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Najas graminea

Common name:		Family:	Najadaceae
Author:	Delile.	Botanical references:	50, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	S. Europe to E. Asia. Naturalized in Britain.
Habitat:	Rice fields and ditches[50]. Found in one pond in Britain that is warmed by industrial outflow[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Caulinia graminea[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Ricefield Waternymph [P,B],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	graminea = grass like;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Najadales. Water-nymph family

Physical Characteristics

Annual. It is hardy to zone 8. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by Water. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

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

Habitats and Possible Locations

Pond.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

Two reports say that the plant is edible but give no more details[105, 177]. The reports probably refer to the leaves[K].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

A water plant, succeeding in shallow fresh or brackish water[200].
This is one of the few genera of plants where fertilization takes place under the surface of the water[274].

Propagation

Seed - we have no information on this species but suggest sowing the seed in situ as soon as it is ripe if this is possible. Otherwise store the seed in water in a cool place and sow in situ in the spring.

Suppliers

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

Web References

[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 Najadaceae.

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

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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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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?Najas+graminea
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Najas+graminea

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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.