Stranddistel

Requires a deep well-drained soil and a sunny position. Prefers a light sandy saline soil but tolerates most soil types including lime and poor gravels. Plants are best grown in a hot dry position. Established plants are drought tolerant. Plants are hardy to about -15°c. Sea holly has very long roots that penetrate deeply in the soil and are often several feet long. These roots are sweetly scented. The plant should be placed in its final position whilst small since it resents root disturbance. Although a sea-shore plant, it is amenable to garden cultivation. A good bee plant. 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 [1-2]. The root pattern is a tap root similar to a carrot going directly down [1-2].

Edible Parts: Leaves Root Shoots Edible Uses: Young shoots - cooked. They are normally blanched by excluding light from the growing plant, and are then used as an asparagus substitute. They are said to be palatable and nourishing. Root - cooked. Used as a vegetable or candied and used as a sweetmeat. Palatable and nutritious, it is slightly sweet and smells of carrots. The boiled or roasted roots are said to resemble parsnips or chestnuts in flavour.

Soil stabilization The extensive root system helps to bind sand on the sea shore.

Heimisch: Albania, Algeria, Baleares, Baltic States, Belgium, Bulgaria, Corse, Cyprus, DK, Denmark, East Aegean Is., England (England, Wales, Isle of Man, Scotland, Outer Hebrides, Isles of Scilly); Ireland (Ireland, Northern Ireland); Denmark; Norway; Sweden; Netherlands; Belgium; Germany (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Schleswig-Holstein); Poland; Portugal; Spain; Gibraltar; Baleares (Ibiza, Mallorca, Menorca); France; Channel Isl. (Alderney, Guernsey, Jersey); Corsica; Sardinia; Italy; Sicily; Pantelleria; Isole Pelagie (Lampedusa); Malta; Slovenia; Croatia; Montenegro; Albania; Romania; Bulgaria; European Turkey; Greece (widespread coastal, incl. Kiklades, Sporades, Ionian Isl.); Crete (incl. Gavdos); S-European Russia; Estonia; Latvia; Lithuania; Ukraine; Crimea; Morocco; Algeria; Tunisia; Libya; Northern Caucasus; Georgia [Caucasus]; East Aegaean Isl. (widespread, incl. Rhodos); Turkey (N-Anatolia, NE-Anatolia, NW-Anatolia: Bithynia, SSW-Anatolia, W-Anatolia, WN-Anatolia); Cyprus (C-Mountains, E-Cyprus, W-Cyprus); Lebanon (coastal W-Lebanon); Syria (coastal W-Syria); Israel (coastal W-Israel); Australia [I] (Queensland [I], New South Wales [I]); Canada [I] (Ontario [I]); USA [I] (North Carolina [I], New Jersey [I], New York [I], Virginia [I]), Flanders, Flemish Region, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Morocco, NO, NW. Balkan Pen., Netherlands, North America, North Caucasus, Norway, Ontario, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Portugal Continental, Romania, SE, Sardegna, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, The Zwin, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, conterminous 48 United States Eingeführt: AU, CA, New Jersey, New South Wales, New York, North Carolina, Ontario, Virginia