Fedia cornucopiae
(L.) Gaertn.
African Valerian
(c) zebedeugalinha, some rights reserved (CC BY)
(c) lone_d, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) Duarte Frade, some rights reserved (CC BY)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Leaves
The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked and have a mild flavour. The plant quickly forms rosettes of leaves in hot weather, making it a useful option when corn salad is not available.
Where to Find It
It is a Mediterranean climate plant. They grow on rocky and stony places and waste land. They are often on sandy soils.
Africa, Algeria, Australia, Europe, France, Greece, Italy, Mediterranean*, North Africa, Portugal, Sicily, Spain,
How to Identify
A short herb. It is regularly branched. It does not have hairs. It is an annual plants and somewhat succulent. The leaves are spoon shaped and narrowly oval. The lower leaves have stalks and no teeth while the upper leaves have no stalks but have teeth. The flowers are purple with pink markings. They are 8-16 mm long. They are in clusters without stalks.
How to Grow
Propagation: Sow seed in early spring in a greenhouse. Once large enough to handle, prick seedlings into individual pots and plant out in late spring. Where seed is plentiful, it can be sown in situ in mid-spring. In areas that experience few frosts, an outdoor sowing in situ in early autumn will produce larger plants.
Medicinal Uses
None known.
Other Uses
None known.
Wikipedia
Fedia cornucopiae is a frost-hardy annual reaching 0.2 m tall. Flowers appear in July with seeds ripening August through September. The hermaphrodite flowers are insect-pollinated. It grows in light sandy, medium loamy, and heavy clay well-drained soils across mildly acid, neutral, and basic pH ranges. Requires full sun and tolerates both dry and moist soils.
Other Information
It is cultivated.
Names & Synonyms
Fedia, Horn
References (15)
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