Spilanthes Aka Buzz Buttons
Spilanthes Oleracea

days to maturity: 90 days
plant spacing: 1 plant per square foot
sunlight requirements: 8-14 hours
look out for: mealy bugs
harvest notes: harvest spilanthes flowers daily when they’re small
annual

Spilanthes is a very unique medicinal plant that has gained in popularity recently in the restaurant and cocktail industry. The flowers have a crazy unique component (calling it a flavor would be misleading) where when you eat them, they numb your mouth while also tasting like licking a battery and making you salivate a bunch. sound fun!? some people love it, others hate it. Its kind of a parlor trick kind of a plant for many people but its also called “szechuan buttons” because the numbing tingling buzzing sensation is kind of similar to the spice components in szechuan peppercorns. These specialty flowers are sold only for like 50 cents a piece! which we think is nuts because the plant is very easy to grow and makes tons of flowers day after day. Spilanthes is also used medicinally as a “toothache” plant, meaning you chew (but not swallow) the flowers to numb toothaches, but the flowers also have other medicinal qualities. Spilanthes has antibacterial and anti fungal properties making it a good purifying herb used for disinfecting wounds. You can use Spilanthes flowers and leaves in a water decoction or in an alcohol basic tincture.

Image courtesy True Love Seeds