Large Toothwort
Dentaria maxima

Family: Brassicaceae or Cruciferae

What it is like

Dentaria maxima is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.3 m (1ft). The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs). Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland). It prefers moist soil.

Height (m): 0.3

Where it is found

By woodland streams or on calcareous wooded slopes.

Eastern N. America - Maine to Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Conservation Status:

Countries/locations it is found in

How it is used

Food

Rating: 1

Root - raw or cooked. Pungent and acrid when first harvested, it is piled into a heap and then allowed to ferment for several days to sweeten and then boiled.

Root: includes bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizomes etc.

Medicine

Rating: 1

The root is stomachic.

Other

Rating:

How it is grown

An easily grown plant, preferring a rich light moist soil and a shady position. A very cold-hardy plant, tolerating temperatures down to at least -20°c.

Propagating it: Seed - sow spring in a cold frame. Germination usually takes place within 1 - 3 weeks at 15°c. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in light shade in a greenhouse or cold frame for the first two years, planting them out when dormant in late summer. Division in early spring or after the plant dies down in the summer. Larger clumps can be replanted direct into their permanent positions, though it is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on in a cold frame until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the spring.

Best place to grow: Woodland Garden Dappled Shade; Shady Edge;

Habit: Perennial

Hardiness:

Growth:

Soil: Light (sandy), medium

Shade: Semi-shade

Moisture: Moist

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Synonyms

Cardamine maxima. (Nutt.)Wood.