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Herbs & Plants

Hibiscus heterophyllus

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Botanical Name : Hibiscus heterophyllus
Family: Malvaceae
Genus: Hibiscus
Kingdom:Plantae
Division:Cycadophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Type: Malvales

Common Names: Native rosella

Habitat : Hibiscus heterophyllus is native to AustraliaNew South Wales, Queensland. It grows in moist eucalyptus forests, jungle gullies and rainforest edges.

Description:
Hibiscus heterophyllus is a medium to large shrub of open habit, from about 3-6 metres high. The leaves are up to 200 mm long by 100 mm wide and may be linear to oval shaped either entire or 3-lobed. Flowers are large, up to 150 mm in diameter of typical hibiscus shape. In common with most Hibiscus species, the individual flowers last only 1-2 days but new flowers continue to open over a long period, generally from spring through to summer. The blooms are variable in colour and may be white, pink or yellow with a deep red centre. They are followed by hairy seed capsules containing a number of seeds….CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects.
Cultivation:
Prefers a well-drained humus rich fertile soil in full sun. Suitable for waterside plantings. This species is not very hardy in Britain, it is unlikely to succeed outdoors even in the mildest areas of the country. However, it might be possible to grow it as a half-hardy annual, to flower in its first year from seed.

Propagation:
Seed – sow early spring in a warm greenhouse. Germination is usually fairly rapid. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle. If growing them as annuals, plant them out into their permanent positions in early summer and protect them with a frame or cloche until they are growing away well. If hoping to grow them as perennials, then it is better to grow them on in the greenhouse for their first year and to plant them out in early summer of the following year. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame. Overwinter them in a warm greenhouse and plant out after the last expected frosts.

Edible Uses:
The flower buds can be made into a jam. Other parts of the plant are also edible and have been used by Aboriginal people as a food source.
Leaves and young shoots – raw or cooked. Pleasantly acid. An excellent spinach substitute, the boiled leaves losing their acidity. Flowers and flower buds – raw or cooked. A very mild flavour. Root – it is edible but very fibrousy. Mucilaginous, without very much flavour. The roots of young plants are used.

Medicinal Uses:
Not yet known.

Other Uses: The central stem of the plant has a very strong fiber and the bark is easily peeled. It was used to make dilly bags and nets by the Australian Aboriginals, and the settlers used it to make snares and ropes.
Known Hazards: The hairs on the capsules can cause severe skin irritation and need to be handled with care.
Resources:
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Hibiscus+heterophyllus
https://ceb.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibiscus_heterophyllus
http://anpsa.org.au/h-het.html

Hibiscus Heterophyllus Lutea Native Hibiscus Seeds

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Curculigo ensifolia

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Botanical Name : Curculigo ensifolia
Family: Hypoxidaceae
Genus: Curculigo
Species: C. ensifolia
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Asparagales

Common Names: Hsien Yu

Habitat : Curculigo ensifolia occurs in northern and eastern Australia.

Description:
Curculigo ensifolia is a biennial herb, it is 10–50 cm tall; corm vertically elongated, 1–16 cm long, to 1 cm wide. Leaf lamina flat, complicate or ±plicate, arched; pseudopetiole absent or to 20 cm long. Inflorescences 1–6; peduncle 0.5–4 cm long, flattened; bracts attenuate, 2–6.5 cm long, lowest spathe-like and sheathing, upper when present basally fused to axis internode; lower 1–3 flowers bisexual, remainder ?. Perianth villous abaxially; tube 1.5–3 cm long above ovary; lobes ±elliptic, 5–12 mm long, yellow, glabrous adaxially. Stamens 3.5–5.5 mm long; anthers 1.5–4 mm long, versatile. Stylar limb 1.6–4.8 mm long including stigmatic lobes 0.6–2.5 mm long; ovary 2–3 mm long. Fruit oblong but irregular, 6–11 mm long, 2.5–4.5 mm wide. Seeds ±ellipsoidal, 3–4.5 mm long. Sometimes develop clumps but usually single Plant. Tap root well established.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Varieties:
Curculigo ensifolia var. ensifolia – Queensland, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Western Australia
Curculigo ensifolia var. longifolia Benth. – Northern Territory

Edible Uses; Tap root reported to be edible

Medicinal Uses:
Curculigo ensifolia  is used in Chinese medicine
A biennial herb, the root of which is used for fatigue, impotence, urinary incontinence, paraesthesias, premature senility and tinnitus; it is believed by some to be an aphrodisiac.
The root is used for fatigue, impotence, urinary incontinence, paraesthesias, premature senility and tinnitus; it is believed by some to be an aphrodisiac.It is used for arthritis, blenorrhea, cachexia, enuresis, impotency, and weak kidneys, incontinence, lassitude, lumbago, nervine, tonic, for neurasthenia, to increase virility in premature senility
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/Curculigo_ensifolia
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Curculigo+ensifolia
http://noosanativeplants.com.au/plants/151/curculigo-ensifolia
http://www.anbg.gov.au/abrs/online-resources/flora/stddisplay.xsql?pnid=57833
http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:apni.taxon:118968
http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_FGH.htm

