Aciphylla squarrosa - Speargrass

Habitat

Exposition

Plein soleil

Humidité

Sol sec à moyen.

Sol

Sol léger à moyen. Nécessite un sol drainant.

pH

Sol acide ou calcaire

Rusticité

Zone 5

Habitat originel

Found from sea-level to montane areas in North and South Islands to latitude 41° 30' south[44].

Origine géographique

Nouvelle-Zélande.

Comestibilité

• Racine - cuite .
• Aromatic [173].
• A very good taste [177, 183].
• The resin is used as a chewing gum [173].
• Shoots and young stems [173].
• No further details .

Autres usages

• The plant yields a semi-transparent resinous gum that is edible and also used in perfumery [128].

Culture

• Requires a perfectly drained gritty soil in full sun [200].
• Easily grown in a moist but well-drained soil in full sun [187].
• Hardy to about -10°c according to one report[200] whilst another says it is hardy to about -15°c [187].
• Dioecious but female plants have occasional male flowers [200].
• Male and female plants must normally be grown if seed is required .
• The flowers are sweetly scented [187].

Propagation

• Seed - best sown in a greenhouse as soon as it is ripe [200].
• Stored seed should be sown in a greenhouse in late winter or early spring .
• Germination can be very slow .
• When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter before planting them out in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts .