Water Shield
Brasenia schreberi

Family: Cabombaceae

What it is like

Water Shield is an aquatic plant with slender, branching stems. The Leaves are entire, floating, oval to elliptic in shape, green above, often purple beneath, long-stemmed, and have the stalk or petiole attached to the lower surface instead of the base or edge. The small, purple flowers have sepals and petals that are similar to each other.

Brasenia schreberi is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.1 m (0ft 4in) by 2 m (6ft). It is in flower from July to August. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Beetles, wind. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid and neutral soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It can grow in water.

Height (m): 0.1

Where it is found

Oligotrophic or mesotrophic ponds, lakes, and sluggish streams from sea level to 2000 metres.

N. America - Nova Scotia to Manitoba and Nebraska, south to Florida, Texas and Mexico.

Conservation Status:

Countries/locations it is found in

How it is used

Food

Rating: 3

The young curled leaf tips, which are coated with a thick transparent mucilage, are eaten as a salad with vinegar, sake and soy sauce, or they added to soups as a thickener. Considered a great delicacy in Japan where they are often bottled and sold in local markets. They are mainly used in the spring. A nutritional analysis is available. Root - cooked. Peeled then boiled and eaten, they can also be dried and stored for later use or ground into a powder.

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

Medicine

Rating: 2

The leaves are astringent. They are crushed and applied to abscesses and boils, and are also used in the treatment of phthisis and dysentery. A decoction of the seed is antidotal. It is also used in the treatment of dysentery and to relieve thirst. The plant is anthelmintic and vulnerary. It is used in the treatment of cancer.

Anthelmintic: Expels parasites from the gut.

Antidote: Counters poisoning.

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

Cancer: Used in the treatment of cancer.

Dysentery: Used in treating dysentery - an infection of the intestines that causes diarrhoea containing blood or mucus.

Vulnerary: Promotes the healing of wounds.

Other

Rating:

The plant has phytotoxic properties that allow it to inhibit the growth of other plants nearby and therefore allow it to become dominant. This gives it a potential for the natural control of invasive water weeds.

Herbicide: Plants or plant extracts that can inhibit the growth of other plants.

How it is grown

A floating plant producing stems up to 2 metres long, it should be grown in still lime-free water up to 1.8 metres deep. Prefers a rich soil. A good plant for the water's edge but it is difficult to establish. The submerged parts of the plant are conspicuously covered in a mucilaginous jelly. Plants are not fully hardy in Britain. According to another report this species requires a minimum winter temperature of 18°c and can only be grown in aquaria and ponds in heated greenhouses.

Propagating it: Seed - no details have been found for this species. Seeds of many water plants have a short viability if allowed to dry out so it is probably best to sow the seed as soon as it is ripe in a warm greenhouse or to store it in water until the spring and to sow then. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Just cover the pots with water and then increase the depth as the plants grow. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division in spring.

Best place to grow: Pond;

Habit: Perennial

Hardiness:

Growth:

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

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Water

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Synonyms

B. peltata.