Spilanthes acmella Seeds | Toothache Plant
LATIN NAME: Spilanthes acmella
COMMON NAME: Toothache Plant
Plant Profile
Toothache Plant (Spilanthes acmella) is a low, spreading, annual in the daisy family. Toothache plant carries its small, rounded, yellow-and-red, button-like flower heads above toothed leaves, and the whole plant stands in the low, spreading clumps. It is a plant of open, sunny, deep, moist, well-drained ground. The flowering period doubles as a feeding season for bees and other pollinators. Plants that offer this much while asking this little are rare enough to treasure.
Science & Biotechnology
Research touching on Spilanthes acmella ranges from the botany of the daisy family to practical horticulture, including seed handling, propagation and the selection of superior forms. Raising it from seed today is a matter of ordinary good practice rather than specialist skill.
Uses & Benefits
Beyond its ornamental appeal, Toothache Plant has the practical versatility that makes a plant worth growing from seed year after year. Toothache plant is a fine, curious plant of warm border and study collection. It is a fine, curious plant of open, sunny, deep, moist, well-drained garden. Give young plants deep, moist bed, and button-like heads will open through warm season. Getting it going is easy; keeping it going is easier still.
The toothache plant earns its name: chewing the flower heads releases spilanthol, a tingling alkylamide long used in folk oral care, and the young leaves are a peppery salad herb in Brazil and Southeast Asia.
Growing from Seed
Starting Toothache Plant from seed is simple and satisfying. Sow on the surface of a gritty, well-drained mix, cover lightly with fine compost, and maintain gentle, even moisture in a sunny position. Shift the seedlings into small pots as soon as they can be handled, and give them bright light until planting-out time.
Our Take
Toothache Plant has real presence in the garden without demanding much in return. Established seedlings need little beyond ordinary attention.
Related Reading
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