False Spikenard (Smilacena racemosa)
At a glance
- Lifecycle
- Perennial (hardy)
- Exposure
- Full shade
- Frost limit
- −34.4 °C
Cultivation
An easy plant to grow. Hardy to about -20°c. Plants take a few years to become established. The flowers have a gentle sweet perfume.
Propagation
Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. The seed can be very slow to germinate, often taking 18 months. Stored seed should be sown in a cold frame as soon as possible, it may take 2 years or longer to germinate. Grow the seedlings on in a shady part of a greenhouse for their first year without pricking them out, giving them liquid or foliar feeds as required to ensure that they do not become nutrient deficient. Divide the young plants up into individual pots in the autumn when they are dormant, and grow them on for at least another year in a shady part of the greenhouse. When the plants have reached a sufficient size, plant them out in the autumn whilst they are dormant. Division in spring or early autumn. Very easy, larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. We have found it best to pot up the smaller divisions and grow them on in a lightly shaded position in a cold frame, planting them out once they are well established in the summer.
Edible uses
Fruit - raw, cooked or made into jellies and molasses. Young leaves - raw or cooked. The young shoots, as they emerge in spring, can be cooked and used as an asparagus substitute. Root - cooked.
Medicinal uses
False spikenard was widely employed by several native North American Indian tribes who used it to treat a variety of complaints. It is little, if at all, used in modern herbalism. The plant is contraceptive and haemostatic. A tea made from the roots is drunk to regulate menstrual disorders. The root is analgesic, antirheumatic, appetizer, blood purifier, cathartic and tonic.
Material uses
Plants can be grown as a ground cover when planted about 45cm apart each way.
Habitat
Moist coniferous and deciduous woods, clearings and bluffs.
Native range
N. America - British Columbia to Nova Scotia, south to Georgia and Missouri.