Ethnobotanist Dan Austin reports that it was used as breath freshener with aphrodisiac qualities and in an edible form was known as “kissing comfits".[2] It is in the Apiaceae family along with parsley, celery, and carrot.[1] Several other species of Eryngium are related.[3]
Description
Eryngium baldwinii can grow to become a spread out groundcover with hazy appearing, dark to light blue flowers. These flowers are approximately 8 millimeters long and 4 millimeters wide. The leaves of E. baldwinii may be any of the following shapes: oblong, ovate, lanceolate, entire, cleft, dentate, or pinnatifid.[4] They are approximately 2.5 centimeters wide and 7 centimeters long.[4]
Distribution and Habitat
E. baldwinii grows in much of Florida, as well as parts of Alabama and Georgia.[1][5][6] It prefers lots of sun and moist to wet soil.[1] As such, it has been observed growing in habitat types such as fresh to brackish marshes, bogs, and wet pine flatwoods.[4][5]
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