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Common Name: Golden Club
Orontium aquaticum is a perennial plant that can grow up to 0.50 metres tall.
It is harvested from the wild for local use as a food.
Eastern N. America - Massachusetts to Kentucky, south to Florida and Louisiana.
Sandy, muddy or peaty shores and in shallow water[
Succeeds in the bog garden or pond margins up to 45cm deep[
], but plants do less well if they are not grown in water[
]. Requires a fertile loamy soil in full sun[
Plant the rootstock in at least 30cm of soil[
]. Another report says that the plant should be under at least 15cm of water[
Plants are hardy to -15°c[
] in one report, to -20°c in another[
], though another says they they may require protection in harsh winters[
A most unpleasant animal smell is emitted from the flowers[
Root - cooked. It must be soaked in cold water for some hours in order to remove an acrid taste[
]. The fresh root contains calcium oxalate and, when eaten raw, will produce an effect on the mouth similar to being pricked with hundreds of small needles. As long as the root is well cooked the calcium oxalate is broken down and the root is perfectly safe to eat[
]. Drying the root also breaks down the calcium oxalate and makes the root safe to eat[
]. The dried roots can also be ground into a powder and used with flour in making bread, biscuits etc[
]. The root is deep seated in the mud and difficult to extract[
Seed - dried[
]. The seed must be soaked first in order to remove an acrid taste[
]. Repeated boiling in changes of water are necessary to render the seeds edible[
]. They have a taste like peas[
Seed - best sown as soon as ripe in submerged containers in a cold frame[
]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in trays of water in the cold frame for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. The seed develops on the plant underwater in small green berries[
Division in spring[
]. Very easy, the divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions.