Tropaeolum patagonicum
Family: Tropaeolaceae
What it is like
Tropaeolum patagonicum is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.2 m (0ft 6in). It is frost tender. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs). Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid and neutral soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist or wet soil.
Height (m): 0.2
Where it is found
Mud or open wet grassland, especially in seasonally dry shallow lakes, between latitudes 42 and 54°south.
Southern S. America - Chile. Argentina.
Conservation Status:
Countries/locations it is found in
How it is used
Food
Rating: 3
Tuber - cooked. They are used like potatoes.
Root: includes bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizomes etc.
Medicine
Rating: 0
Other
Rating:
How it is grown
Prefers a sunny position in a well-drained humus-rich neutral or slightly acidic loam. This species is unlikely to be hardy in the colder areas of the country, but the tubers can probably be lifted in the autumn after the plant has been cut back by frost, stored in a cool but frost-free place over the winter and planted out in April. A climbing plant, it supports itself by twisting its leaf stalks around other plants etc. Sometimes cultivated for its edible root in S. America. The caterpillars of the cabbage white butterfly can be a nuisance and often cause considerable damage to the leaves.
Propagating it: Seed - sow early spring in a greenhouse. Prick the seedlings out into individual pots once they are large enough to handle and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant out in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division of the tubers in the autumn or spring. In cold winter areas the tubers can be harvested in the autumn after top-growth has died down and they can then be stored in a cool frost-free position until planting them out in the spring. Cuttings of basal stems in the spring. Pot them up into individual pots and place them in light shade in a frame until they are established. Plant out in early summer.
Best place to grow: Bog Garden; Cultivated Beds;
Habit: Perennial
Hardiness:
Growth:
Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)
Shade: No shade
Moisture: Moist, wet