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Thelesperma gracile

Common name:		Family:	Compositae
Author:	(Torr.)Gray.	Botanical references:	43, 235
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Central and western N. America - Nebraska and Wyoming to Texas, Mexico and Arizona.
Habitat:	Dry plains, prairies and roadsides[43].
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.
	Bidens megapotamica[B,P] T. megapotamicum[B,C,CAL,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Colorado Greenthread [S], Cota [S], Greenthread, Colorado [S], Hopi Tea Greenthread [P], Hopi-tea [B], Navajo Tea [S],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	gracile = thin, slender;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Asterales. Renamed to Asteraceae -- Aster family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Us(Amerindian)

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.75m. . The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) 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.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Flowers; Tea.

Flower buds[183]. No further details are given.
A tea is made from the leaves and dried flowers[61, 161, 177]. The flowers and leaf tips are dried in an oven and then boiled for a very short time[216]. When well made it is delicious, with just a hint of mint in its aftertaste[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Dye.

A fine reddish-brown basketry and textile dye is obtained from the plant[216]. No more details.

Cultivation details

Succeeds in any moderately fertile well-drained soil in full sun[200].
This species is not very hardy outdoors in Britain, usually requiring cold greenhouse treatment[1].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in situ, only just covering the seed. In dry weather the seed should be watered in.
Division might be possible.

Suppliers

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

Web References

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Thelesperma megapotamicum (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.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants 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

[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]).

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[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.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. 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.

[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.

[216] Whiting. A. F. Ethnobotany of the Hopi North Arizona Society of Science and Art 1939
A very good guide the the plant uses of the N. American Hopi Indians.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

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

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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.