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| syn. Ceropegia hirsuta var. jacquemontiana ((Decne.) Hook. f.), Ceropegia hirsuta var. ophiocephala ((Decne.) Hook. f.), Ceropegia hirsuta var. stenophylla (Hook. f.), Ceropegia hispida (Blatt. & McCann), Ceropegia jacquemontiana (Decne.), Ceropegia ophiocephala (Dalzell) |
| distribution:
India: Andhra Pradesh; Coimbatore District, Dindigul District, Nilgiri District, Tiruchchirappalli District / Tamil Nadu Thailand: Ubon Ratchathani Province |
| Ceropegia
hirsuta is one of the species with an subterranean tuber, it grows upright
or climbing. The 6,5 cm long and 3 cm broad, elliptic to ovate leafes are covered with hair on both sides. The have an about 2 cm long petiole which is also haired. The about 5 cm long flowers of this species are very showy, the lower part is slightly swollen, the flower-tube is light beige coloured and mottled olive-brown or purple upwards, the petals are very broad and yellowish or apple-green coloured. In India this species is called Earragadda, another name is Hamana (in Marathi), its tubers are eaten as a vegetable. The native tribes of Andhra Pradesh call this plant Paamu tiga, also here the boiled tubers are eaten. In the year 2001 Ceropegia hirsuta was discovered in the Northeast of Thailand, in the Pha Taem national park near the city of Ubon Ratchathani in the province of the same name. The people in this place knew the plant for a long time, they call it Khreua i thao resp. Kluea li tam and use all parts of it as an analgesic. |
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| above: Ceropegia hirsuta Photo: Satish Phadke; by courtesy of Satish Phadke http://www.indianaturewatch.net/view_cat.php?tag=Satish+Phadke |
| References: - K. M. Matthew: An Excursion Flora of Central Tamil Nadu, India; Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Dehli (1991) - Tanucha Boonjaras; Obchant Thaithong: Ceropegia hirsuta (Asclepiadaceae), a new record for Thailand. Thai For. Bull. 31. 2003 - K. N. Reddy; Chiranjibi Pattanaik; C. S. Reddy; V. S. Raju: Traditinal knowledge on wild food plants in Andhra Pradesh. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, Vol. 6 (1), January 2007, pp. 223-229 |