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Aponogeton distachyos - L.f.

Water Hawthorn

Author	L.f.	Botanical references	200
Family	Aponogetonaceae	Genus	Aponogeton
Synonyms
Known Hazards	None known
Range	S. Africa. Occasionally naturalized in Britain[17].
Habitat	Pond margins in water 15 - 60cm deep[1].
Edibility Rating	2 (1-5)	Medicinal Rating	0 (1-5)

Physical Characteristics

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires wet soil and can grow in water.

Habitats

Pond; Bog Garden;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Flowers; Root; Stem.

Tuber - roasted[17, 105]. Starchy[183]. Considered to be a great delicacy[2]. Flowering spike - pickled or used as a spinach or asparagus substitute[2, 17, 46, 166, 142, 177, 183]. The young shoots are used as an asparagus substitute[142, 177]. The flowers are used as a flavouring[56].

Medicinal Uses

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.

None known

Other Uses

None known

Scented Plants

Flowers: Fresh

The flowers have a hawthorn-like scent.

Cultivation details

A water plant, growing in water 15 - 60cm deep. it can also grow in wet soil but is then very restricted[56]. It requires a rich soil[56]. The tubers are not winter hardy[56]. Another report says that the plants are hardy in the milder areas of Britain[166]. They have withstood a fairly severe winter in Cornwall, when the ponds had thick ice 30cm or more deep, with very little damage[K]. A very ornamental plant[1], the flowers have a hawthorn-like scent[245].

Propagation

Seed - best sown in a pot as soon as it is ripe and kept emmersed in 3cm of water. The seed can also be stored in water and sown in spring[134]. It usually germinates in 1 - 2 months at 20°c[134]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in just covered in water in a greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division can be carried out at any time in the growing season, though mid to late spring is probably best. The divisions can be planted straight out into their permanent positions.

Links

This plant is also mentioned in the following PFAF articles: The Edible Pond and Bog Garden.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[56] Muhlberg. H. Complete Guide to Water Plants. E. P. Publishing Ltd. 1982 ISBN 0-7158-0789-7
Deals with a wide range of plants for temperate areas (and indoor aquaria) with quite a lot of information on cultivation techniques.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[134] Rice. G. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 2. Thompson and Morgan. 1988
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. An interesting article on Ensete ventricosum.

[142] Brouk. B. Plants Consumed by Man. Academic Press 1975 ISBN 0-12-136450-x
Readable but not very comprehensive.

[166] Taylor. J. The Milder Garden. Dent 1990
A good book on plants that you didn't know could be grown outdoors in Britain.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

Readers Comments

Plants for a Future does not verify the accuracy of reader comments, use at your own risk. In particular Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. You should always consult a professional before using plants medicinally.

Aponogeton distachyos

Mr. Carl Gray Sat Jan 14 2006

Thankyou to Rice. G. (Editor) Growing from Seed, and to yourselfs for putting the article in your web pages. I found what I beleive are Aponogeton distachyos seeds floating in my pond around by the said plant. They are dark gree, with a reddish tinge in to one end and cucumber shap about 10mm long. I intend to try growing some of these seeds in pots submersed under 20cm of flowing pond water to see what happens. I live in Nuneaton (near Birmingham), England.

Aponogeton distachyos

R.COOPER Tue Jan 22 2008

Could you please tell me were i can obtain the above plant (Aponogeton distachyos) many thanks Cooper

Aponogeton distachyos

David n Fri Oct 31 2008

The "Oxford Companion to Food" states the leaves are edible(still I'd be a little suspicious even if it is "Oxford")He says this plant is the most esteemed wild food in the Cape province. He also says the bulb is edible but not highly prized like the flower buds.

Aponogeton distachyos

Bruce Wellings Fri Aug 14 2009

We have a natural spring fed pond which is now totally covered with Aponogeton distachyos. All efforts to remove by pulling up have failed due to the depth of the roots. The plants break off only to regeneraate vigorously. Can anyone recommend a method for controlling this plant? Perhaps a chemical that will not affect wildlife in the pond. We do not have fish in the pond.

Aponogeton distachyos

david N Sat Aug 15 2009

I know someone who was devastated when ducks ate (and killed) all their waterlillies, perhaps they'd do the same for Water Hawthorn, maybe there's some other creature that would eat it(aside from humans, I find them quite tasty, leaves included).

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