Salad Burnet

$7.50

Description

Sanguisorba minor syn. Poterium sanguisorba
Old fashioned herb once popular in cooling drinks and herb vinegars, growing in a rosette-forming clump. The attractive nutty cucumber flavour leaves add visual interest and flavour to salads and dressings.  They are best harvested when young and before the plant flowers.

Salad burnet is also used medicinally to treat diarrhea and is said to be a very effective wound herb for stemming bleeding.  The botanical name Sanguisorba officinalis comes from ‘sanguis,’ meaning blood, and ‘sorbeo,’ meaning to staunch. The herb has been used as a coagulant and hemorrhagic for centuries and is also used to stop internal bleeding.

During 16th century Tudor England, Garden Burnet was combined with some twenty other herbs to include in a special wine that was drunk to stop the plague.

The plants are quite drought hardy but keep them well watered if harvesting to eat otherwise the leaves become tough and bitter.  If planted approx 20cm apart the plants can be used as a reasonably effective ground cover and make good erosion control.  The plant accumulates iron.  The pink flowers are very attractive to bees. Height approx 20cm, 30cm when in flower.

9cm pot. Certified organic plant.

Freight:  full list of freight and packing charges

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