Carpesium abrotanoides

What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves

The cooked leaves have a sweet flavour, though they carry a fox-like smell.

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant. It can withstand frost. It can grow on a range of soils. It can grow in light shade. It needs moist soil. In China it grows on grassy slopes and near streams below 2,800 m above sea level. In Sichuan and Yunnan.

Afghanistan, Asia, Bhutan, Caucasus, China, Europe, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Iran. Japan, Korea, Laos, Middle East, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, SE Asia, Taiwan, Tibet, Vietnam,

How to Identify

A herb. It grows 1 m tall. The stems are stout and leafy. It is hairy towards the top. The lower leaves are thin and oblong. They are 20-28 cm long by 9-15 cm wide. The edges have irregular teeth.

How to Grow

We have very little information on this species and do not know if it will be hardy in Britain, though judging by its native range it should succeed outdoors in many parts of this country. See the plants native habitat for ideas on its cultivation needs.

Propagation: Sow seed in spring in a cold frame, barely covering it and keeping the compost moist at all times. Prick seedlings out into individual pots once large enough to handle, and grow on in a cold frame for at least their first winter. Plant out into permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Can also be propagated by division in spring.

Medicinal Uses

The whole plant is alterative, antiscorbutic, astringent, depurative, discutient, emetic, expectorant, febrifuge, laxative, and vulnerary. A decoction is used to treat bronchitis, tonsillitis, boils, ulcers, and snakebites. The stem juice treats insect bites and is also an effective remedy for sore throat. A decoction of the fruit is vermifuge. The seed is antiphlogistic, diuretic, laxative, pectoral, and vermifuge, and is used to expel roundworms, tapeworms, and pinworms — a 20% concentrate of seed decoction cured 69% of children with worms and produced improvement in a further 19%. The root is diuretic and vermifuge.

Other Uses

The seed has insecticidal properties, and there is a separate report suggesting the plant as a whole may share this quality.

A perennial plant reaching 1m in height, flowering September to November with seeds ripening October to November. The species is hermaphroditic and insect-pollinated. It adapts to light, medium, or heavy soils with mildly acid to mildly alkaline pH. The plant grows in semi-shade or full light and prefers moist soil conditions.

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