Annona atemoya is originated as a cross of Annona squamosal and Annona cherimola in Florida. P.J. Wester made the first cross at the United States Department of Agriculture’s subtropical laboratory, Miami in 1908. In 1910, seedlings were planted. Other crosses was made in 1910 and fruited in 1911. Then seeds were taken to the Philippines and other by Wester. The plant does well in the lowlands in warm tropical to subtropical areas. The optimum growth occurs at the minimum temperature of 13–20°C and a mean maximum of 22–32°C. For the fruit maturation, it requires the optimum temperature from 22°C to…

Pelajau, Pentaspadon motley, is a plant species belonging to family Anarcardiaceae and found in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. It is endangered by loss of habitat. The fruits and seeds are edible after cooking. In native tropical range, it is found in lowland undisturbed primary forests upto altitude of 200 meters. It mostly occurs in swamps, repeatedly inundated areas and along rivers and streams on sandy to clayey soils. Usually it is found as pre-disturbance remnant in secondary forests. Naturally, it occurs in low lying and undulating land especially near streams and in seasonal swamp forests.…

Morinda officinalis also named as Indian Mulberry is a plant belonging to genus Morinda. This species is shade tolerant and hygrophilous. Usually it occurs in fertile, moist sandy loam and acidic soil rich in humus. In its native range, it is found in secondary forests of hills, midlands and low mountains at altitudes of 200 to 600 meters and thrives in cool temperatures of 21 to 23°C. Primarily it is found in upland tropical and subtropical forests of Asia. It is widely distributed in China in south districts such as Guangdong, Fujian, Hainan, Guangxi etc. The branches are covered with…

Lamantan scientifically known as Mangifera similis, an evergreen tree growing to the height of 18 meters though specimen’s upto 32 meters have been recorded. The bole is 7 meters and upto 80 cm in diameter which can be free of branches. Sometimes the tree is harvested from wild for the edible fruit which is consumed locally. Species is scattered in Borneo- Sabah (Sandakan, Tawau), Sarawak and Kalimantan (Kutei, Samarinda, Balikpapan). It is also found in Sumatra (Palembang, Bangka and Bengkalis). Culinary uses Ripe or green fruit is used for preparing ulam with sambal belacan and pickles. Ripe fruit has pleasant…

Asam Kumbang is an evergreen tree having very dense crown and grows to the height of 32 meters but more likely to be 20 to 30 meters. The bole measures 150 cm in diameter usually branching from fairly low down. The tree is used as a source of fruit and wood in wild. Sometimes, it is cultivated for the fruits within its native range. This plant species belongs to the family Anarcardiaceae and endemic to Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra. The species is strictly a tropical species. It is found in hot, humid, wet undisturbed lowland forest mostly on inundated…

Water smartweed is perennial plants which adapts an aquatic life and blooms in water and abandoned on land. It is widespread in the Northern Hemisphere and got naturalized in South America, Mexico and Southern Africa. Plants are 1.5 meters tall. Stems are usually unbranched and thicken to form nodes at leaf joints. Aquatic forms have ovoid-conic to short cylindric inflorescences usually between 1 to 4 cm long. Aerial stems are prostate. Floating leaf blades are glabrous with rounded to acute apices. Stems form flowers in dense spikes which stand upright and in water it reaches to the height of 15…

False indigo bush also called Amorpha fruticosa, is an endemic legume with medium sized shrub that measures 10 feet high. General shape is an open canopy having bulk of foliage and twigs in upper 1/3 of the crown. Leaves are pinnately compounds and alternate. Leaflet is about 2 inches long and over 1 inch wide having small and bristly like point at the rounded tip. Flowers form in dense spikes on upper part of the plant. Flowers have dark indigo to purple petals having yellow tipped stamens. The plant blooms from late spring to mid-summer. Twigs are glabrous, rigid and…

Hornet Orchid also known as Tiger Orchid, Hornet orchid, Yellow Tiger Orchid Tiger Orchid and Hornet Orchid. It prefers moist soil in semi-shaded sites on slopes of foothills in open sclerophyll forest and health in South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland and New South Wales. Flowers are bright yellow having deep red to brown markings on lower petal. Foliage is long and thin grass like. Tall flower spikes reaches 50 to 60 cm. Petals are erect, two stalked, yellow with brownish stalks and about 30 mm long. The plant thrives in well drained and moisture retentive soil. It could be found…

