Brasenia schreberi

Brasenia schreberi is a perennial aquatic plant with a low profile of 0.1 m height spreading to 2 m across. Flowers appear from July to August and are hermaphroditic, pollinated by beetles and wind. Adapts to light sandy, medium loamy, or heavy clay soils in mildly acidic to neutral conditions. Requires full sun and grows in water.

Description

A water plant. It is a herb. It has runners or stolons and underground stems or rhizomes. It keeps growing from year to year. It forms roots at the nodes. The leaves float. The leaf stalk join to the centre of the leaf. The leaves are 5 cm long and 8 cm wide. The leaf stalk is up to 2 m long. The stems, leaf stalks and leaves under the water have a slimy covering. The leaves are often red underneath. The flowers occur singly. They are in the axils of leaves and they float.

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Leaves Root Edible Uses: The young curled leaf tips, which are coated with a thick transparent mucilage, are eaten as a salad with vinegar, sake and soy sauce, or they added to soups as a thickener. Considered a great delicacy in Japan where they are often bottled and sold in local markets. They are mainly used in the spring. A nutritional analysis is available. Root - cooked. Peeled then boiled and eaten, they can also be dried and stored for later use or ground into a powder. References More on Edible Uses Composition Figures in grams (g) or miligrams (mg) per 100g of food. Leaves (Dry weight) 135 Calories per 100g Water : 0% Protein: 9.5g; Fat: 2.7g; Carbohydrate: 24.3g; Fibre: 1.4g; Ash: 63.5g; Minerals - Calcium: 122mg; Phosphorus: 311mg; Iron: 27mg; Magnesium: 0mg; Sodium: 0mg; Potassium: 0mg; Zinc: 0mg; Vitamins - A: 135mg; Thiamine (B1): 0.41mg; Riboflavin (B2): 0mg; Niacin: 0.05mg; B6: 0mg; C: 0mg; Reference: Notes: The figure for ash is remarkably high and needs to be verified.

Traditional Uses

The newly emerged leaves can be added to salads. They can be cooked as a green. The tubers can be boiled and eaten. They can be dried and ground into flour.

Medicinal Uses

Anthelmintic Antidote Astringent Cancer Dysentery Vulnerary The leaves are astringent. They are crushed and applied to abscesses and boils, and are also used in the treatment of phthisis and dysentery. A decoction of the seed is antidotal. It is also used in the treatment of dysentery and to relieve thirst. The plant is anthelmintic and vulnerary. It is used in the treatment of cancer.

Distribution

It grows in the subtropics. It grows in quiet water. It grows in ponds with muddy bottoms. It grows in wetlands. It does better in acid water conditions. It needs good light. It is best in water 20-25 cm deep. It grows best between 20°C and 30°C. In India it grows between 1,200-1,800 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places. In Yunnan.

Where It Grows

Africa, America, Angola, Asia, Australia, Belize, Bhutan, Botswana, Central Africa, Central America, China, Cuba, East Africa, Guatemala, Guyana, Himalayas, India, Japan, Kenya, Korea, North America, Russia, South Africa, Southern Africa, South America, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, USA, West Indies, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

Cultivation

A floating plant producing stems up to 2 metres long, it should be grown in still lime-free water up to 1.8 metres deep. Prefers a rich soil. A good plant for the water's edge but it is difficult to establish. The submerged parts of the plant are conspicuously covered in a mucilaginous jelly. Plants are not fully hardy in Britain. According to another report this species requires a minimum winter temperature of 18°c and can only be grown in aquaria and ponds in heated greenhouses.

Propagation

Seed - no details have been found for this species. Seeds of many water plants have a short viability if allowed to dry out so it is probably best to sow the seed as soon as it is ripe in a warm greenhouse or to store it in water until the spring and to sow then. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Just cover the pots with water and then increase the depth as the plants grow. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division in spring.

Other Uses

Herbicide The plant has phytotoxic properties that allow it to inhibit the growth of other plants nearby and therefore allow it to become dominant. This gives it a potential for the natural control of invasive water weeds. Special Uses

Other Information

It is a commercially cultivated vegetable. It is used in soups for banquets.

Notes

There is only one Brasenia species. It has also been put in the family Nymphaceae.

Nutrition

Synonyms

Also Known As

Junsai, Masamorra, Pong, Xin ga la mo

References (30)

• Arora, R. K., 2014, Diversity in Underutilized Plant Species - An Asia-Pacific Perspective. Bioversity International. p 37
• Bircher, A. G. & Bircher, W. H., 2000, Encyclopedia of Fruit Trees and Edible Flowering Plants in Egypt and the Subtropics. AUC Press. p 64
• Bodkin, F., 1991, Encyclopedia Botanica. Cornstalk publishing, p 167
• Cao, Y., et al, 2020, Ethnobotanical study on wild edible plants used by three trans-boundary ethnic groups in Jiangcheng County, Pu’er, Southwest China. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (2020) 16:66
• Chen, B. & Qiu, Z., Consumer's Attitudes towards Edible Wild Plants, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. p 22 www.hindawi.com/journals/ijfr/aip/872413.pdf