Antennaria dioica

(L.) Gaertn.

AsteraceaeLeavesSpice/Beverage

medicinalornamental

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(c) akolter, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

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(c) Bernhard Fischer, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Bernhard Fischer

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(c) Alexander Yakovlev, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Alexander Yakovlev

What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves - tea

None known

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant. It grows on dry slopes on tundra, meadows and pine forests between 600-2,700 m above sea level. It suits hardiness zones 5-9.

Alaska, Albania, Asia, Central Asia, China, Estonia, Europe, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mongolia, North America, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland, USA,

Countries: Andorra, United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Antigua & Barbuda, Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Barbados, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bahrain, Brunei, Bahamas, Bhutan, Belarus, Belize, Canada, Switzerland, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Grenada, Georgia, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Croatia, Haiti, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Iceland, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, St Kitts & Nevis, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, St Lucia, Liechtenstein, Sri Lanka, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Monaco, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Myanmar, Mongolia, Malta, Maldives, Mexico, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Netherlands, Norway, Nepal, Oman, Panama, Philippines, Pakistan, Poland, Puerto Rico, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Serbia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovakia, San Marino, El Salvador, Syria, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Trinidad & Tobago, Taiwan, Ukraine, United States, Uzbekistan, St Vincent, Vietnam, Yemen

How to Identify

A herb. It keeps growing from year to year. It grows 3-10 cm tall. It has stolons or runners 2-5 cm long. The leaves at the base are spoon shaped and 3-18 mm long by 3-6 mm wide. They have a grey coating underneath. The leaves on the stem are narrow and 7-13 mm long.

How to Grow

Propagation: Seed - sow spring in cold frame and only just cover the seed. Do not allow the soil to dry out. The seed germinates in 1 -2 months at 15°c. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and plant them out in late spring of the following year. Division in spring or autumn. Fairly easy, the divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions if required.

Medicinal Uses

Antitussive Astringent Cholagogue Diuretic Emollient Catsfoot has been little used in herbal medicine though it was once used in mixtures for the treatment of bronchitis and bilious conditions. The whole plant is antitussive, astringent, cholagogue, discutient, diuretic and emollient. The plant is very rich in mucilage which makes it very valuable in the treatment of chest complaints. It is also used in the treatment of liver and gall bladder complaints, hepatitis and diarrhoea. Externally it is used as a gargle for treating tonsillitis and as a douche for vaginitis. The herb is gathered in May before it comes into flower and can be dried for later use.

Other Uses

A good ground cover plant for sunny positions. Rather slow to spread, however, and it requires weeding for at least the first year. Plants form a carpet and root as they spread. Special Uses Food Forest Ground cover

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Antennaria dioica (mountain everlasting, stoloniferous pussytoes, catsfoot or cudweed) is a Eurasian species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is a perennial herb found in cool northern and mountainous regions of Europe and northern Asia (Russia, Mongolia, Japan, Kazakhstan, China (Xinjiang, Heilongjiang, Gansu) and the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.

Notes

There are about 45 Antennaria species. They are temperate plants. It is used as a medicine.

Names & Synonyms

Kassikapp, Navadna majnica

Antennaria insularis GreeneGnaphalium dioica L.and several others

References (11)

Abbet, C., et al, 2014, Ethnobotanical survey on wild alpine food plants in Lower and Central Valais (Switzerland). Journal of Ethnopharmacology 151 (2014) 624–634 (As Gnaphalium dioicum)
Beckstrom-Sternberg, Stephen M., and James A. Duke. "The Foodplant Database." http://probe.nalusda.gov:8300/cgi-bin/browse/foodplantdb.(ACEDB version 4.0 - data version July 1994)
Cormack, R. G. H., 1967, Wild Flowers of Alberta. Commercial Printers Edmonton, Canada. p 343 (Other species)
Cundall, P., (ed.), 2004, Gardening Australia: flora: the gardener's bible. ABC Books. p 159 (Genus)
Brown, D., 2002, The Royal Horticultural Society encyclopedia of Herbs and their uses. DK Books. p 123 (A. dioica as medicine)
Hibbert, M., 2002, The Aussie Plant Finder 2002, Florilegium. p 29 (Other species)
Jackes, D. A., Edible Forest Gardens
Kalle, R. & Soukand, R., 2012, Historical ethnobotanical review of wild edible plants of Estonia (1770s-1960s) Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 81(4):271-281
Pieroni, A.,& Giusti, M. E., 2009, Alpine Ethnobotany in Italy: Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 5:32
Porsild, A.E., 1974, Rocky Mountain Wild Flowers. Natural History Series No. 2 National Museums of Canada. p 386 (Genus)
Urgamal, M., Oyuntsetseg, B., Nyambayar, D. & Dulamsuren, Ch. 2014. Conspectus of the vascular plants of Mongolia. (Editors: Sanchir, Ch. & Jamsran, Ts.). Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. “Admon“ Press. 334pp. (p. 199-230).