Herb latin name: Apios fortunei


Family: Leguminosae



Medicinal use of Apios fortunei:

The root is tonic.

Description of the plant:



Plant:
Perennial

Habitat of the herb:

Woods and thickets, 600 - 1000 metres in W. China.

Edible parts of Apios fortunei:

Tuber - raw or cooked. It has a delicious flavour somewhat like sweet potatoes when roasted. The tuber can also be dried and ground into a powder. The tuber contains about 4.2% protein, 0.2% fat, 18.3% starch, 6% other carbohydrate, 1.3% ash.

Propagation of the herb:

Seed - pre-soak for 3 hours in tepid water and sow February/March in a cold frame. The seed usually germinates in 1 - 3 months at 15°C. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in light shade in the greenhouse for their first winter, planting them out in late spring or early summer. Division can be carried out at almost any time of the year, though spring is probably the best time. Simply dig up the roots, harvest the tubers and replant them where you want the plants to grow. It is also possible to harvest the tuber in winter, store them in a cool fairly dry but frost-free place over the winter and then plant them out in the spring. The tubers lose moisture rapidly once they have been harvested, so make sure that you store them in a damp medium such as leafmold.

Cultivation of Apios fortunei:

Woods and thickets, 600 - 1000 metres in W. China.

Known hazards of Apios fortunei:

None known

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.