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Common Name: Sea Daffodil

General Information

Pancratium maritimum is a Evergreen Bulb up to 0.50 metres tall.
It is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and source of materials.

Known Hazards

The bulb is somewhat poisonous[].

Botanical References

,

Range

S. Europe.

Habitat

Maritime sands or just above the high tide mark, along the Atlantic coast[, , ].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Habit	Evergreen Bulb
Height	0.50 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Requires a light very well drained sandy soil in a very sunny position[]. Requires a warm sheltered position when grown outdoors in Britain[]. Requires a hot dry summer in order to fully ripen its bulb, it is more easily grown in a bulb frame in Britain[].
Tolerates temperatures down to about -5°c[], it is only hardy in the milder areas of Britain, requiring protection even there in the winter[]. The bulb should be planted deeply and rapid spring growth should be encouraged[]. Another report says that plants are easily grown outdoors in Britain but that the leaves are susceptible to frost damage and the plant does not flower well in an average British summer[].
The flowers have an exotic lily scent[].

Edible Uses

Bulb - cooked[, ]. This report is somewhat dubious since there are reports that the bulb is poisonous.
Seed[]. No further details are given.

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

The woolly hairs on the inside of the seed coat (should this say the seed case?) are used to weave felt shoes and other garments[, ].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a greenhouse[]. Pre-soak stored seed for 1 hour in warm water and then sow in spring in a warm greenhouse in a light sandy soil[]. Germination usually takes place within 1 - 3 months at 22°c. Sow the seed thinly so that the seedlings can be left undisturbed in the pot for their first two years of growth. Give them an occasional liquid feed in the growing season to ensure they do not become nutrient deficient. When the plants become dormant in late summer, pot up the small bulbs placing 2 bulbs in each pot. Grow them on for another one or two years in the greenhouse before planting them out when they are dormant in late summer.
Division of offsets when the plant dies down in late summer.