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Vallisneria spiralis

Common name:	Eel Grass	Family:	Hydrocharitaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	50, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Southern Europe, north to France south to the tropics. Naturalized in Britain[17].
Habitat:	Still and flowing water[50]. In Britain it is found in ponds that are heated by the effluent from mills[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	V. americana[B,G,HORTIPLEX,P] V. asiatica[B,P] V. neotropicalis[B,P] V. spiralis auct. non[P] V. spiralis var. asiatica[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	American Eel-grass [B], American Eelgrass [P], K'U Ts'Ao [E], Vallisneria [D],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	spiralis = spiraled
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Hydrocharitales. Tape-grass family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	China

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen perennial. It is hardy to zone 8. It is in leaf all year, in flower from June to October. The flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required) and are pollinated by Water. The plant not is self-fertile. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It can grow in water.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Pond.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

Young leaves - raw[46, 61, 105]. The dried leaves contain 14.1% ash, 1154mg calcium, 3205mg phosphorus and 141mg iron per 100g[218].

Composition

Leaves (Dry weight): In grammes per 100g weight of food:
Water: 0 Ash: 14.1
In milligrammes per 100g weight of food:
Calcium: 1154 Phosphorus: 3205 Iron: 141
Source: [218]

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Appetizer Demulcent Refrigerant Stomachic Women's complaints.

The plant is aperitif, demulcent, refrigerant, stomachic and is also used in the treatment of women's complaints[178, 218, 240].
The plant is used in the treatment of leucorrhoea[178, 218] and is made into a tea with Sesame (Sesamum indicum) to improve the appetite[218].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

A water plant for a large aquarium or for deep water outdoors[1], it prefers slightly acid conditions in a sunny position[200].
This species is not very hardy in Britain, though it should succeed outdoors in the mildest areas of the country[200].
A valuable water oxygenator[200].
The leaves can be up to 1 metre long[1].
Dioecious, male and female plants must be grown if seed is required. Male flowers are produced below the surface of the water and females are produced on the surface. Fertilization takes place when male flowers break off the plant, float to the surface and fall into a slight depression formed by the female flowers on the surface of the water[274].

Propagation

Seed - we have no information on this species but suggest sowing the seed in a warm greenhouse as soon as it is ripe. Lay the seed on the surface of a pot of soil and immerse this in water. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in water in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Division of rooted runners in the growing season.

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.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Vallisneria americana (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.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Hydrocharitaceae.

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

[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]).

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[178] Stuart. Rev. G. A. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre
A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.

[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.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

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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