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Wyethia angustifolia

Common name:	California Compass Plant	Family:	Compositae
Author:	(DC.)Nutt.	Botanical references:	71, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Western N. America - Washington to California.
Habitat:	Seasonally moist meadows[200], open grassy slopes to 1600 metres in California[71].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	W. angustifolia var. foliosa[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	California Compassplant [P], California-compassplant [B],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	angustifolia = narrow leaved
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Asterales. Renamed to Asteraceae -- Aster family

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1m. It is hardy to zone 9. It is in flower from August to October. 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 moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Leaves Seed.

Seed - cooked. They can be used as a piñ ole[168, 257]. The seed can be dried, ground into a powder and used as a thickener in soups or can be added to cereal flours when making bread etc[168, 257].
Young leaves - raw[168].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Diaphoretic Febrifuge Poultice.

A poultice of the pounded root has been used to draw blisters[257].
A decoction of the leaves has been used as a bath to promote perspiration and thereby treat fevers[257].

Other Uses

Dye.

A lemon-yellow dye is obtained from the flowers[168].
A gold to brass dye is obtained from the flowers, leaves and stems[168].

Cultivation details

Requires a free-draining, gritty but moisture-retentive soil in a sunny position[200]. Plants are intolerant of drought[200].
According to [200] this species requires climatic zone 9, meaning that it can only tolerate occasional light frosts. This is somewhat questionable since the plant's native range extends northwards to Washington where the winter temperatures often fall much lower than this.

Propagation

Seed - we have no information on this species but suggest sowing the seed in a greenhouse or cold frame in early spring. Use a very freely-draining compost, prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle and plant out into their permanent positions when they are large enough.
Careful division of the crown as the plants come into growth in spring[200].

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.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant 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

[71] Munz. A California Flora. University of California Press 1959
An excellent flora but no pictures. Not for the casual reader.

[168] Grae. I. Nature's Colors - Dyes from Plants. MacMillan Publishing Co. New York. 1974 ISBN 0-02-544950-8
A very good and readable book on dyeing.

[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.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. 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.
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?Wyethia+angustifolia
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Wyethia+angustifolia

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