Herb: American Pipeweed


Latin name: Eriogonum inflatum


Family: Polygonaceae (Buckwheat Family)



Medicinal use of American Pipeweed:

The plant is used as a lotion for bear and dog bites.

Description of the plant:



Plant:
Perennial


Height:
60 cm
(2 feet)

Habitat of the herb:

Washes and mesas below 1800 metres in California.

Edible parts of American Pipeweed:

Young leaves and stems - raw or cooked. Tender. Eaten before flowering. Seed - pounded into a powder and eaten dry or mixed with water.

Other uses of the herb:

The stems can be cut at each end and used as drinking tubes.

Propagation of American Pipeweed:

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a sandy compost in a greenhouse. Sow stored seed in early spring in a warm greenhouse. As soon as they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant out in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division in early spring. This has to be done with care because the plant resents root disturbance. Try to obtain divisions from around the edges of the plants without digging up the whole clump. Tease the divisions out with as much root on them as possible and pot them up. Grow them on in light shade in the greenhouse until they are rooting well and plant them out in the summer. Cuttings of greenwood with a heel in the summer.

Cultivation of the herb:

Washes and mesas below 1800 metres in California.

Known hazards of Eriogonum inflatum:

None known

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.