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Dracocephalum heterophyllum

Common name:		Family:	Labiatae
Author:	Benth.	Botanical references:	51, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	E. Asia - Himalayas from Pakistan to S.E. Tibet.
Habitat:	Open slopes in dry areas[51]. Stony slopes of mountain streams, pebbles, clayey, stony and sometimes sandy mountain slopes[74].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	draco = dragon heterophyllum = differently leaved
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Lamiales. Renamed to Lamiaceae -- Mint family

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.3m. It is hardy to zone 7. 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, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Root.

Root - cooked[105, 177].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Grows best in a sunny position in a fertile well-drained soil according to some reports[200, 245] whilst other reports say that it prefers a cool position and some shade[1, 175]. Prefers some shelter and a moist but not wet soil[175].

Propagation

Seed - sow in an outdoor seedbed in April/May. The seed usually germinates in 1 - 4 weeks at 15° c[175].
If seed is in short supply then we would recommend sowing it in a pot in a cold frame, potting it up as soon as it is large enough to handle and growing it on in the frame for the first winter, planting out in late spring.
Division in spring or autumn[200].
Basal cuttings in April/May[1, 200]. Harvest the shoots when they are about 10 - 15cm long with plenty of underground stem. Pot them up into individual pots and keep them in light shade in a cold frame or greenhouse until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the summer.

Suppliers

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

Web References

[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant 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

[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]).

[51] Polunin. O. and Stainton. A. Flowers of the Himalayas. Oxford Universtiy Press 1984
A very readable and good pocket guide (if you have a very large pocket!) to many of the wild plants in the Himalayas. Gives many examples of plant uses.

[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.

[175] Bird. R. (Editor) Focus on Plants. Volume 5. (formerly 'Growing from seed') Thompson and Morgan. 1991
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. A good article on Corydalis spp.

[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.

[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.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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