Ground-Elder

Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Apiales

Family: Apiaceae

Genus: Aegopodium

Species: A. podagraria

The plant was introduced into Britain (England) by the Romans and then into the rest ofNorthern Europe by monks. It is considered the worst of weeds, the most difficult to eradicate, the fastest grownin,  spreading over large areas of ground by underground rhizomes. It is extremely invasive, and crowds out native species. The smallest piece of rhizome left in the ground will quickly form a sturdy new plant, followed by many more.There is a variegated form is grown as an ornamental plant, though with the advice to keep it isolated. Just like all other plants, does have it’s place in the eco-sycsem,  it’s used as a food plant by the larvae of some species of Lepidoptera including dot moth, grey dagger and grey pug.It belongs to the carrot family (Apiaceae) that grows in shady places.

the young tender leaves can be used as a spring leaf vegetable much like spinach.

It is also known as herb gerard, bishop's weed and snow-in-the-mountain

It has also been used to treat gout and arthritis.

 

This is a useful web site about wild flowers and herbs of the Western Isles,

http://www.thewesternisles.co.uk/wildflowers/ground-elder.htm

It has this to say about ground elder;

‘’Ground elder has leaves like those of the elder tree and makes an attractive and effective ground-cover, particularly in shady parts of the garden. It is the way these elder-like leaves cover a large patch of ground, and then send up the flowering stems that helps us identify the ground elder from the other umbelliferae, which tend to just send up flowering stems. (Alexanders looks a bit like this before it's stems have gone up, but Alexanders has dark leaves and ground elder's are bright green) In a single growing season ground elder can spread across a few square metres, sending up slender 2 foot tall stems carrying it's white umbelliferae flowers. It flowers May - July. Gound elder has also been known as dog elder, goat's foot, devil's guts, housemaid's knee, white ash, gout-weed, bishop's weed, and seven-toed Jack. It is not a popular plant, as it prefers cultivated land and once in, not only does ground elder quickly spread, but it is almost impossible to remove. There are records of ground elder roots growing 30 feet deep in the soil! Many of it's names refer to it's status as a garden menace. Ground Elder is described a colonist in the Western Isles, it is not a native plant. It does have uses to us, ground elder is a useful vegetable, it can be cooked and eaten as a spinach substitute (tangy but a bit stringy), and more importantly it is a treatment for gout and other associated disorders’’

If you want to be rid of your Ground Elder it’s not an easy task, this is a link to organic weed management

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/organicweeds/weed_information/weed.php?id=120

and this is what they say;

‘’Management: Although ground elder is not normally an arable weed it can encroach onto arable land where it should be hoed off frequently to exhaust the creeping rootstock. A bare fallow with repeated cultivations will be needed to deal with ground elder on a field scale. Liming may reduce the weed, draining may help on wet land, as may cleaning crops like potato.In gardens the soil should be dug over and the rhizomes removed but a single cultivation will not suffice. Ground elder should be hoed off or dug out at every opportunity. Any rhizomes turned up during cultivation should be collected and burnt. Where it invades a planted area it may be necessary to dig out the desirable plants and clean off their roots to remove rhizome fragments. The soil-free plants should be potted up and observed to ensure no ground elder has been missed. The cleared bed can then be cultivated repeatedly to deal with the ground elder before replanting.’’

Out of all this information the one small piece I am most interested in the treatment of Arthritis. What I haven’t so far found is a recipe and preparation instructions  for herbal medication, if any one can find this I would be MOST interested. I did find a picture of ground elder and vanilla muffins. I can't get the picture to copy here but maybe this is a clue as to how this plant can be used medicinally