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Heuchera americana

Common name:	Rock Geranium	Family:	Saxifragaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	43, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Eastern N. America - Southern Ontario to Connecticut and Michigan, south to Oklahoma and Georgia.
Habitat:	Loamy woods and shady calcareous slopes and rocks[43].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	3

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	H. americanus[Sn2]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Alumroot [E], American Alumroot [B,P,S],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	cana = grayed due to hairs
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Rosales. Saxifrage family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Us Us(Amerindian)

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen perennial growing to 0.45m by 0.3m . It is hardy to zone 4 and is not frost tender. It is in leaf all year, in flower from July to August, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees. We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 3/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) 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

Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge, Ground Cover.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Astringent Cancer Vulnerary.

The root is very astringent and has been used in the treatment of cancer and also as an external remedy in sores, wounds, vaginal discharges and ulcers[207, 238]. It can be dried, ground into a powder and sprinkled onto wounds etc[213]. It is taken internally in the treatment of diarrhoea, dysentery and gastric ulcers[238]. It should be used with some caution since excess irritates the stomach and can cause kidney and liver failure[238]. The root is harvested in the autumn and is dried for use in decoctions or as a powder[238].

Other Uses

Ground cover Mordant.

The root can be used as an alum substitute, this is a mordant that is used in fixing dyes[168]. The root is rich in tannin and it has been suggested that this is the mordant[168].
A good ground cover plant for the woodland garden[200]. Plants should be spaced about 35cm apart each way[208].

Cultivation details

Succeeds in any good sweet garden soil that does not dry out in spring[1]. Prefers full sun but tolerates partial shade[1, 111]. Prefers a well-drained fairly rich and not too heavy soil[111].
A polymorphic species[4], it is apt to hybridize with other members of this genus[111].

Propagation

Seed - sow early spring in a warm greenhouse and only just cover the seed. Germination is usually fairly rapid. Prick out the seedlings when they are large enough to handle and plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer.
The seed can also be sown in the middle of spring in an outdoor seedbed and planted out in early summer.
Alternatively, you can sow the seed in an outdoor seedbed in the middle of summer for planting out in the following spring.
Division in March or October[1, 111]. It is best to divide the plants in August or early September, making sure that the woody roots are planted quite deeply with only the crown of foliage above the ground[233].

Suppliers

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

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[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.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Heuchera americanus (a possible synonym).

[S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine

References for the family Saxifragaceae.

[CHINA] 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

[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]).

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[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.

[111] Sanders. T. W. Popular Hardy Perennials. Collingridge 1926
A fairly wide range of perennial plants that can be grown in Britain and how to grow them.

[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.

[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.

[208] Thomas. G. S. Plants for Ground Cover J. M. Dent & Sons 1990 ISBN 0-460-12609-1
An excellent detailled book on the subject, very comprehensive.

[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.

[233] Thomas. G. S. Perennial Garden Plants J. M. Dent & Sons, London. 1990 ISBN 0 460 86048 8
A concise guide to a wide range of perennials. Lots of cultivation guides, very little 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.

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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