Orontium aquaticum Golden Club PFAF Plant Database

2 New Books ** Edible Plants: An inspirational guide to choosing and growing unusual edible plants and Woodland Gardening (Forest) [Paperback]. more >>


Search Page Content

Orontium aquaticum - L.

Common Name

Golden Club

Family

Araceae

Synonyms

Known Hazards

The plant is rich in calcium oxylate, this is toxic and if consumed makes the mouth and digestive tract feel as though hundreds of needles are being stuck into it. However, calcium oxylate is easily destroyed by thoroughly cooking or drying the plant.

Habitats

Sandy, muddy or peaty shores and in shallow water[43].

Range

Eastern N. America - Massachusetts to Kentucky, south to Florida and Louisiana.

Edibility Rating

Medicinal Rating

Care

Summary

Physical Characteristics

Orontium aquaticum is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.5 m (1ft 8in).
It is hardy to zone 7 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from Apr to May. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects.

Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers wet soil and can grow in water.

Habitats
Pond; Bog Garden;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Root; Seed.
Edible Uses:

Root - cooked. It must be soaked in cold water for some hours in order to remove an acrid taste[46, 161]. The fresh root contains calcium oxalate and, when eaten raw, will produce an effect on the mouth similar to being pricked with hundreds of small needles. As long as the root is well cooked the calcium oxalate is broken down and the root is perfectly safe to eat[2, 55]. Drying the root also breaks down the calcium oxalate and makes the root safe to eat[105]. The dried roots can also be ground into a powder and used with flour in making bread, biscuits etc[207]. The root is deep seated in the mud and difficult to extract[95]. Seed - dried[1, 95]. The seed must be soaked first in order to remove an acrid taste[46, 55, 161]. Repeated boiling in changes of water are necessary to render the seeds edible[2]. They have a taste like peas[207].

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

Cultivation details

Succeeds in the bog garden or pond margins up to 45cm deep[56, 200], but plants do less well if they are not grown in water[188]. Requires a fertile loamy soil in full sun[200]. Plant the rootstock in at least 30cm of soil[1]. Another report says that the plant should be under at least 15cm of water[245]. Plants are hardy to -15°c[200] in one report, to -20°c in another[187], though another says they they may require protection in harsh winters[56]. A most unpleasant animal smell is emitted from the flowers[245].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as ripe in submerged containers in a cold frame[188]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in trays of water in the cold frame for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. The seed develops on the plant underwater in small green berries[200]. Division in spring[200]. Very easy, the divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions.

Plant Suppliers: Click here for a List

You can download this page as a PDF

Expert comment

Author
L.

Botanical References
43200

Links / References

[1]F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956

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.

Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[43]Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany.

A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[46]Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants.

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.

[55]Harris. B. C. Eat the Weeds.

Interesting reading.

[56]Muhlberg. H. Complete Guide to Water Plants.

Deals with a wide range of plants for temperate areas (and indoor aquaria) with quite a lot of information on cultivation techniques.

[95]Saunders. C. F. Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada.

Useful wild plants of America. A pocket guide.

[105]Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World.

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.

[161]Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237.

A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[187]Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Perennials Volumes 1 and 2.

Photographs of over 3,000 species and cultivars of ornamental plants together with brief cultivation notes, details of habitat etc.

[188]Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers

Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[200]Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992.

Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[207]Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers.

A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.

[245]Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World.

An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

Readers comment

QR Code

What's this?

This is a QR code (short for Quick Response) which gives fast-track access to our website pages. QR Codes are barcodes that can be read by mobile phone (smartphone) cameras. This QR Code is unique to this page. All plant pages have their own unique code. For more information about QR Codes click here.

1. Copy and print the QR code to a plant label, poster, book, website, magazines, newspaper etc and even t-shirts.

2. Smartphone users scan the QR Code which automatically takes them to the webpage the QR Code came from.

3. Smartphone users quickly have information on a plant directly for the pfaf.org website on their phone.

Rate This Plant
Please rate this plants for how successful you have found it to be. You will need to be logged in to do this. Our intention is not to create a list of 'popular' plants but rather to highlight plants that may be rare and unusual and that have been found to be useful by website users. This hopefully will encourage more people to use plants that they possibly would not have considered before.

Add a comment/link

If you have important information about this plant that may help other users please add a comment or link below. Only comments or links that are felt to be directly relevant to a plant will be included. If you think a comment/link or information contained on this page is inaccurate or misleading we would welcome your feedback at admin@pfaf.org. If you have questions about a plant please use the Forum on this website as we do not have the resources to answer questions ourselves.

* Please note: the comments by website users are not necessarily those held by PFAF and may give misleading or inaccurate information.

Subject : Orontium aquaticum

Links	To add a link to another website with useful info add the details here
Name of Site
URL of Site
Details