natural herbs
Tolmie Startulip
Calochortus tolmiei

• Medicinal herbs
• Natural herbs
• Latin names
• Common names

Herb: Tolmie Startulip

Latin name: Calochortus tolmiei

Synonyms: Calochortus caerulens, Calochortus maweanus

Family: Calochortaceae

Edible parts of Tolmie Startulip:

Bulb - raw or cooked. A sweet flavour, it can be baked or boiled like potatoes.

Description of the plant:

Habitat of the herb:

Dry, usually rocky, soils on brushy slopes. Open stony places in montane coniferous forests, 1000 - 2200 metres.

Propagation of Tolmie Startulip:

Seed - sow as soon as ripe or early spring in a cold frame in a very sharply draining medium. Stratification may be helpful. Germination usually takes place within 1 - 6 months at 15°C. Leave the seedlings undisturbed for their first two years growth, but give them an occasional liquid feed to ensure they do not become nutrient deficient. It is quite difficult to get the seedlings through their first period of dormancy since it is all too easy either to dry them out completely or keep them too moist when they will rot. After their second year of growth, pot up the dormant bulbs in late summer and grow them on for at least another 2 years in the greenhouse before trying them outside. Seedlings take about 5 - 7 years to come into flower. Division of the bulbs as soon as the foliage dies down. One report says that the bulbs must be planted into their permanent positions immediately, whilst another says that they can be stored overwinter and replanted in the spring. Stem bulbils, harvested from the stems after flowering. They can be stored cool and dry then planted in pots in the cold frame in the spring.

Cultivation of the herb:

Dry, usually rocky, soils on brushy slopes. Open stony places in montane coniferous forests, 1000 - 2200 metres.

Medicinal use of Tolmie Startulip:

None known

Known hazards of Calochortus tolmiei:

None known

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.