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Lewisia rediviva

Botanical Name: Lewisia rediviva
Family: Portulacaceae
Genus: Lewisia
Species: L. rediviva
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Caryophyllales

Synonyms: Lewisia alba.

Common Names: Bitter-Root

French trappers knew the plant as racème amer (bitter root). Native American names included spetlum or spetlem, meaning “bitter”, nakamtcu (Ktanxa: naqam¢u), and mootaa-heseeotse

Habitat: Lewisia rediviva is native to western N. America – Montana to British Columbia, south to California and Colorado. It grows in gravelly to heavy, usually dry soils. Rocky dry soils of valleys, or on foothills, stony slopes, ridges and mountain summits to about 2,500 metres.

Description:
Lewisia rediviva is a small perennial herb, growing to 0.1 m (0ft 4in) by 0.1 m (0ft 4in).It has a fleshy taproot and a simple or branched base. The flower stems are leafless, 1–3 centimetres (0.4–1.2 in) tall, bearing at the tip a whorl of 5–6 linear bracts which are 5–10 mm long. A single flower appears on each stem with 5–9 oval-shaped sepals. They range in color from whitish to deep pink or lavender. Flowering occurs from April through July. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) The petals (usually about 15) are oblong in shape and are 18–35 millimetres (0.7–1.4 in) long. At maturity, the bitterroot produces egg-shaped capsules with 6–20 nearly round seeds…...CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Meriwether Lewis ate bitterroot in 1805 and 1806 during the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The specimens he brought back were identified and given their scientific name, Lewisia rediviva, by a German-American botanist, Frederick Pursh.

The bitterroot was selected as the Montana state flower on February 27, 1895.

Cultivation:
Requires a very well-drained gritty humus-rich deep soil in a sunny position. This species is not reliably hardy in Britain. It can withstand consistently very cold weather but does not like alternating periods of mild and cold conditions, nor does it like winter wet. The plant is very susceptible to rotting at the neck in a damp soil. The plant is easy to kill by over-watering but extremely difficult to kill by under-watering. Roots that have been dried and stored for a number of years have been known to come back into growth when moistened. The plant dies down after flowering and re-appears in September. It must be kept dry whilst dormant. It is best grown in a greenhouse or bulb frame. A very ornamental plant, it is the state flower of Montana. Very apt to hybridize with other members of this genus.

Propagation :
Seed – best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame in a very freely draining soil. Sow stored seed as soon as possible in a cold frame. One months cold stratification should improve germination, though this is still likely to be very slow. 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 two winters. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division in March/April. Very difficult.

Edible Uses:
Root – cooked. The root was a staple food of some native North American Indian tribes. It is said to be extremely nutritious, 50 – 80 grams being sufficient to sustain an active person for a day. The root is, however, rather small and tedious to collect in quantity. It is easiest to use when the plant is in flower in the spring, because the outer layer of the root (which is very bitter) slips off easily at this time of the year. Whilst being boiled the roots become soft and swollen and exude a pink mucilaginous substance. The root swells to about 6 times its size and resembles a jelly-like substance. The root has a good taste though a decided bitter flavour develops afterwards. If the root is stored for a year or two the bitterness is somewhat reduced[183]. The root can also be dried, ground into a powder and used as a mush or a thickener in soups etc.

Medicinal Uses:
The root is cardiac and galactogogue. An infusion of the root has been used to increase the milk flow in nursing mothers, to relieve heart pain and the pain of pleurisy and also as a blood purifier. The root has been eaten raw to counteract the effects of poison ivy rash and as a treatment for diabetes. The pounded dry root has been chewed in the treatment of sore throats. A poultice of the raw roots has been applied to sores.

Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitterroot#cite_note-Sullivan2015-1
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Lewisia+rediviva
http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_AB.htm

Zizyphus vulgaris

Botanical Name : Zizyphus vulgaris/Ziziphus jujuba
Family: Rhamnaceae
Tribe:    Paliureae
Genus:    Ziziphus
Kingdom: Plantae
Order:    Rosales

Synonyms: Zizyphus sativa. Brustbeeren. Judendornbeeren. Rhamnus Zizyphus.

Common Name :Jujube Berries, Indian jujube or Chinese date.Bengali :Kul

Vernacular names:
Jujube fruit is called or just in Mandarin Chinese,”pomme surette” in French, “bor” in Konkani and Marathi, “ber” in Hindi, kul in Bengali,borai in Bangladesh, ilanthappazham or badari in Malayalam, (ilanthai/elantha pazham) in Tamil-speaking regions, (Yelchi Hannu) in Kannada and “Regi pandu” in Telugu. It is called zinzell in Malta. In Vietnamese, the fruit is called “táo tàu,” which translates to “Chinese apple. In Urdu it is called “UNNAB”

Habitat:Jujube Berries is Originally a native of Syria, Zizyphus vulgaris was introduced into Italy in the reign of Augustus, and is now naturalized in Provence, and particularly in the islands of HyŠres, where the berries are largely collected when ripe, and dried in the sun. It is distributed in the warm-temperate and subtropical regions throughout the world.

