Anaphalis margaritacea

What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves

Young leaves are edible when cooked.

Where to Find It

A temperate plant. It grows in open woods. It grows in shady slopes in Pakistan between 700-1,300 m above sea level. It can tolerate drought and frost. In China it grows in pine forests and in dry soils and sub-alpine meadows between 300-3,400 m above sea level. It suits hardiness zones 3-9. In Sichuan and Yunnan.

Alaska*, Asia, Australia, Bhutan, Britain, Canada, China, Europe, France, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Nepal, North America, NW India, Pakistan, Russia, SE Asia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Tibet, USA, Vietnam,

How to Identify

A perennial daisy family herb. It grows 80-100 cm high and spreads 40-60 cm wide. The leaves are grey-green above and have white hairs underneath. The leaves are 7-13 cm long by 2 cm wide. The edges are wavy. The flower heads are 11 mm across. The flowers are clustered. These are 15 cm across. The fruit is a dry warty achene.

How to Grow

Plants are grown by seeds.

Propagation: Sow seed in spring in a cold frame, though sowing when ripe in autumn typically gives the best results. Germination usually occurs in 4–8 weeks at 15°C. Once large enough to handle, prick seedlings into individual pots and overwinter in a cold frame, then plant out in late spring or early summer after the last expected frosts. Division is straightforward at almost any time of year and divisions can be planted directly into their permanent positions if needed.

Medicinal Uses

Pearly everlasting was widely used medicinally by native North American Indian tribes but sees little use in modern herbalism. The whole plant is anodyne, antiseptic, astringent, expectorant, and sedative. Taken internally, it is a good remedy for diarrhoea, dysentery, and pulmonary complaints. A poultice of the flowers or whole plant is applied to burns, sores, ulcers, bruises, swellings, and rheumatic joints. An infusion of the plant can be steamed and inhaled to treat headaches. A cooled infusion of the roots and shoots has been used as a laxative and emetic to treat 'poison stomach'.

Other Uses

Yellow to gold, green, and brown dyes can be obtained from the flowers, stems, and leaves combined. The leaves, flowers, and stems have been used as incense, particularly in baby cradles.

Anaphalis margaritacea, commonly known as the western pearly everlasting or pearly everlasting, is an Asian and North American species of flowering perennial plant in the family Asteraceae.

Notes

There are about 100 Anaphalis species.

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