Requires a light freely draining soil in full sun or light shade. Dislikes root disturbance, plants should be placed in their permanent positions as soon as possible. Plants are hardy to about -5°c, succeeding outdoors only in the mildest parts of Britain.

Tuber - raw or cooked. A starchy and earthy taste, with an irritant aftertaste. It is probably inadvisable to eat the root raw due to the presence of calcium oxalate crystals, though it should be all right cooked.

Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division of off-sets in spring or early autumn.

Moist positions in grassland and heath.