
Poaceae FAMILY
Secale sylvestre
Secale sylvestre
Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
0/5
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
HabitPerennial
Growth—
We have very little information on this species but it should succeed as an annual crop in Britain. It might be possible to sow it as an over-wintering annual. Succeeds in most soils but prefers a well-drained light soil in a sunny position[1]. Cultivated for its seed in the mountains of Tibet and China[2, 3].
Propagation
Seed - sow early spring or early autumn in situ and only just cover the seed. Germination should take place within 2 weeks. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Secale+sylvestre>
Pollinators
Wind
References
- [1]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
- [2]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
- [3]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
- [4]Flora Europaea — ? · Cambridge University Press · 1964 · ISBN - ↩︎An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for Europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.
- [5]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.