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Paronychia capitata

Common name:	Algerian Tea	Family:	Caryophyllaceae
Author:	(L.)Lam.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Europe - Mediterranean.
Habitat:	Dry rocky habitats[200].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	capitata = with a head
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Caryophyllales. Pink family

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen perennial growing to 0.03m by 0.3m . It is hardy to zone 5. It is in leaf all year, in flower from July to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. 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 cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds, In Walls, In South Wall, In East Wall, In West Wall, Ground Cover.

Edible Uses

Tea.

An infusion of the flowers is used as a tea[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Aphrodisiac Diuretic TB.

An infusion of the leaves is aphrodisiac and diuretic[200]. It is also used in the treatment of TB[200].

Other Uses

Ground cover.

Especially useful as a ground cover plant with bulbs, covering the soil after the bulbs have flowered[200, 208]. The plants form a low carpet, rooting as they spread, and they should be spaced about 30cm apart each way[208].

Cultivation details

Requires a sunny position succeeding in hot dry soils and tolerating drought once established[190]. Requires a warm open position in full sun, in a sharply drained sandy or gritty soil. If the soil is too rich the plants leaves will not be so silvery[200]. Plants can be grown in a wall[200].
This species is not hardy in the colder areas of the country, it tolerates temperatures down to between -5 and -10° c, perhaps more if in a perfectly drained soil[200]. This report is a little confusing since the same article says that the plant succeeds in climatic zone 5 and should therefore be hardy in almost all of Britain[K].
This species is closely related to P. argentea but is less tolerant of winter cold and wet conditions[200].

Propagation

Seed - we have no information for this species but suggest sowing the seed in spring in a greenhouse. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Division in spring[200].

Suppliers

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

Web References

[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Caryophyllaceae.

[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

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

[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.

[190] Chatto. B. The Dry Garden. Dent 1982 ISBN 0460045512
A good list of drought resistant plants with details on how to grow them.

[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.

[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.

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

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