Cinnamon Yam Invasive?
Answered by: Inge Poot
Question from: Jan Hensle
Posted on: June 10, 1998

Could you please tell me if cinnamon yam is highly invasive? I would not like to be responsible for another kudzu-type plant in New England. The yam really sounds like a wonderful source of edible tubers. Was it a misprint or would they actually grow 3 ft here in Southern R.I? NOTHING grows that large except our ROCKS!

We have not heard from anyone that cinnamon yam is at all invasive. The three feet won’t seem so impressive when the plant grows up a trellis. It is a vine and needs support. To help it along make sure you provide the plant with rich well-drained, moist soil.

What color are the blossoms on the annual bread seed poppies, both blue and white seeded.

Both have pale yellow flowers, according to our sources.

Do you have to destroy the tree to harvest the slippery elm bark ?

Usually you just cut off branches and strip the bark off them.

The same with goldenseal. Do I have to destroy the plant to harvest the medicinal part of the the plant?

You don’t harvest a plant until it has formed an extensive branched underground rhizome system. You then dig it up, replant the youngest five centimeters of the growing tips and dry the rest.

What color are the blossoms on the Indian licorice plant. Does it taste like licorice or chocolate or both? I plan to use leaves in syrup for coughs. Is this the most appropriate use? And,,,, do the leaves resemble the silver licorice plant?

The flowers are rose to purple or sometimes white. The leaves have a taste resembling chocolate only. A cough syrup made from them is a good use. The leaves do not really resemble the silver licorice plant. The latter has felty leaves, while those of the Indian licorice are not hairy. Also Indian licorice has pinnate leaves while the silver licorice plant has alternate leaves. Its leaves and the leaflets of the Indian licorice do have a somewhat similar shape.

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