Dysphania ambrosioides Seeds | Epazote Leaf Chenopodium
LATIN NAME: Dysphania ambrosioides
COMMON NAME: Epazote
Plant Profile
Known to gardeners as Epazote, Dysphania ambrosioides is an annual in the amaranth family. Epazote holds its narrow, toothed, aromatic leaves and small, greenish flowers in slender spikes, and the whole plant stands in the upright, leafy clumps. It is a plant of open, sunny, deep, well-drained ground. It is the sort of plant that quietly justifies the space it occupies.
Science & Biotechnology
Epazote is the essential flavouring of Mexican bean cookery, and its traditional use against intestinal worms rests on a real compound: ascaridole, a monoterpene peroxide that was a mainstream pharmaceutical anthelmintic before synthetic drugs replaced it. The same chemistry makes concentrated oil toxic — nausea, convulsions and worse at overdose — so the plant’s safe domain is the kitchen pot, where culinary amounts are both traditional and harmless. As a culinary herb for adventurous gardeners, few plants bring so much authenticity to a pot of beans.
Dysphania ambrosioides sits in the amaranth family, a group that keeps botanists, horticulturists and plant breeders busy with questions of classification, adaptation and ornamental potential. In practice, its long garden history means the grower inherits a plant of known and dependable habits.
Uses & Benefits
Beyond its ornamental appeal, Epazote has the practical versatility that makes a plant worth growing from seed year after year. Epazote is a fine, quiet herb of herb garden and study collection. It is a fine, quiet herb of open, sunny, deep, well-drained garden. Give young plants deep, well-drained bed, and aromatic leaves will fill warm months. After the first season it asks for very little beyond a place that suits it.
Epazote is the indispensable bean herb of Mexican cooking, long used to make legumes more digestible; its essential oil, rich in ascaridole, was once the standard worm remedy, which is a cue to enjoy it as a culinary herb in normal amounts.
Growing from Seed
Seed is the natural starting point for Epazote, and the process is uncomplicated. Broadcast the seed thinly over a fine, free-draining compost, sieve a little more compost on top, and water with a fine rose. Shift the seedlings into small pots as soon as they can be handled, and give them bright light until planting-out time.
Our Take
Being an annual, it asks for a permanent spot and repays it yearly. Plant it in sun with drainage to its liking and the rest is easy.
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