Po-thuang | ปอเทือง | Crotalaria juncea
Family: Fabaceae - Genus: Crotalaria
The bright yellow flowers of the Sunn Hemp can be found along the rivers and streams in Paksong.
Crotalaria juncea, known as brown hemp, Indian hemp, Madras hemp, or sunn hemp, is a tropical Asian plant of the legume family. It is an evergreen shrub that can reaches up to 2.5 meter in height and 2 meter in width. Its stem is erect with silky hairs on the branches. It has a strong taproot and the roots have root nodules.
The leaves are spirally arranged, narrow, and simple.
The pea-shaped flowers are yellow in color.
The fruit is a pod that is covered with soft hairs, short, inflated and light yellow in color. The seeds are believed to purify the blood and are used in the treatment of impetigo and psoriasis.
The leaves and flowers are edible.
The plant is grown in the tropics as a green manure, often as a cover crop. The bark yields fiber used in making twine and cord, canvas and fishing nets, and paper and pulp. The fiber is stronger when wet and is resistant to mildew, moisture and microorganisms in salt water.
The seeds are reported to contain trypsin inhibitors; they are said to be poisonous to cattle, and they can poison both horses and pigs.
The Sunn Hemp appears and flowers at the end of the dry season/ beginning of the rainy season in June.
THE PLANT
It is is an evergreen shrub that reaches up to 2.5 meter in height and 2 meter in width. Its stem is erect with silky hairs on the branches. It has a strong taproot and the roots have root nodules. The plant is widely grown in the tropics as a green manure, often as a cover crop. The bark yields fiber used in making twine and cord, canvas and fishing nets, and paper and pulp. The fiber is stronger when wet and is resistant to mildew, moisture and microorganisms in salt water.
THE LEAVES
The leaves are spirally arranged, narrow, and simple. The leaves and flowers are edible.
THE FLOWERS
The pea-shaped flowers of the Sunn Hemp are yellow in color. The leaves and flowers are edible.
THE SEEDPODS
The fruit of the Sunn Hemp is a pod that is covered with soft hairs, short, inflated and light yellow in color. The seeds are believed to purify the blood and are used in the treatment of impetigo and psoriasis.
CULINARY USES
The leaves have been recorded as being eaten. The flowers are pickled. They are also cooked with meat and fish.
TRADITIONAL MEDICINAL USE
NOTE: please take advice from a doctor if you are planning to use herbal medicine.
The seeds are said to purify the blood and are used to treat impetigo and psoriasis.
INTO THE WILD: a down to earth experience
For guests and visitors to Paksong we organize weekly tours "The Edible Forest" and Foraging weekends: Into the Wild. We work with local guides to take you in the jungle of Paksong. After foraging, we will cook a meal with the ingredients, using bamboo together with you!
Come and join and learn about the abundance of food that nature gives us!
INTO THE WILD!
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