Thursday, September 29, 2011

Limnocharis flava

Limnocharis flava 

Biggest Plant Dictionary  | Limnocharis flava  | L. flava has triangular-shaped leaf and flower stalks and produces 'octopus-like' inflorescences consisting of up to 15 three-lobed yellow flowers. Its fruits are spherical and made up of cresent shaped segments that eventually split off, carried by water currents to disperse seeds to new locations (CRC for Australian Weed Management, 2003). The botanical specifics are noted as follows. It is glabrous (lacks hairs and is smooth), scapigerous (produces leafless flowering stalks) and lactiferous (contains a milky substance). It has a short stout rhizome (which measures about 3cm long and 3cm in diameter) and numerous fibrous roots. The leaves are erect, sheathing and curvinerved, and rise in clusters above the water.

The petioles are thick, triangular , 90cm long and contain numerous lacunae (air spaces). The leaf sheaths narrow towards the top and the leaf blade is papery, light green, variable in shape (rounded, ovate or broad elliptic) and 6 - 20cm long (and almost as equally wide). The leaf apex is generally apiculate with a small hydathode at the tip; the leaf base is cuneate to repand-cordate; the leaf margin is undulate. There are four to six pairs of main nerves and a marginal one (sub parallel and converging towards apices), numerous secondary nerves (parallel to each other and nearly perpendicular to the midrib) and dense fine reticulations.

Limnocharis flava 
As food
Traditionally this plant is an important vegetable in parts of Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Isan (Thailand) and parts of India, where the central flower stalk is used in soups, curries, salads and stir-fries. Owing to its flat taste, in some areas it is considered "poor people's food" or emergency food, eaten whenever there is not much else left. This characteristic was put into song by Muhammad Arief, in the 1940s hit Genjer-genjer in the Banyuwangi language in Java.

Limnocharis flava 

This plant can become a serious weed fields if not treated promptly. Utilization can help control the population. Although usually not intensively cultivated, vegetative propagation can be done even though the seeds can be planted. These plants bloom throughout the year.

Limnocharis flava 

His role as a food of poor people portrayed in popular songs Osing language created by artists from Banyuwangi, Muhammad Arief, in the 1940s, Genjer-genjer.

Limnocharis flava ( Ready to eat )

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