Stachys, tuber, vegetable (Japanese potato)

The more than 300 species of woundwort ( Stachys) are distributed worldwide. In addition to leaves and seeds, the tubers of the Central European species such as wood woundwort ( Stachys sylvatica) or marsh woundwort ( Stachys palustris) are edible as vegetables, similar to the well-known tuberous woundwort ( Stachys affinis).

Use in the kitchen:

The Central European species of sciatica listed in the text, also called Stachys, usually smell aromatic and have a bitter-spicy to mushroom-aromatic taste. ⁸

The young, tender and finely fluffy leaves are chopped and added to herb mixtures, salads, salad dressings or herb purees. The leaves are particularly good in soups and bouillons. The leaves can also be dried and used as a spice or made into a spice oil. Young stem tips with leaves and shoots can be used to make cooked vegetables or spinach. Cooking removes the roughness of the leaves. The base of the stem can be used to make a fine stir-fried vegetable. ⁷

The seeds can be sprinkled raw as a spice over salads or used to season pickled vegetables. You can use the rhizome (colloquially known as root or tuber) to cook a delicately seasoned vegetable or prepare an oven-baked vegetable. You can also grate the rhizome fresh into a salad or grind it dry and use it as an additive for various doughs. You can also pickle the rhizomes in vinegar. Beforehand, gently remove any soil and dirt using a root brush. Since the tubers have a delicate skin, you do not need to peel them. Small root buds and the ends can be carefully cut off. ⁷

Recipe for spice chips made from yarrow leaves:

To make them, coat yarrow leaves with oil and a little salt and dry them in the oven at a low heat (40-60 °C). To do this, put a wooden spoon in the oven door so that it remains slightly open and the moisture can escape.

Recipe for gratinated squash tubers:

For four people, take around 500 g of cleaned tubers and cook them in salted water for around five minutes until just soft. Mix the tubers with a cup of vegan sour cream and put in a greased casserole dish. Sprinkle pepper and breadcrumbs on top and bake at 200 °C for around 20 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

Purchasing - where to buy?

Seeds for the various types of yarrow are easiest to buy online. You can even get pre-grown potted plants in hardware stores like Obi or in local tree nurseries and garden centers. The price of yarrow seeds and plants is comparable to that of other wild plants.

You can find tubers as food in the high season from mid-November to February, preferably in delicatessens and during the holidays. Stachys can also be purchased from the foundation for old varieties Pro Specie Rara (prospecierara.ch). You can find numerous other purchasing options in the link to tuber betony at the top, as we are only dealing with all betony in general here.

Found in the wild - Season:

The various types of woundwort are mostly annual or perennial herbaceous and upright growing plants. They rarely grow into subshrubs or small shrubs. Some species such as the bulbous woundwort (see there for further recipes and information), the marsh woundwort or the wood woundwort form rhizomes as perennial organs. ¹

You can recognize the yarrow by its nettle-like, undivided leaves, which are arranged alternately on the stem. The flowers are lip-shaped. The rhizome plant can reach a height of up to one meter. ⁸

Season: The abundantly growing rhizomes (colloquially also called root tubers) of the marsh woundwort are most tender in first-year plants. They are harvested from September to winter. The main flowering period is from mid-June to mid-August. Marsh woundwort can be found on wet meadows and along stream banks. ⁸

Wood betony grows mainly in alder and broadleaf floodplain forests and its main flowering period is from June to September. ⁸
Stem tips with tender leaves and young shoots are harvested before flowering from April to June. The young stem base can also be cut in spring, preferably in April, for stir-fried vegetables. At the end of the growing season, the seeds can be collected from September to October. ⁷

Storage:

Leaves and stems are best used fresh. The plant greens can be kept fresh in a tin or plastic bag in the fridge with a little air circulation for a few days. Tubers should be stored in the vegetable compartment of the fridge, preferably at 2 °C and high humidity. The high humidity prevents the thin-skinned rhizomes from drying out. If stored at a warmer temperature, they may sprout. In addition, the taste and color may develop unpleasantly.

Ingredients - nutritional value - calories:

Marsh woundwort and wood woundwort contain essential oils, bitter substances, tannins ⁷ and betaines (stachydrin, turicin), among other things. ⁸ Tannins, alkaloids and allantoin are also known to be found in marsh woundwort. ⁶
The rhizomes of the marsh woundwort contain a special sugar (stachyose) ⁸, a tetrasaccharide. The human small intestine cannot use the body's own enzymes to utilize this sugar, which is why the food reaches the large intestine unchanged. Intestinal bacteria break down the stachyose, which can lead to flatulence. ¹⁰

Clove is considered healthy and you can safely incorporate the plant parts into your seasonal cooking. Nevertheless, it would be an exaggeration to call clove a superfood.

Health aspects - effects:

Wood and marsh woundwort have antispasmodic properties. They strengthen the nerves and can help with neuralgia. They can also provide relief for disorders of the thyroid and spleen, rheumatism, gout, cramps, dizziness, bleeding and respiratory diseases. Marsh woundwort in particular has a diuretic, astringent, antiseptic, antispasmodic, hemostatic and healing effect, while wood woundwort can have a positive effect on the regulation of menstruation. Externally, a decoction of woundwort can be used to clean wounds. At the same time, this can have a positive effect on wound healing and scarring. ^6,7

Dangers - intolerances - side effects:

Comprehensive medicinal plant dictionaries do not mention any dangers, intolerances or side effects that could result from eating woolly woundwort. Is woolly woundwort poisonous?: Woolly woundwort should not be consumed in large quantities due to the alkaloids it contains, but it is not poisonous. Stachys byzantina does taste bitter. The types of woundwort mentioned in the text are not considered poisonous.

