Herb: Indian Potato


Latin name: Orogenia linearifolia


Family: Umbelliferae



Edible parts of Indian Potato:

Root - raw or cooked. The raw root tastes like potatoes. A pleasant crisp taste, though the outer skin has a slightly bitter taste. The root is available at almost any time of the year, its only drawback is that it is a bit small and fiddly to harvest in quantity. It may respond to cultivation.

Description of the plant:



Plant:
Perennial


Height:
15 cm
(6 inches)

Flowering:
April
to May

Habitat of the herb:

Open mountain sides and ridges, often in sandy or gravelly soils, and often near vernal snow banks where it blooms as soon as the snow melts.

Propagation of Indian Potato:

Seed - no information has been found. It is probably best to sow the seed as soon as it is ripe in late spring or early summer. Sow in pots in a cold frame and when they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots. Grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter and plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division should be possible at any time the plant is dormant, probably from mid summer to late winter.

Cultivation of the herb:

Open mountain sides and ridges, often in sandy or gravelly soils, and often near vernal snow banks where it blooms as soon as the snow melts.

Medicinal use of Indian Potato:

None known

Known hazards of Orogenia linearifolia:

None known

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.