The evening primrose, a flowering shrub that grows up to 60 centimeters high, adorns colorful perennial beds and many borders with its mostly bright yellow flowers. However, the traditional cottage garden plant is not only used as an ornamental plant, but can also be eaten as a vegetable. The plant - especially its seeds and flowers - is also used in medicine.

The evening primrose is not poisonous, but is even used in many ways as a medicinal plant

Evening primrose is not toxic to humans or animals

If you search the Internet for information about the toxicity of the evening primrose, you will be left with plenty of confusion. Often enough the information appears that the plant is poisonous and therefore not edible. You can safely forget such claims, because they are simply wrong. On the contrary: For centuries, the leaves, roots and flowers of the evening primrose have been eaten as food - a custom that has been somewhat forgotten in recent decades. Incidentally, the plant is just as toxic to animals as it is to humans - quite the opposite, because guinea pigs, rabbits & Co. like to nibble on the tasty leaves.

Evening primrose as food

Due to its reddish discoloration, the fleshy root of the evening primrose was formerly known as "ham root". It was cooked in meat broth and used either as a salad with vinegar and oil or as a vegetable such as salsify. The young leaves are suitable as a salad or cooked as spinach, the flowers and flower buds make a wonderful decoration that is also edible.

Evening primrose in medicine

The seeds of the evening primrose in particular contain a lot of gamma linoleic acid and are therefore pressed into oil and used for skin problems. Evening primrose oil is used particularly often in neurodermatitis. An infusion or syrup can be made from the flowers, which provides relief for coughs and other mild respiratory diseases.

tips

The seeds of the evening primrose, roasted in a pan without fat, also taste delicious in muesli.

Category:

Herbs