With scientific name Diuris, the plant is commonly known from the name Donkey Orchid. The scientific name is derived from the Greek word “Di” which refers two and “ouris” which refers tail. The two lateral hanging petals resemble two hanging ears of donkey. As the petals swing in air, it resembles donkey squealing and moving its head. Flowers are 3-5 purplish measuring 4 cm (1.5 inches) long. It is terrestrial which means it grows on ground and is perennial in nature. Leaves are grasslike. Fruit is a capsule with winged seeds. The plants have network of roots and 1 to…

Nymphaea rubra belonging to family Mymphaceae is inherent to India, Thailand and Nile delta. In Europe, it is cultivated as an aquarist plant. Leaves are called heterophyllie which refers under water surface look different than those on water surface. They are acute, heart shaped and petiole that grows nearly in the middle of the lamina. Leaves are first reddish than dark green and dentate at the leaf edge. Flowers are red and 15 cm in diameter. Flowers open at night and closes in the morning. Fruits are brown green and are about 4 to 6 cm in diameter. Seeds are…

Mirabilis expansa is a rare Andean crop plant which is cultivated for food and fodder in highlands of Peru, Ecuador and Bo-lvia. The herb is inherent to the Andes in South America and distributed naturally in the area of La Paz (Bolivia), to the North of Quito (Ecuador) and in Cajamarca (Peru). Withal, it is also found in Chile, Venezuela and its wild ancestors are found in Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador. Until 1960, the crop is distinguished by its rarity. The crop survived only in a few scattered garden plots in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. Furthermore, the plant cannot…

Asian Crocus, Kaempferia rotunda, belongs to family Zingiberaceae which is cultivated for the tubers which is used for wounds, swellings and tumors. It is inherent to Indian subcontinent through Southeast Asia to Southern China. It is sophisticated in China, India, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. It is naturalized in Java, Costa Rica and Malaysia. It is an aromatic herb with tuberous rhizome with gragrant subglobose yellow to white tuberous rhizome which is known as Chengazhineerkkizhangu in traditional medicine of Kerala. It is distributed throughout India from eastern Himalaya to Sri Lanka and the Malay Peninsula to…

Aromatic ginger is the common herb used in Indonesian cuisines. The rhizome resembles ginger but possess different and distinctive flavor. It possesses a strong taste with pungent aftertaste. It is a source of zinc, ethyl aster, starch, borneol, paraeumarin, cinnammic acid, mineral and other nutrition. Aromatic ginger belongs to Zingiberaceae with 20 genera out of known 53 genera. It is a small monocotyledonous herb which grows to the height of 1 to 3 inches and used for medicinal properties since decades. It has no central stem or stalk. Leaves grow right off the rhizome and leaves are 6 inches long.…

Curcuma manga belongs to Zingiberaceae family. It is also known as temu pauh in Malaysia, Khamin Khao in Thailand and temu mangga in Indonesia. It got the generic name mango ginger or mango turmeric because it produces mango like smell when the fresh rhizome is cut. In Java, rhizomes are used as a seasoning for food and used to treat stomach aches, cancer and fever. It is found in tropical countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. It is an herbaceous and perennial plant that produces clumps of erect pseudostems 30–110 cm long from branched rhizome. The pseudostem comprises of…

Pink and blue ginger belongs to genus Curcuma and a member of ginger family Zingiberaceae. This genus comprises of 100 accepted species including turmeric. It is endemic to southeast Asia including Indian subcontinent, Southern China, Bangladesh, New Guinea, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia. It is found on riverbanks, grassy places, margins of forests and teak forests at elevations of 400 to 750 meters. The turmeric have rhizomes with pink tips and grayish-blue or blue centers. This perennial plant has unbranched leafy stems upto 200 cm tall from large underground rhizome. Leaves are distichous, oblong-lanceolate having purple or reddish-brown…

Native to tropical or subtropical range, Joint-whip Ginger does well in shaded and moist environment of valleys and humid rainforest from 600 to 1000 m elevation. It is commonly found in open wet grounds such as edges of rice fields, streams and under the shade of palm oil and rubber trees. It is the cold tolerant of ginger species. The herbaceous perennial grows 2-5 ft tall and found in eastern Bengal and Southwards to Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra. It is known as lengkuasranting, lengkuas padang, lengkuas kecil, lengkuas geting and chengk-enam. Rhizome is used as a condiment in northern states…