Description:
The trees average 25 feet in height and are covered with a rough, brown bark. They have many branches, with annual thorny branchlets bearing alternate, oval-oblong leaves of a clear green colour, with three to five strongly-marked, longitudinous veins. The small flowers are pale yellow and solitary. The fruit is a blood-red drupe, the size and shape of an olive, sweet, and mucilaginous in taste, slightly astringent. The pulp becomes softer and sweeter in drying, and the taste more like wine. They have pointed, oblong stones.
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Edible Uses:The freshly harvested as well as the candied dried fruits are often eaten as a snack, or with coffee. They are available in either red or black, the latter being smoked to enhance their flavor. In China and Korea, a sweetened tea syrup containing jujube fruits is available in glass jars, and canned jujube tea or jujube tea in the form of teabags is also available. Although not widely available, jujube juice and jujube vinegar are also produced; they are used for making pickles in West Bengal and Bangladesh.

In China, a wine made from jujubes, called hong zao jiu is also produced. Jujubes are sometimes preserved by storing in a jar filled with baijiu (Chinese liquor), which allows them to be kept fresh for a long time, especially through the winter. Such jujubes are called jiu zao (??; literally “alcohol jujube”). These fruits are also a significant ingredient in a wide variety of Chinese delicacies.

In Korea, jujubes are called daechu and are used in Daechucha teas and samgyetang.

In Lebanon, Jordan and other Middle Eastern countries the fruit is eaten as snacks or alongside a dessert after a meal.[citation needed]

In Persian cuisine, the dried drupes are known as annab, while in neighboring Azerbaijan it is commonly eaten as a snack, and are known as innab. These names are related, and the Turks use a similarly related name, “hünnap”. Ziziphus jujuba grows in northern Pakistan and is known as Innab, commonly used in the Tibb Unani system of medicine. There seems to be quite a widespread confusion in the common name. The Innab is Z. jujuba: the local name Ber is not used for Innab. Rather Ber is used for three other cultivated or wild species i.e. Z. spina-christi, Z. mauritiana and Z. nummularia in Pakistan and parts of India and is eaten both fresh and dried. Often the dry fruit (Ber) was used as a padding in leather horse-saddles in parts of Baluchistan in Pakistan.[citation needed]The Arabic names Sidr is used for Ziziphus species other than Z. jujuba.

Traditionally in India, the fruits are dried in the sun and the hard nuts are removed. Then, it is pounded with tamarind, red chillies, salt, and jaggery. In some parts of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, fresh whole ripe fruit is crushed with the above ingredients and dried under the sun to make cakes called ilanthai vadai or “Regi Vadiyalu” (Telugu).
In Madagascar, jujube fruits are eaten fresh or dried. People also use those fruits to make jam.

In Italy there is an alcoholic syrup called brodo di giuggiole.

In Vietnam, the jujube fruit is eaten freshly picked from the tree as a snack. It is also dried and used in desserts, such as sâm b? l??ng, a cold beverage that includes the dried jujube, longan, fresh seaweed, barley, and lotus seeds.

Medicinal Uses:
Constituents: A full analysis has not yet been made, but the berries are valued for their mucilage and sugar.

Jujube paste, or ‘Pâte de Jujubes,’ is made of gum-arabic and sugar. It may be dissolved in a decoction of jujubes and evaporated, but is considered as good a demulcentwithout their addition. It is frequently merely mixed with orange-flower water.

A decoction of the roots has been used in fevers.

An astringent decoction of leaves and branchlets is made in large quantities in Algeria, and seems likely to replace the cachou.

In Europe the fruit was made into a cough medicine and tisane for medicinal reasons in times past.

The fruit has been used in traditional medicine as an emollient, expectorant, coolant, anodyne and tonic and has been used as an antidote for aconite poisoning. It is given to relieve abdominal pains during pregnancy and can be applied to wounds when used in a poultice.

The leaves can be used as a laxative and for throat problems as a decoction and the same liquid can also be used for skin problems. The roots have wound healing properties too.

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziziphus
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/j/jujube10.html
http://www.organicfoodproducts.co.in/zizyphus-vulgaris-908957.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jujube

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