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Hippuris vulgaris

Common name:	Common Marestail	Family:	Hippuridaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17
Synonyms:	Hippuris tetraphylla (L.f.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Most of Europe, including Britain, south and east to N. Africa, western and northern Asia.
Habitat:	Pond margins, ditches etc, preferring base-rich water[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Common Mare's-tail [B], Common Marestail [P], Four-leaf Mare's-tail [B], Fourleaf Marestail [P], Lidsteng [D], Mare's Tail [H], Mare's-tail [L],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	vulgaris = common
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Callitrichales. Mare's-tail family

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.5m. . It is in flower from June to July. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Wind. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 1/5 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 wet soil and can grow in water.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Pond, Bog Garden.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

Leaves and young shoots - raw or cooked[46, 61, 85, 257]. Used to make soups[257]. They are best harvested from autumn to spring, even the brown overwintered stems in spring can be used[172].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Vulnerary.

The whole plant is an effective vulnerary, the juice being taken internally or applied externally[4, 172].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires a wet soil or shallow water, preferring one that is base-rich[17]. Dislikes shade.
Plants have a spreading root system and can be very invasive[1].

Propagation

Seed. We have no details on this species but suggest sowing it as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. The plant spreads vegetatively so vigorously, however, that you probably won't have to worry about growing it from seed.
Division in spring. Division is very easy and can be carried out at any time in the growing season. The divisions can be replanted direct into their permanent positions.

Suppliers

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

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[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.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Hippuris tetraphylla (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 Hippuridaceae.

To be included in 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.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. 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.

[85] Harrington. H. D. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press 1967 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9
A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants.

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

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

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?Hippuris+vulgaris
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Hippuris+vulgaris

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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.