Pig Nut, Earth-nut
Bunium bulbocastanum

Family: Apiaceae or Umbelliferae

What it is like

Bunium bulbocastanum is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.6 m (2ft) by 0.3 m (1ft in). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 5 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from June to July, and the seeds ripen from July to August. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Insects. The plant is self-fertile. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil.

Height (m): 0.6

Where it is found

Rough grassland and banks on chalk.

Western and Southern Europe, including Britain, from the Netherlands to Italy.

Conservation Status:

Countries/locations it is found in

How it is used

Food

Rating: 4

Root - raw or cooked. A delicious taste very much like sweet chestnuts when cooked, but the tubers are very small and fiddly to harvest. Seed and flowers. Used as a flavouring, they are a cumin substitute. Leaves - raw or cooked. They are used as a garnish and a flavouring in much the same way as parsley.

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

Condiment: the various plants that are used as flavourings, either as herbs, spices or condiments.

Medicine

Rating: 1

Astringent.

Astringent: Produces contraction in living tissue, reducing the flow of secretions and discharges of blood, mucus, diarrhoea etc.

Other

Rating: 0

Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.

How it is grown

See the plants native habitat for ideas on its cultivation needs. The pig nut has at times been cultivated for its edible root. Although quite small in the wild, there is a potential to improve the size of this root through selective breeding and cultivation. For polyculture design as well as the above-ground architecture (form - tree, shrub etc. and size shown above) information on the habit and root pattern is also useful and given here if available. The plant growth habit is a clumper with limited spread. The root pattern is tuberous with swollen potato-like roots .

Propagating it: Seed - sow spring in a cold frame. The seedlings only have one cotyledon. Germination is usually free and quick, prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle and grow on for their first season in pots. Plant them out into their final positions when dormant in the autumn. The seed can also be sown in situ, but this is best done only if you have lots of seed since far fewer plants will result. Division in spring or autumn.

Best place to grow: Meadow; Cultivated Beds;

Habit: Perennial

Hardiness: 4-8

Growth:

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Moist

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Synonyms

Apium bulbocastanum. Ligusticum bulbocastanum.