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Heuchera diversifolia

Common name:	Alum Root	Family:	Saxifragaceae
Author:	Rydb.	Botanical references:	204
Synonyms:	Heuchera micrantha diversifolia ((Rydb.)Rossend.Butters.& Lakela.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Western N. America - British Columbia to California
Habitat:	Moist banks of humus and rocks in woodland below 600 metres, from British Columbia to California. Gravelly banks and rock crevices from low elevations to the sub-alpine zone[204].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	H. micrantha var. diversifolia[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Crevice Alumroot [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	diversifolia = many shaped leaves
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Rosales. Saxifrage family

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen perennial growing to 0.6m by 0.4m . It is hardy to zone 5 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 2/5 for edibility and 1/5 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, Cultivated Beds, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade, Ground Cover.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

Young leaves - cooked. Not very palatable[172].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antiphlogistic Antiseptic Astringent Febrifuge Ophthalmic.

The root is antiphlogistic, antiseptic, astringent, febrifuge and ophthalmic[94, 172].

Other Uses

Ground cover Mordant.

The root can be used as an alum substitute, this is a mordant used in fixing dyes[168, 172]. The root is rich in tannin, is this the active ingredient that acts as a mordant?[172].
A good ground cover plant for the woodland garden[200]. Plants should be spaced about 30cm 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].
Plants are hardy to about -15° c[187].
Apt to hybridize with other members of this genus[111].
This species is probably best treated as a sub-species of H. micrantha.

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

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

References for Heuchera micrantha var. diversifolia (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 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]).

[94] Sweet. M. Common Edible and Useful Plants of the West. Naturegraph Co. 1962 ISBN 0-911010-54-8
Useful wild plants in Western N. America. A pocket guide.

[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.

[172] Schofield. J. J. Discovering Wild Plants - Alaska, W. Canada and the Northwest.
A nice guide to some useful plants in that area.

[187] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Perennials Volumes 1 and 2. Pan Books 1991 ISBN 0-330-30936-9
Photographs of over 3,000 species and cultivars of ornamental plants together with brief cultivation notes, details of habitat etc.

[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.

[204] Livingstone. B. Flora of Canada National Museums of Canada 1978 ISBN 0-660-00025-3
In 4 volumes, it does not deal with plant uses but gives descriptions and habitats.

[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.

[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.

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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