Spilanthes  Acmella oleracea

Spilanthes is a sprawling annual with yellow flowers that look like eyeballs! Pretty easy to grow if you can keep the slugs off them while they’re getting established. (One trick is to grow them in hanging baskets! Then instead of sprawling they spill over the edges and look quite nice). The whole plant makes the mouth feel numb and increases salivation. This leads to another common name for the plant, toothache plant.

Seed-Starting: I like to start them indoors in early April, and they generally germinate in a week or two. Pretty easy to germinate if you can keep them moist.

Site: This plant is tropical in origin so doesn’t seem want to be out of doors until about mid-May, or whenever night temperatures are above 50 degrees. They are strong growers, but again watch out for the slugs. I have seen signs of them crawling over flats of other plants for a taste. Once up and going I don’t worry about them as much. 

Harvest: The flowers are said to be the strongest but the leaves get the mouth all tingly too, so I generally work with the whole plant. Simply cut away stems with flowers that are still yellow with a brownish pupil. Once they start to turn to seed, or elongate into brownish cones, these can be set aside for saving seeds for next year. You should be able to get a few harvests a year.

Medicine: As far as medicine it is useful to numb the mouth. So could be used if you had an abscessed tooth and a few days before you could visit the dentist. It is also useful for general gun health, being an oral antiseptic and reducing inflammation. This year we are making a mouthwash featuring this plant alongside Thyme, Mint and Calendula. It can also be used in the urinary tract for similar pursuits, reducing inflammation and limiting bacteria.