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Picris echioides

Common name:	Bristly Ox-Tongue	Family:	Compositae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17, 200
Synonyms:	Helmintia echioides ((L.)Gaertn.), Helminthotheca echioides ((L.)Holub.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	S. Europe. Possibly native but certainly established in Britain.
Habitat:	Roadsides, hedgebanks, field margins and waste places, usually on stiff and calcareous soils[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.
	Helmintha echioides[H] Helminthia echioides[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Bristly Ox-tongue [H], Bristly Oxtongue [B,P,L], Dubbelkelk [D], Ox-tongue [H], Prickly Oxtongue [L], Raspasayo [E],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Asterales. Renamed to Asteraceae -- Aster family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Spain

Physical Characteristics

Annual/Biennial growing to 0.9m by 0.4m . It is hardy to zone 6 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from June to October, and the seeds ripen from July to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees, flies and Apomictic (reproduce by seeds formed without sexual fusion). 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, requires well-drained soil and can grow in heavy clay soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soil. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Meadow, Hedgerow.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

Young leaves - raw or cooked[2, 4, 105, 173]. Not wonderful raw, the leaves are slightly better cooked[173]. A rather bitter flavour[K].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Succeeds in most soils[200]. Dislikes shade.
Wild plants are an indicator of calcareous soils[200].
Seed is often produced apomictically[17]. Any seedlings from this seed will be genetically identical to the parent plant.

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in situ, only just covering the seed. Germination should take place quite quickly.

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]
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany 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.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[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 Helmintha echioides (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database

References for Helminthia echioides (a possible synonym).

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.

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.

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[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.

[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.

[173] Crowe. A. Native Edible Plants of New Zealand. Hodder and Stoughton 1990 ISBN 0-340-508302
A very well written and illustrated book based on the authors own experiments with living on a native diet.

[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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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.
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This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Picris+echioides
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