Menu list goes here

Herbal Database Search Results

Back to: Pathways Main Search Page For Metaphysical uses visit The Witchs Haven

Montia fontana

Common name:	Water Blinks	Family:	Portulacaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Temperate regions throughout the world, including Britain.
Habitat:	Streamsides, springs, flushes, wet places among rocks, moist pastures etc, especially on non-calcareous soils[17]. It is also found in arable fields in S.W. England[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Claytonia fontana[B] M. dipetala[B] M. fontana ssp. amporitana[B] M. fontana ssp. chondrosperma[B] M. fontana var. lamprosperma[B] M. fontana var. tenerrima[B] M. hallii[B] M. lamprosperma[B] M. minor[B] M. verna[B]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Annual Water Minerslettuce [P], Blinks [L], Bronkruid [D], Fountain Candy-flower [B],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	fontana = of a spring;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Caryophyllales. Purslane family

Physical Characteristics

Annual/Perennial growing to 0.5m. It is not frost tender. It is in flower from May to October, and the seeds ripen from June to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects and Cleistogomy (self-pollinating without flowers ever opening). The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist or wet soil and can grow in water.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Pond, Bog Garden, Woodland, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

Leaves - raw[46, 61, 177, 183]. Fairly bland, they are quite nice in a salad. The leaves can turn bitter in summer, especially if the plant is growing in a hot dry position.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Prefers a moist peaty soil.
A polymorphic species[17].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring or autumn in situ. The seed usually germinates rapidly.

Suppliers

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

Web References

[L] Scientific and Common Names (some photos) from Lepidoptera and some other life forms
[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.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Portulacaceae.

[CHINA] Draft 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

[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.

[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.

[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.

Readers Comments

Main Search Page

Bibliography

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

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
(You can copy, distribute, display this works but: Attribution is required, its for Non-Commercial purposes, and it's Share Alike (GNUish/copyleft) i.e. has an identical license.)
We also ask that you let us know (michael@thewitchshaven.com) if you link to, redistribute, make a derived work or do anything groovy with this information.

Home :: View Cart :: Shipping & Returns :: Contact Us :: Log In :: Privacy Policy :: Home :: Philosophy

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.