Slender Buckwheat
Erigonum Microthcum Nutt.
An evergreen shrub. The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. It cannot grow in the shade. Requires a loose lean gritty well-drained soil in a very sunny position. Succeeds in dry soils. Found in the northern juniper woodland and yellow pine forests at elevations between 3600 and 11,000 feet throughout Western North America.
Medicinal Uses
A decoction of the roots or tops has been used in the treatment of coughs
caused by TB.
A decoction of the stems and leaves has been used to treat bladder problems. It
has also been used externally in hot compresses or as a wash for lameness and
rheumatism. (PFAF)
Planting
Seed is best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a sandy compost in
a greenhouse. Sow stored seed in early spring in a warm greenhouse. As soon as
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. Plant out in
late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Division in early spring. This has to be done with care because the plant
resents root disturbance. Try to obtain divisions from around the edges of the
plants without digging up the whole clump. Tease the divisions out with as much
root on them as possible and pot them up. Grow them on in light shade in the
greenhouse until they are rooting well and plant them out in the summer. (PFAF)
