Potato Orchid (Gastrodia sesamoides)

Family: Orchidaceae | Edibility: Edible (2/5)

Gastrodia sesamoides is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.6 m (2ft). The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs). Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Leaves, Roots/Tubers

Harvest Seasons: Early Summer, Fall, Spring, Winter

Flavor & Culinary Uses

flavour but is watery and insipid. — Root - raw or cooked.; It resembles a beetroot in flavour but is watery and insipid.; The root can be up to 15cm long and 4cm thick.; Eaten by the Australian Aborigines in Tasmania.

Habitat & North American Range

Open forest and scrub from the coast to the sub-alpine zone, mainly north of latitude 42°s, in the North and South Islands of New Zealand. (Zone 4, Zone 5, Zone 6, Zone 7, Zone 8)