Another plant from childhood memories- our muringakai(drumstick) and kaduk(mustard) of our play kitchen. We never knew that it is edible then. We loved plucking its long pods, even though they are sticky. The dried pods must be carefully harvested to avoid a burst of tiny mustard like seeds.
A few years ago(thanks to Internet), I got to learn about Jakhiya, the wild mustard, used in states like Uttarakhand for flavoring food or for tadka(tempering). How wonderful isn’t it?
Botanical Name: Cleome viscosa Family: Cleomaceae (Spider Flower family)
Common name from flowersofindia.net: Asian Spider Flower, Yellow Spider Flower, Cleome, Tickweed • Hindi: हुलहुल Hulhul, बगरो Bagro • Malayalam: Naivela • Tamil: Naikkaduku • Kannada: Gandunaa balli, Nayibela • Gujarati: Pilitalvani • Telugu: Kukkavaminta • Marathi: पिवला तिळवण Pivala tilavan • Nepali: हुर हुरे Hur Hure, बन तोरी Ban Toree, तोरी झार Toree Jhaar • Urdu: Hulhul ﺣﹹﻠﺤﹹﻞ
From my notes: അരിവാള, മഞ്ഞകാട്ടുകടുക്, നെയ്വേള, ആടുനാറി വേള(as it smells like goat), കരിം കടുക് , നായ് കടുക് are local names in Malayalam.
Etymology:
Cleome: The origin of Cleome is somewhat uncertain. It is generally traced to an ancient Greek plant name, kleōmē, used for a mustard-like plant. The genus belongs to the Cleomaceae family.
pellucida: From Latin viscosus = “sticky,” “viscous,” or “glue-like.”
A very common weed of wastelands, crop fields all over India. These little seeds contain oil, a mixture of five fatty acids, amino acids, and sucrose. The oil obtained from the seeds is rich in linoleic acid and other fatty acids such as palmitic, stearic, oleic, and linolenic.
Medicinal benefits from flowersofindia.net – The leaves are diaphoretic, rubefacient and vesicant. They are used as an external application to wounds and ulcers. The juice of the leaves has been used to relieve earache. The seeds are anthelmintic, carminative, rubefacient and vesicant. The seed contains 0.1% viscosic acid and 0.04% viscosin.
Sharing from my saved notes- The crushed leaves have been investigated as a treatment for stored seeds of cowpea, to prevent weevil infestation.
The leaves are used as external application to wounds and ulcers. The seeds are anthelmintic and carminative. The juice of the leaves is used as a remedy against discharge of pus from the ear. In a study comparing C. viscosa to standard antibiotics, it was proven to be effective at inhibiting microbial growth. This demonstrates its effectiveness as an antimicrobial agent in comparison to the antibiotic tetracycline.
Used as poultice for knee pain.
Want to know more edible greens around us?
Check out this 500+ greens listed here!
Larval host plant of the butterfly Leptosia nina(വെള്ളാട്ടി)
There are several other varieties in Cleome which are edible and medicinal too. I will try to add the ones which I am aware of.
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