Chamomile, also spelled as chamomile, is the common name for daisy like plants of the family Asteraceae. It has been used to make herbal infusions for traditional medicine.
This plant is native to Europe, Africa and west Asia. It was also valued by the Egyptians, Romans, Greeks for its medicinal value. The Egyptian believed the plant to be sacred and a gift from God of the sun.
What You Will Learn In This Post:
Varieties of this plant
The are two common types of this plant; Roman chamomile, and German chamomile. They are grown at different conditions and different times of the year.
German chamomile
This plant is an annual plant but don’t expect it to grow throughout. This species might be listed as matricaria recutita or chamomilla recutita. It is a sweet scented branching plants whose leaves are twice -divided into thin linear segments.
The flowers have a cone shaped receptacle with yellow disk flowers covering the cone. It gets the appearance of miniature daisy from the cone that is surrounded by 10 to 20 white down-curving ray flowers. It self-sows freely meaning it will repeatedly spring up in the garden from then on.
How to grow
This plant grows from the seeds directly from the seeds in the garden location. They are tiny and dust like. The seedbed should be well prepared and be scattered on the soils surface and gently tampered down the flat side of a hoe.
The best planting time is during the springs. The young seedlings are able to withstand the mild frost can be easily transplanted. The seeds germinate in a week to ten days and at temperature of 45 degrees Fahrenheit. The plant start by growing slowly and but after four to five weeks a growth spurt occurs, resulting in a rosette of leaves.
The harvesting is done within ten days to two weeks once the bloom develops continuously and flowering commences
Roman chamomile
It is a perennial herb that grows from the same root year after year. It has a spreading habit and only grows a foot high. The leaves are thicker, flatter and are divided into linear segments of two or three. The flowers are inch across and has broader conical disk shape. This roman species has ray white flowers, however the number of cultivated varieties have none.
There is also flowerless type of the roman camomile ones that are called treneague. It is also native to Western Europe Northward to Northern Ireland.
How it is grown
This plant is can be started from seeds, cuttings, or by root division. The seedlings should have an inch spacing of 6 to 12.it also likes full; sun and a slightly acid to neutral soil. Regular water keeps the plant bloom longer however it is also drought tolerant.
How to consume the chamomile plant?
Both the flowers and leaves of this plant can be harvested for various uses. The aromatic flowers are edible and can be used to make tea. The leaves and flowers may also be used in potpourri. The flower heads can also be used to make extract which can help in digestion issues.
Taking the chamomile tea has been proved to be quite healthy.