Oct 9, 2020
Plant of the Day
Friday 9 October 2020
In the productive garden of the Royal Horticultural Society Garden Hyde Hall, Essex, UK, the distinctive petal-less, pompom flowers of Acmella oleracea (Pará cress, Brazil cress, eye ball plant, novacaine plant, salad cress, toothache plant) were making a show in the raised beds. This tender, evergreen perennial is usually grown as an annual, with culinary and medicinal uses. When eaten the flower bud produces a strong tingling sensation on the tongue and is said to stimulate the salivary glands. It is more often grown in gardens as an ornamental annual.
Jill Raggett