 

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Psidium cattleianum littorale

Botanical Name: Psidium cattleianum littorale
Family: Myrtaceae
Subfamily: Myrtoideae
Genus: Psidium
Species: P. cattleyanum
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Myrtales

Synonyms: Psidium cattleianum lucidum. P. lucidum

Common Name:Yellow Strawberry Guava

Habitat : Psidium cattleianum littorale is native to coastal areas of Eastern Brazil. The strawberry guava is now a weed in many parts of the tropics where it has quickly adapted to a variety of climates. There are major infestations on Hawaii and many Caribbean islands. In tropical climates, the strawberry guava is most often found growing at higher elevations, where the mean temperature is much cooler.

Description:
Psidium cattleianum littorale is a small evergreen bush or tree to 20-25ft, although often much smaller. The frilly white flowers are often borne a couple of times a year, concentrated during warmer months. It is frost tender. It is in leaf 12-Jan It is in flower in May. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs)….…CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES
Cultivation :
Requires a well-drained sandy loam with leafmold. Not very hardy in Britain, it is best grown in a greenhouse but it can tolerate short-lived light frosts   and therefore might succeed outdoors in the mildest areas of the country. Sometimes cultivated for its edible fruit.

Propagation :
Seed – sow spring in a warm greenhouse. When large enough to handle, prick out the seedlings into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. If trying the plants outdoors, plant them out in the summer and give them some protection from winter cold for at least their first two winters. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame.
Edible Uses :
Edible Parts: Fruit.

Fruit – raw or cooked. Sweet and aromatic. An agreeable acid-sweet flavour. High in pectin, the fruits are good for mixing with high-acid, low-pectin fruits for making jellies etc. This species has a superior flavour to P. littorale longipes. The fruit is about 4cm in diameter.
Medicinal Uses:
None known

Other Uses : Grown as a hedge in warm temperate climates
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/Psidium_cattleyanum
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Psidium+cattleianum+littorale
http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/content/yellow-strawberry-guava.htm

Categories
Herbs & Plants Herbs & Plants (Spices)

Tasmannia stipitata

Botanical Name : Tasmannia stipitata
Family:    Winteraceae
Genus:    Tasmannia
Species:T. stipitata
Kingdom:Plantae
Order: Canellales

Common Names: Tasmannia stipitata, Dorrigo Pepper or Northern Pepperbush

Habitat :Tasmannia stipitata is native to temperate forests of the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia.(North from Barrington Tops to North East of Tenterfield, common on Dorrigo Plateau in New South Wales and into Queensland.) It grows In tall moist eucalypt forest and rainforest, especially Nothofagus moorei forest, the coastal ranges, usually above 1000 m alt.

Description:
Tasmannia insipida  is a  dioecious shrub up to 2.5 to 3 metres high (sometimes taller) with reddish stems,branchlets ± glaucous, purplish when young.
The leaves are lance-shaped from 80 to 200 mm long with a peppery flavour when crushed. The small white flowers occur in umbels from the leaf axils in spring through to summer. Separate male and female flowers are borne on the one plant – male flowers are distinguished by a number of stamens extending from the base of the flower.Flowering during September to November. The flowers are followed by oval-shaped, red berries about 15-20 mm long which darken to deep purple when ripe in summer. In contrast with T.lanceolata and T.stipitata, the seeds of T.insipida are not used commercially for culinary purposes but retain the peppery flavour and are edible.
CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Edible Uses:
The culinary quality of Tasmannia stipitata was recognized in the mid-1980s by horticulturist Peter Hardwick, who gave it the name ‘Dorrigo pepper’, and Jean-Paul Bruneteau, then chef at Rowntrees Restaurant, Sydney. It is mainly wild harvested from the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales. Dorrigo pepper has a woody peppery note in the leaves and fruit/seed. The hot peppery flavor is derived from polygodial, an essential oil component, common to most species in the family.

Tasmannia stipitata, Dorrigo pepper, is also used as a spice and was the original pepperbush used in specialty native food restaurants in the 1980s. Dorrigo pepper is safrole free and has a strong peppery flavour.