Use as a medicinal plant:

Wood woundwort and marsh woundwort are rarely used in medicine anymore, despite their positive effects. ⁷ In addition to these two species, upright woundwort and annual woundwort also played a major role as medicinal plants in the past. The Germanic peoples used upright woundwort or heath woundwort ( Stachys recta) as a medicinal herb. Even pharmacies sold the medicinal drug under the name "Herba sideritis". ² The flowering shoots of the plant were used for medicinal purposes. The plants were also used in wine or vinegar for medicinal purposes. ⁸

Folk medicine - natural medicine:

In ancient times, the upright yarrow, also known as "Sideritis" at the time, was used for various medicinal and magical purposes. The plant was used in particular for cuts and stab wounds. According to Wikipedia, gladiators in the Roman Empire wore Sideritis as an amulet. In Eastern Europe, there is still the custom of adding boiled plants to children's bath water to protect against diseases and "magical influences". ⁴

Occurrence - Origin:

The genus Stachys originally comes from northern China. The more than 300 species are now distributed all over the world, with the exception of Australia and New Zealand. The most important distribution centers are now the Mediterranean region, the Middle East, South Africa and Chile. Species known in Central Europe include the woody woundwort ( Stachys sylvatica), marsh woundwort ( Stachys palustris), alpine woundwort ( Stachys alpina), annual woundwort ( Stachys annua), field woundwort ( Stachys arvensis) and upright woundwort ( Stachys recta). ¹ The tuberous woundwort ( Stachys affinis) is Asian.

Cultivation - Harvest:

Woundwort needs well-drained soil and sun or partial shade. Sowing takes place in autumn or by division in spring. Harvesting takes place by cutting off the flowering specimens. Marsh woundwort in particular needs moist to wet soil or up to 8 cm deep water. ⁶
In Europe, the tuberous woundwort ( Stachys affinis) is the only mint plant grown as a vegetable. ²

Danger of confusion:

The true betony ( Betonica officinalis) should not be confused with the common betony. It is also known as medicinal betony, fleabane, euonymus, toothwort or edible herb. The true betony also comes from the mint family (Lamiaceae), but belongs to the genus Betonica ( Betonica). Wikipedia cites a scientific article that proves that, according to research results from 1989, the genus Betonica is phytochemically clearly different from the genus Stachys. This further confirms the separation of these two genera. ⁵

Wood-woolwort could also be confused with members of the dead-nettle family ( Lamium). ¹¹

Animal protection - species protection - animal welfare:

Woundwort species are recommended for wild plant gardens as bee pastures. The flowers of the flowers are a preferred target for fur bees and bumblebees. The woolly woundwort ( Stachys byzantina = S. lanata) and the German woundwort ( Stachys germanica) are particularly important for the woolly bee ( Anthidium manicatum). The flowers of these two species are considered to be their favorite flowers, hence the name woolly woundwort. The upright woundwort ( Stachys recta) is extremely popular with many wild bee species such as bumblebees, fur bees, woolly bees, mason bees and slurping bees due to its long flowering period. ⁹

General information:

The genus Stachys belongs to the mint family (Lamiaceae). There are more than 300 species found worldwide. ¹

The tuberous woundwort ( Stachys affinis Bunge, syn.: Stachys sieboldii Miq., Stachys tuberifera Naudin), known as a noble vegetable, was originally native to northern China. The tuberous woundwort is now grown not only in China, Japan, India and New Zealand because of its tuberous, edible rhizomes, but also in Europe (France and Switzerland), South Africa and North and South America. ¹ The marsh woundwort, native to Central Europe, is closely related to the tuberous woundwort. Like the tuberous woundwort, it forms underground runners with a tuberous, thickened tip. ⁶ The marsh woundwort was already collected in the wild as a vegetable in pre-Christian times, until it was replaced by the tuberous woundwort at the end of the 18th century. ¹

Alternative names:

Other common names in German-speaking countries are or were heath-wool, mountain-wool, slimming herb (Bernese Oberland), bathing herb (Silesia), fleabane (Alsace), beschreikraut (Henneberg, Schmalkalden), river-sparkraut (Salzburg), Fuhrkraut (Linz), limb-wort, horse-nettle, Zeisskraut, Zeisgenkraut (Harz, Thuringia, Silesia) or Ziess. ⁴ Several subspecies of upright wool are known. ¹

Alternative names for the woolly woundwort ( Stachys byzantina) are woolly woundwort, woolly woundwort, donkey's ear (donkey's ear flower) and hare's ear. ³

Alternatively, the tuberous chard is also called Chinese artichoke, Japanese tuber, Japanese potato, tuberous potato or simply Stachy. ¹

The English name for the hedgenettle is Stachys. Alternative English names are hedgenettle, heal-all, self-heal, woundwort, betony and lamb's ears.

Literature - Sources: