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Comandra richardsiana

Common name:	Bastard Toad Flax	Family:	Santalaceae
Author:	Fernald.	Botanical references:	43
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Eastern N. America - Newfoundland to Quebec and south to Kansas.
Habitat:	Calcareous, gravelly, sandy or marly soils[43].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	C. umbellata ssp. umbellata[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Bastard Toadflax [P],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Santalales. Sandalwood family

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.3m. . It is in flower from May to June. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 1/5 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 soils and can grow in very acid soil. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Fruit.

Fruit - raw[105]. Sweet and oily[177], it is delicious but only a few are produced[105]. The fruit is about 6mm in diameter[235].

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 should succeed outdoors in many parts of this country. It is quite possibly no more than a form of C. umbellata[235]. The following notes are based on the general needs of the genus.
Requires a well-drained moisture retentive lime-free soil[200].
A parasitic plant obtaining at least some of its nutrients from the roots of other plants[200, 235], we do not know the host species[K].

Propagation

Seed - stratify for 3 months at 5° c and then sow in the greenhouse in a pot with a suitable host. Plant out when it is well established close to a mature host plant[200].

Suppliers

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

Web References

[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Comandra umbellata ssp. umbellata (a possible synonym).

[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.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for the family Santalaceae.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

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?Comandra+richardsiana
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