The genus Helichrysum comprises of 600 species wide spread all over the world and 25 species is native to the Mediterranean area. The name is derived from the Greek words: “helios” which means sun and “chryos” which means gold. Helichrysum italicum is an evergreen subshrub that reaches the height of 70 cm (28 inches). They are very bushy and is a perennial plant with narrow roots and prefers sunny locations. Leaves are silvery-gray to silvery-green with pointed lanceolate or needle shaped. Leaves are delicate, oblong and offers distinct aroma when crushed. Bracts are numerous white or colored. Flowers are relative…

Woodruff is also called Sweet woodruff, Sweet Scented Bedstraw, Bedstraw, Wild baby’s Breath, Master of the Wood, Kiss-Me-Quick, Rockweed, Mugwet, Sweet Grass and Hay Plant. This perennial plant belongs to Rubiaceae family and has creeping rhizome that grows in shady European deciduous forests. It is an aromatic and medicinal plant since the Middle Age basically in European countries. The plant grows from 8 to 12 inches tall with fragrant, lance shaped and dark green leaves that form in the whorls of 6 to 8 along square stems. Flowers are small, fragrant, four petaled that appears in loose cymes in spring.…

Sweet Grass is a rhizomatous and purplish based perennial grass that reaches to the height of 6 to 20 in. (1.5-5 dm). Sheaths are glabrous to minutely hairy. Ligule is blunt to pointed, 1/8 to 3/16 in. (3-5 mm) long and slightly torn with small fringe of hairs at the margin. The mature plants are glabrous. Blades are flat and offshoots are 1/8 to 3/16 (3-5 mm) broad and up to 10 in. (25 cm long). An inflorescence is open pyramidal and about 2 to 4 in. (5-10 cm) long. Spikelets are three flowered and about 3/16 to ¼ in.…

Sweetbay is an evergreen to semi-green and wide columnar tree which is ideal for use as patio tree or specimen. The tree reaches to 40 feet height in the north or to 60 feet in the south. The leaves are whitish to green. The shrub lives over 50 years. The slender and hairy twigs or gray/light brown bark has scales which are pressed together. When crushed, the bark is aromatic. Leaves are simple, alternate, toothless, oblong, slightly leathery and about 4-6 in (10-15 cm) long and 1-3 in (3-8 cm) wide. Leaves are lustrous above and pubescent below. Petiole is…

Summer savory scientifically known as Satureja hortensis L. is an annual herbaceous crop endemic to Europe and spread all over the world. As an aromatic plant, indigenous to southern Europe and Mediterranean area (in our days distributed across both hemispheres, in warmer regions and as a pot culinary herb), its aerial parts (especially the leaves) were traditionally used for culinary purposes and as a medicinal plant. It is available year round in dried form. It is found in rocky or eroded slopes, gravelly places, screes, fallow fields, coastal dunes and roadsides. The plant blooms lilac tubular flowers found usually from…

Santolina genus belongs to family Asteraceae and is represented by more than 10 species which is widely distributed in Mediterranean area. It is an endemic species to North Africa growing naturally in forests and steppe pastures. The species is a bushy, green or ashy sub-shrub which grows to the height of 0.3 meters and spreads upto 0.4 meters. Stems are woody having floriferous branches erect in tuft, bare and thickened at apex. Leaves are pinnately divided with rough texture and musky fragrance. Lower leaves are linear-cylindrical having short and obtuse segments. Bracts are ovate to oblong. Outer corollas are tube-styled…

Salvia (Salvia divinorum) a hallucinogenic herb also known as Sage of the diviners, Seer’s sage, Ska maría pastora, Yerba de la pastora, Simply salvia, Diviner’s Sage, Mystic Sage and Magic Mint endemic to southern Mexico and parts of Central and South America. The plant species has transient psychoactive properties and leaves contain opoid like compounds that promote hallucinations. The plant grows to 3 feet high with hollow square stems, large leaves and white and purple flowers. It is a cultigen or hybrid because the native plants reproduce vegetatively and rarely produce viable seed. It embellishes in shaded, humid and canopied…

