Aegopodium
Encyclopedia
Aegopodium Native to Europe and western Asia. It is a genus of flowering plant
s of the carrot family Apiaceae
, represented by about 7 species, all are perennial herbs. Flowers are compounded, umbels appearing in spring-summer. Fruit consists of 2-winged or ribbed nuts that separate on ripening.
The most well-known member is the Aegopodium podagraria, the ground elder also known as snow-on-the-mountain, Bishop's weed, goutweed, native to Europe and Asia. It is variegated green and white that sometimes reverts to solid green within a patch. Small, white, five-petal flowers are held about three feet high, above the leaves, in flat topped clusters. Underground are long white branching rhizomes that vaguely resemble quackgrass. Regarded as an ecological threat, goutweed is aggressive, invasive and forms dense patches reducing species diversity in the ground layer. On the other hand, because of this, it is often used as a low maintenance ground cover.
Cultivation Frost hardy but drought tender, preferring moist well-drained soil in an open sunny position. Propagate from seed or rhizome.
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s of the carrot family Apiaceae
Apiaceae
The Apiaceae , commonly known as carrot or parsley family, is a group of mostly aromatic plants with hollow stems. The family is large, with more than 3,700 species spread across 434 genera, it is the sixteenth largest family of flowering plants...
, represented by about 7 species, all are perennial herbs. Flowers are compounded, umbels appearing in spring-summer. Fruit consists of 2-winged or ribbed nuts that separate on ripening.
The most well-known member is the Aegopodium podagraria, the ground elder also known as snow-on-the-mountain, Bishop's weed, goutweed, native to Europe and Asia. It is variegated green and white that sometimes reverts to solid green within a patch. Small, white, five-petal flowers are held about three feet high, above the leaves, in flat topped clusters. Underground are long white branching rhizomes that vaguely resemble quackgrass. Regarded as an ecological threat, goutweed is aggressive, invasive and forms dense patches reducing species diversity in the ground layer. On the other hand, because of this, it is often used as a low maintenance ground cover.
Cultivation Frost hardy but drought tender, preferring moist well-drained soil in an open sunny position. Propagate from seed or rhizome.
Species
- Aegopodium alpestre
- Aegopodium handelii
- Aegopodium henryi
- Aegopodium kashmiricum
- Aegopodium latifolium
- Aegopodium podagraria
- Aegopodium tadshikorum
See also
- http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/invasivetutorial/Goutweed.htm
- http://www.homolaicus.com/scienza/erbario/utility/botanica_sistematica/hypertext/0035.htm#000000 Botanica Sistematica
- Lord, Tony, Flora: The Gardener's Bible, Cassell (London),2003