Lepidium meyenii Walp.

Maca (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Brassicales > Brassicaceae > Lepidium

Characteristics

A herb in the mustard family with a turnip like root. It takes 2 years to complete its life cycle. It grows 12-20 cm high. It has a ring of 12-20 leaves near the base. They are oval in outline. There are lobes near the end. New leaves grow from the centre of the ring. The stems are short and lie along the ground. The flowers are whitish and about 0.5 cm long. They are on slender stalks. The fruit is 2 celled. The seeds are oval and 0.2 cm long. They are smooth and reddish. The flesh root structures are 2-5 cm long. They can be white or yellow, or with red or yellow markings.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination entomogamy
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 0.65
Mature height (meter) 0.1
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) 1.5
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

A tropical plant. It is cultivated on small plots at high altitudes in Peru. It can tolerate strong winds and cold temperatures. It grows between 3,500 and 4,100 m altitude. It is very frost resistant. It grows in regions with temperatures below 0°C. It is probably a short day plant and probably does not form the root storage organs in cold high latitude places.
More
Barren steppes, tundra and alpine plains, usually in limestone and clay soils, at elevations from 3,800-4,800 metres.
Barren steppes, tundra and alpine plains, usually in limestone and clay soils, at elevations from 3,800-4,800 metres.
Light 4-8
Soil humidity 3-7
Soil texture 1-6
Soil acidity 3-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) -

Usage

The small tubers are roasted or made into gruel. The small leaves are edible. The roots are used for salads, jams, bread, coffee substitute and beer.
Uses coffee substitute fodder food gene source medicinal
Edible leaves roots saps tubers
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

It is grown from seed. Seed is collected from specially selected plants Seedlings are transplanted. It takes 300 kg of seed for one hectare. Plants are sown at the beginning of the wet season. To produce seed, selected plants are placed in a hole 50-60 cm deep and after 25-30 days plantlets grown. These are then transplanted to grow into seeding plants after 6-7 months.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) 12 - 18
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Lepidium meyenii unspecified picture

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:286286-1
WFO ID wfo-0000358330
COL ID 6PBH6
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Lepidium meyenii Lepidium weddellii Lepidium peruvianum Lepidium gelidum Lepidium affine Lepidium orbignyanum Lepidium meyenii var. gelidum Lepidium meyenii subsp. gelidum Lepidium meyenii var. affine