Maca
Lepidium peruvianum
Family: Cruciferae
Matting perennial. Native to the high Peruvian Puna. The
radish-like root is highly nutritious, with up to 16% protein; rich in
iron, iodine and amino acids. In addition, the roots are energizing;
they enhance fertility and have an aphrodisiacal influence. Cultivation:
Germination is easy in cold soils or warm. We recommend direct seeding.
This is a high elevation plant and may be most successfully adapted to
summer cultivation at elevation in the equatorial regions, in the Rockies
or coast ranges, or in the far north. The main challenge seems to
be that the developing plants burn up in hot weather. In temperate
gardens in the Midwest and East the plant is probably best grown as a spring
herb, direct seeded as soon as the ground is workable and harvested before
the summer heat. However the roots will be small. In the Pacific
Northwest we grow it as a winter herb with some success, seeding in the
autumn when the soils begin to cool. The plant flowers in the early
spring after overwintering the creeping rosette. Plant prefers cold,
poor or clayey soils and thrives on very little water. Flowers off-white
and grows about 3 inches tall. In the high Puna, it attains only
a height of 1 inch, although the rosettes spread substantially.
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