Rue is a hardy, evergreen and shrubby plant which is native to Mediterranean region and Canary Islands and is found on rocky places, thickets and dry banks, usually found on limestones. Stem is woody in lower part. Leaves are alternate, bi- or tripinnate, bluish-green which emits a powerful and disagreeable odor having exceedingly bitter, acrid and nauseous taste. Flowers are greenish-yellow forming in terminal panicles and blossoms from June to September. The small evergreen subshrub is 0.6 to 0.9 meters tall and almost as wide. Stems are woody near the base but remain herbaceous nearer tips. Leaves are 7.6 to…

The genus Viola comprises of almost 500 species which is widely distributed throughout the world. Wild pansy is a well-known medicinal plant whose biological activities are associated to its antioxidant capacity. With the long history of herbal use and is reputed as a treatment for asthma, epilepsy, skin diseases and other problems. In modern herbalism, it is considered to be purifying herb and taken internally for treating skin problems such as eczema. It is antiasthmatic, anodyne, cardiac, anti-asthmatic, demulcent, diaphoretic, depurative, expectorant, emollient, vulnerary and laxative. As an expectorant, it is helpful for various chest problems such as whooping cough…

Foxglove is also known as Purple foxglove, Foxglove, Common Foxglove, Annual foxglove, Digitalis, Fairy glove, Finger flower and Lady’s glove. The genus Digitalis comprises of more than 20 perennial flowering species in the form of bushes or small flowering plants. The plant is 5 feet high and is recognized by pink and mauve bell shaped flowers having dark purple spots. It grows in hilly areas such as Kilternan and the Dublin Mountains. Nowadays it is cultivated as a garden plant. It is originated from Europe and domesticated or widely spread in North America. It prefers slightly acidic soil. It is…

Lobi-Lobi, scientifically known as Flacourtia inermis Roxb., is originated in tropical Asia including Malesia. The annual planted in the tropics of the New World. It is planted as a shade. The plant grows in form of trees which is 3 meters to 10 meters high. The trunk is usually crooked, furrowed and gnarled upto 35 cm with brown or grey, smooth bark. Branchlets are pubescent to nearly tomentose and brownish. Leaves are single, alternately and short-stemmed. Leaves are oval, 8 to 20 cm long and 3-15 cm wide. Racemes are short, nearly reduced to fascicles about 1 to 1.5 cm…

Cotula is a genus of flowering plant that belongs to sunflower family including plants known as buttonweeds or water buttons. The species belongs to the genus that varies extensively in habit, leaf division, receptacle and achenes. The genus is defined by viewing at corollas of the flowers. Most are disciform which lacks ray florets. The corollas are tubular, reduced and even absent. Other characteristic is it has solitary heads that grows on peduncle. Cotula is soft annual herb that reaches 40-50 cm high. The plant bears alternate, finely divided leaves about 5-6 cm long, 1.5-2 cm wide and obovate to…

Myrrhis odorata also known as Sweet Chervil, Garden Myrrh and Spanish Chervil. It is an ornamental, delicate, much divided and crowded umbels of small white flowers followed by large, shiny black, decorative seed heads which are slightly curved and fluted. The plant has pleasant odor of aniseed. The crisp stalks are the perfect substitute for celery after light. Leaves are boiled like spinach, in salads and in soups. Other common names for Sweet Cicely are Cerfeuil Anise, British Myrrh, Cerfeuil Musque, Cerfeuil d’Espagne, Myrrhe, Cerfeuil Odorant, Perifollo Oloroso, Myrrhis odorata, Shepherd’s Needle, Roman Plant, Sweet Cicely, Sweet Bracken, Sweet Fern,…

Mint savory also known as Calamint, Large-flowered calamint, Mountain balm, Showy savory and Showy calmint, is a perennial aromatic plant having showy purple flowers. Calamintha grandiflora is distributed in Europe, Central Asia, Eastern Mediterranean region, North Africa and America. It is represented by nine species and 12 taxa, five being endemic to Turkey. It is used as folk medicine in Turkey as Güzel Nane, Miskotu, Tıbbi Miskotu, Dağ Nanesi, Yabani Oğulot. The species are used as antispasmodic, stimulant, digestive, emenagogue, diaphoretic, antiseptic and strengthening central nervous system. It is used for treating throat and stomach ache and kidney disorders. It…