Blumea viscosa
(Mill.) V. M. Badillo
Sticky blumea
iNaturalist· cc-by-nc
(c) Carlos Domínguez-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
iNaturalist· cc-by-nc
(c) Carlos Domínguez-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
iNaturalist· cc-by-nc
(c) Troos van der Merwe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Description
An erect herb. It keeps growing from year to year. It grows 25-50 cm tall. It has a smell of turpentine. The leaves are oval and 2-12 cm long by 1-5 cm wide. They have wedge shaped lobes. The flower heads are 7-9 mm across. The seed pods are small and dark red-brown.
Edible Uses
Leaves - cooked. Harvested from wetlands when the water levels drop. It is used mainly by pregnant women.
Medicinal Uses
The leaves are diuretic.
Distribution
It is a tropical plant. It grows in wet grassland savannah.
Where It Grows
Africa, Asia, Benin, East Africa, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, India, Southern Africa, West Africa, Zimbabwe,
Synonyms
Also Known As
Ompempene, Umpempene
References (3)
- Achigan-Dako, E, et al (Eds), 2009, Catalogue of Traditional Vegetables in Benin. International Foundation for Science. (As Blumea aurita)
- Glover et al, 1969,
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 89
