Łódź, Botanical Garden

Native to Europe; introduced to North America. Troublesome weed! Edible plant - stalks and roots cooked, washed and steamed, with a pleasant sweet taste; young shoots cooked, some caution is advised since they are possibly purgative. Herbal plant - roots are demulcent, diuretic, febrifuge, poultice and strongly purgative, use of the root is believed to increase the flow of bile. Useful plant - stems are very flexible and can be used as an emergency string for tying. they are fairly strong but not very long-lasting; not for foraging it is poisonous plant, but not for pigs!