Hanguana malayana

Description

A lily like herb. It grows 2.5 m tall. It has floating stolons or runners 3 m long. The leaves are simple and in rings at the base of the stem. The leaves are 80-100 cm across and 8-15 cm wide. It does not have a leaf stalk. The flowers are in a group at the end. This can be 1.2 m long with bracts 22 cm long. The flowers have 3 petals. They are yellow or green and can be spotted with red. They are 3 mm long.

Edible Uses

The stems and runners are eaten as a vegetable.

Distribution

A tropical plant. It grows in open muddy areas in rainforest.

Where It Grows

Asia, Australia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pacific, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Philippines, SE Asia, Sri Lanka,

Cultivation

Plants can be grown from seeds and stolons.

Notes

There is only one genus in the Hanguanaceae family and five species. They occur in Malesia.

Synonyms

Also Known As

Bakung rimba

References (7)

• Altschul, S.V.R., 1973, Drugs and Foods from Little-known Plants. Notes in Harvard University Herbaria. Harvard Univ. Press. Massachusetts. no. 165 (As Hanguana malayana var. anthelmintica)
• Cooper, W. and Cooper, W., 2004, Fruits of the Australian Tropical Rainforest. Nokomis Editions, Victoria, Australia. p 228 (As Hanguana malayana var. anthelmintica)
• Heywood, V.H., Brummitt, R.K., Culham, A., and Seberg, O., 2007, Flowering Plant Families of the World. Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. p 370(As Hanguana malayana var. anthelmintica)
• http://www.ntbg.org/plants/plant details.php (As Hanguana malayana var. anthelmintica)
• Morley, B.D., & Toelken, H.R., (Eds), 1983, Flowering Plants in Australia. Rigby. p 375 (As Hanguana malayana var. anthelmintica)