• Chinese medicine has long looked to the natural world and plants like knotweed for its cures.old chinese tea tin on bamboo - copy space image by Gina Smith from Fotolia.com
  
  Knotweed is a large bush that made its way to American shores from the Eurasian continent, where it played a role in traditional Asian medicine. It produces blooms of a pale green variety and stays in bloom from summer through fall. Considered a nuisance plant by some because of its propensity to dominate and invade landscapes, it is prized more for its medicinal and culinary properties than its beauty.
  
  

In Cooking

• Japanese knotweed has properties similar to those found in the shoots of rhubarb and bamboo. Because the majority of the plant is edible, knotweed is a practical substitute for other edible plants and can add variety to a plate. According to Edible-Plants.com, the tender spring shoots can be cooked as a substitute for asparagus, while more mature shoots and their tips can be used wherever rhubarb is called for. Additionally, according to the site “the seed can also be ground into a powder and used as a flavouring and thickener in soups etc., or can be mixed with cereals when making bread, cakes etc. The root is sometimes eaten.”
  
  

In Medicine

• According to the Georgetown University Medical Center, both the root and stem of the knotweed plant have been used in traditional Chinese medicine. Portions of the dried root can be used to treat elevated cholesterol and the binding effects of constipation. And according to Georgetown.edu, the “root contains resveratrol (Kimura 2001), the same beneficial phytochemical found in red wine.”
  
  

As a Fungicide

• According to the Environmental Protection Agency, giant knotweed is the basis for an extract which, when sprayed, has beneficial fungicidal properties for other plants. EPA.gov says of this natural fungicide, “When sprayed on plants, extract of Reynoutria sachalinensis (giant knotweed) causes the plants to activate an internal defense system that prevents growth of certain fungi, especially powdery mildew and gray mold. The extract is approved for use on ornamental plants grown in greenhouses.”