Lemongrass
Cymbopogon citratus
A tropical grass. The swollen lower stem is sliced for soup and curry paste; the tops perfume tea. Not citronella grass (C. nardus/winterianus), which is a mosquito-candle plant.
GROW → HARVEST → EAT → DRY → POWDER → CAPSULE → GUMMY — forms are not equivalent. Food first.
Identity
What it is
A tropical grass. The swollen lower stem is sliced for soup and curry paste; the tops perfume tea. Not citronella grass (C. nardus/winterianus), which is a mosquito-candle plant.
From the existing encyclopedia
Lemongrass is a dried botanical traded as cut leaf, flower, seed, or root for tea and seasoning. Introduce new ingredients gradually in cooking portions to learn flavor strength before scaling recipes. Balances with honey or dates in warm drinks when used as food sweetening. When substituting dried Lemongrass for fresh, use about one-third the volume and bloom in fat or hot water before adding acid or dairy.
Edible portions
- lower stems
- leaf tops for tea
Absence of a portion from this list means it is not treated as food here — not that every other part is toxic.
Growing
- Climate. 9–11 or a summer pot
- Light. Full sun, heat
- Soil. Rich, moist, heavy feeder in a tub
- Planting. Start from a grocery stalk that still has a base, or a nursery clump. Bring in before frost.
- Harvest. Cut thick stalks at soil level; peel fibrous outer layers.
Processing, drying, storage
- Drying. Leaf tops dry for tea; the core is better frozen. See also Make → Drying.
Preparation and culinary uses
- Bruise a stalk in tom yum
- Mince the tender core into paste
Next steps
Sources
- USDA PLANTS Database — taxonomy and range (verify current entries)
- No USDA FoodData Central nutrient profile is attached here. That is not a claim that the plant contains no nutrients.
- State cooperative extension growing guides — verify for your region
- Integrated from the existing aaaLifetime / quantum-biohack encyclopedia corpus (unique text preserved where it was not boilerplate).
Honest incompleteness is preferred to fabricated completeness. If a section is missing, no record for it is attached here — not a claim that the plant lacks that characteristic, and not that it was omitted as a secret.
Internal quality class A. Strong page: distinctive plant facts plus practical growing or kitchen use.