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Elsholtzia ciliata

Common name:		Family:	Labiatae
Author:	(Thunb.)Hyl.	Botanical references:	43, 50
Synonyms:	Elsholtzia patrinii ((Lepech.)Garcke.), Elsholtzia cristata (Willd.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	N. Europe. N. America. N. Asia.
Habitat:	Roadsides, old fields etc in Eastern N. America[43]. Grassy areas in mountains in Korea[279].
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.
	Sideritis ciliata[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Crested Late-summer-mint [B], Crested Latesummer Mint [P], Elsholtzia [H], Hsiang Ju [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	ciliata = fringed with hairs
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Lamiales. Renamed to Lamiaceae -- Mint family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	China Japan(Ainu)

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.6m. It is hardy to zone 5. It is in flower from August to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. 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

Condiment Leaves.

Young leaves - raw or cooked[105, 177]. Finely cut then added to salads or used as a potherb[183].
The leaves can be used as an aromatic condiment for vegetable dishes[183].
The powdered seeds are used as a condiment for flavouring foodstuffs[272].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antibacterial Antipyretic Antiviral Astringent Carminative Depurative Diaphoretic Diuretic Stomachic.

The plant is antibacterial, antipyretic, antiviral, astringent, carminative, diaphoretic, diuretic and stomachic[61, 176, 178, 279]. Its use is said to relieve the effects of excess alcohol[61, 178]. It is used in the treatment of common colds, fevers, headaches, diarrhoea, oedema and oliguria[176, 279]. The plant has a broad-spectrum antibacterial action[176].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

An easily grown plant, it succeeds in most soils.
Cultivated for ornament in N. and E. Europe[50].

Propagation

Seed - sow late spring in situ[200].

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
[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.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Elsholtzia cristata (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.

References for elsholtzia ciliata (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[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.

[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.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. 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.

[176] Yeung. Him-Che. Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas. Institute of Chinese Medicine, Los Angeles 1985
A very good Chinese herbal.

[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.

[178] Stuart. Rev. G. A. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre
A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.

[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.

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
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