Eupatorium fortunei Seeds | Fortune’s Eupatorium
LATIN NAME: Eupatorium fortunei
COMMON NAME: Fortune’s Eupatorium
Plant Profile
Fortune’s eupatorium is a slender, aromatic perennial of the daisy family from China, growing half a metre to a metre on upright, purplish stems. Its leaves are opposite, deeply divided into three lobes and serrated at the edge, and they carry a strong, clean, almost medicinal scent that is released at a touch. In late summer the stems end in loose clusters of small, dull pinkish-white flower heads, which are modest by garden standards but rich in nectar. The plant grows in damp grassland, roadside ditches and forest edges across central and southern China, and it has been dug for medicine for so long that wild stands near cities are scarce. It spreads by rhizomes into loose colonies.
Science & Biotechnology
Eupatorium fortunei is the pharmacopoeial source of Pei Lan, a herb used in Chinese medicine for what the tradition calls dampness in the middle burner, with symptoms of poor appetite, nausea and a coated tongue. The plant’s chemistry is dominated by volatile oils, including thymol, carvacrol and p-cymene, which account for the aroma and for the antibacterial activity seen in vitro. Coumarins and flavonoids are also present, and modern work has looked at anti-inflammatory effects in cell models. The genus has been split repeatedly, and the Chinese species now sit in a different group from the American ones, which matters because research on one is often cited for the other. The aromatic oil is the reason the dried plant is also used as a moth repellent and as a scent for stored clothes.
Uses & Benefits
The dried aerial parts are decocted for indigestion, nausea and gas, and they are one of the standard herbs in formulas for summer heat with dampness, when appetite fails and the head feels heavy. A strong infusion is used as a gargle for bad breath, and the fresh leaves are chewed in the field for the same purpose. In the garden the plant is grown for its scent and its late nectar, and it fits well in a herb border or a wild corner, where it will seed about gently. It is not a showy plant, but the scent alone justifies it, and the flowers are busy with small bees and hoverflies. The leaves can be dried for sachets, and a few sprigs in a drawer keep moths away.
Growing from Seed
Sow in spring on the surface of a moist seed mix, pressing the seed in but not covering it, since light aids germination. Keep at eighteen to twenty-two degrees; germination takes two to three weeks. The seedlings grow quickly and can be pricked out when the first true leaves appear. Grow on in a bright, cool place and plant out after the last frost, into moist but well-drained soil in sun or half shade. Space them thirty centimetres apart. Water through dry spells, cut the plants back after flowering if self-seeding is not wanted, and divide the clumps every three years. The plant is hardy and needs no protection.
Our Take
A quiet Chinese herb with a loud scent and a long medicinal record. Grow it near a path where the leaves can be brushed.
Related Reading
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