Medicinal Uses:  Mountain Peppers are said to be  Antiscorbutic, stomachic.
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:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasmannia_stipitata
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasmannia
http://floragreatlakes.info/html/rfspecies/stipitata.html
http://anpsa.org.au/t-ins.html

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Jacaranda mimosifolia (Neelkanth in Bengali)

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Botanical Name :Jacaranda mimosifolia
Family: Bignoniaceae
Genus:     Jacaranda
Species: J. mimosifolia
Kingdom: Plantae
Order:     Lamiales

Synonyms: Jacaranda acutifolia

Common name:Jacaranda, Black Poui, Blue Jacaranda • Hindi: Neeli gulmohur• Bengali: Neelkanth

Habitat : The Blue Jacaranda has been cultivated in almost every part of the world where there is no risk of frost; established trees can however tolerate brief spells of temperatures down to around ?7 °C (19 °F). In the USA, 48 km (30 mi) east of Los Angeles where winter temps can dip to ?12 °C (10 °F) for short several-hour periods, the mature tree survives with little or no visible damage.

In the United States, it grows in parts of Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, and Florida, the Mediterranean coast of Spain, in southern Portugal (very noticeably in Lisbon), southern Italy (in Naples and Cagliari it’s quite easy to come across beautiful specimens). It was introduced to Cape Town by Baron von Ludwig in about 1829. It is regarded as an invasive species in parts of South Africa and Queensland, Australia, the latter of which has had problems with the Blue Jacaranda preventing growth of native species. Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, and Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, also see the growth of many Jacarandas.

Description:
Jacaranda mimosifolia  is a deciduous or evergreen tree, It grows to a height of 5 to 15 m (16 to 49 ft). Its bark is thin and grey-brown in colour, smooth when the tree is young though it eventually becomes finely scaly. The twigs are slender and slightly zigzag; they are a light reddish-brown in colour. The flowers are up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long, and are grouped in 30 cm (12 in) panicles. They appear in spring and early summer, and last for up to two months. They are followed by woody seed pods, about 5 cm (2.0 in) in diameter, which contain numerous flat, winged seeds. The Blue Jacaranda is cultivated even in areas where it rarely blooms, for the sake of its large compound leaves. These are up to 45 cm (18 in) long and bi-pinnately compound, with leaflets little more than 1 cm (0.39 in) long. There is a white form available from nurseries.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES
The Jacarandas are impressive trees in May when covered with clusters of blue tubular flowers. The ground below them turns rapidly blue, and some gardeners might object to that quantity of litter. A variety ‘Alba’ with white flowers, and denser foliage, is occasionally available. Native to Brazil growing to 50′ or larger. Moderate to fast growth during warm season. Bi-pinnately compound leaves hold till late in winter. Can be completely winter deciduous in colder areas. Flowers in spring are trumpet like lavender and 2″ long by 1 1/2″ wide. There are white and pink also. If the tree is given too much water, the leaves appear first, somewhat spoiling the startling effect of the flowers. The flowers are followed by woody, disc-shaped seed pods.

Medicinal Uses:
Jacaranda species have been found to be effective for treatment of venereal diseases  including syphilis and gonorrhoea. Application of Jacaranda extract on syphilitic sores  helps them heal fast. It control the painful urination accompanied by pus in gonorrhoea  patients. It also fights against epileptic seizures.

Home remedies
——————-
A teaspoon of juice obtained from the leaves of Jacaranda mimosifolia cures health  problems associated with venereal diseases. The juice has to be taken at least three  times a day. Take a few Jacaranda leaves, clean them in water, and obtain their juice  using a mixer. Dilute the juice with water and drink it, a teaspoon thrice a day.

The leaf extract or juice can also be applied externally for relief from sores or ulcers  caused by venereal diseases. The bark infusion is also used for the purpose. Take a  little of the Jacaranda bark, clean it in water. Then put it in a glass of water, allow  it for 10 hours. Throw away the bark, and the infusion can be used internally for relief  from syphilitic sores.

The volatile oil obtained from Jacaranda leaves and bark has been found to be effective  in the treatment of buboes (swelling in the lymph nodes in groin or underarm  characterized by blisters). Buboes are caused by venereal diseases, besides tuberculosis.

Other Uses:
Profuse flowering is regarded as magnificent by some and quite messy by others. The unusually shaped, tough pods, which are about 5.1 to 7.6 cm (2 to 3 in) across, are often gathered, cleaned and decorated for use on Christmas trees and in dried arrangements.

The wood is pale grey to whitish, straight-grained, relatively soft and knot-free. It dries without difficulty and is often used in its green or wet state for turnery and bowl carving.

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://indiaheals.blogspot.in/2011/11/jacaranda-mimosifolia-for-treatment-of.html
http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Blue%20Jacaranda.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacaranda_mimosifolia

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