile soil[200].
The Jerusalem oak is occasionally cultivated for its edible leaves, there is at least one named variety, developed in the Netherlands. 'Green Magic' is a cultivar with a delicious nutty flavour[183]. It can be harvested just 31 days after sowing[183].
The dried flower spikes are aromatic and ornamental[1, 200]. The leaves emit an agreeable aromatic smell when they are handled[245].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in situ. Most of the seed usually germinates within a few days of sowing.

Scent

Plant: Crushed Dried: The dried flower spikes are aromatic.

Cultivars

'Green Magic': A cultivar with a delicious nutty flavour[183]. A vigorous plant, it can be harvested just 31 days after sowing[183].

Suppliers

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

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[L] Scientific and Common Names (some photos) from Lepidoptera and some other life forms
[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.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Chenopodiaceae.

[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

[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]).

[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.

[74] Komarov. V. L. Flora of the USSR. Israel Program for Scientific Translation 1968
An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers.

[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.

[106] Coon. N. The Dictionary of Useful Plants. Rodale Press 1975 ISBN 0-87857-090-x
Interesting reading but short on detail.

[145] Singh. Dr. G. and Kachroo. Prof. Dr. P. Forest Flora of Srinagar. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh 1976
A good flora of the western Himalayas but poorly illustrated. Some information on plant uses.

[168] Grae. I. Nature's Colors - Dyes from Plants. MacMillan Publishing Co. New York. 1974 ISBN 0-02-544950-8
A very good and readable book on dyeing.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

[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.

[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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