Pediomelum esculentum

Pediomelum esculentum

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Prairie Turnip Category:

Description

Limited quantities available by inquiry only.

Please note: Plants have a narrow tap root which makes them susceptible to dislodging during shipping (they are easily jostled from their pots). We pack them up as securely as we can but can’t guarantee that they will get to you in one piece.

Key Information:

Soil: Xeric (Dry)
Sun: Full Sun
Height: 6″-18″
Bloom Color: Blue
Bloom Season: May – July

More Details:

Suggested Uses: Prairie Turnip is unique, beautiful, short legume native to upland prairies.  Useful for upland restoration projects.

Native Range: Native to the Great Plains. Native to southern and western Minnesota.

Pollinators: Bees.

Flowers: Flowers grow in a dense cluster. They are purple and bilaterally symmetrical and roughly 1/2″ in diameter.

Leaves: The compound palm-like leaves are divided into 5 silver, hairy, oblong leaflets. Stems are hairy.

Culinary Use: Thíŋpsila/Timpsula (Lakota) & Tipsinah (Dakota): “[The roots] are still a staple of the Lakota diet and are an excellent source of complex carbohydrates, so they do not raise blood sugar levels like potatoes tend to. The dried root is ground up and made into porridge which is used to treat stomach ulcers and irritated bowels, including for gastroenteritis.” – From Linda Black Elk’s Culturally Important Plants of the Lakota. Read more here.

Other Names: Indian Breadroot, Indian Potato, Pomme Blanche, Teepsenee, Psoralea esculenta.

Fun Fact: The Pomme de Terre River which runs through Morris is named, by the French, after this plant which grew along its banks.

More information: USDA plant profile

Additional information

Weight 2 lbs
Size

Color

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Uses