Spilanthes acmella seed
LATIN NAME: Spilanthes acmella
COMMON NAME: Toothache Plant
The toothache plant carries its small, rounded, yellow-and-red, button-like flower heads above the toothed leaves, and the whole plant stands in the low, spreading clumps. The low, spreading, annual or short-lived perennial plant carries the oval, toothed, glossy, bright-green leaves and the small, rounded, button-like, yellow-and-red flower heads on the upright stalks through the warm season, one of the fine, curious sights of the warm border, drawing the bees, to be followed by the small, flattened seed heads. The flower heads have a very long record as the fine, curious, tingling flower heads of the old gardens, and the plant is a fine, historic presence of the warm border. It is a plant of the open, sunny, deep, moist, well-drained ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The toothache plant is a historic subject of the plant science, and the button-like heads keep showing up in the work on the tingling plant compounds. The chemistry of the small, rounded, button-like, yellow-and-red flower heads, which carry the fine, tingling compounds of the old practice, has been studied closely, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the tingling plant compounds, the button-like heads and the members of the daisy family. The toothed leaves and the low habit have also made it a fine study plant, and the toothache plant is a regular subject of the work on the button-like heads of the warm world.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
The toothache plant is a fine, curious plant of the warm border and the study collection. The small, rounded, button-like, yellow-and-red flower heads on the upright stalks open through the warm season, one of the fine, curious sights of the warm border, drawing the bees, and the flower heads have a very long record as the fine, curious, tingling flower heads of the old gardens, the fresh heads coming to the old practice of the warm lands, to be followed by the small, flattened seed heads. It is one of the fine choices for the warm border, the herb bed and the study collection, and it has been written up in the botanical and the scientific papers for the button-like heads and the tingling ways. It is a fine, curious plant of the open, sunny, deep, moist, well-drained garden.
Give the young plants the deep, moist bed, and the button-like heads will open through the warm season.
To grow the toothache plant from seed, sow the tiny, brown seeds over the surface of the tray of fine, gritty soil, without covering them, keep the tray in a bright, open spot and water gently, then set the young plants out in the open ground. The seedlings push through within a couple of weeks and grow on fast. With the sun and the deep, moist, well-drained ground, the button-like heads will open through the warm season.
This tender perennial has unusual olive-shaped flowers, and it grows to 30 cm tall. If you chew any part of the plant, you will experience a gentle numbing of the mouth, hence the name. Leaves are also used as an unusual addition for salads!
Sow indoors from April to May in soil 0.5 cm deep in trays. Plant out in June after the last frost. Sow outdoors direct in situ, and thin to 15 cm spacing. It is not frost hardy. Toothache plant tolerates most garden soils, and looks great in hanging baskets or pots.
Toothache Plant – Spilanthes Oleracea / Acmella