Asclepias eminens

Description

A herb. It keeps growing from year to year from tuberous roots. The stems can lie along the ground. They are 30 cm long. The leaves are simple and narrow. The edges are curved back. The flowers are in a group at the top of the plant. There are 3-6 flowers. The petals curve back. The flowers are green and 25 mm long. The fruit is a follicle tapering to a long tip.

Edible Uses

The leaves are cooked like spinach or eaten raw. The stems and flowers are also edible. The roots are dried, crushed, and mixed with boiling cow's milk to make a drink.

Traditional Uses

The leaves are cooked as a spinach. They are also eaten raw. The roots are dried and crushed and mixed with boiling cows milk to make a drink.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Medicinal Uses

The roots are traditionally prepared as a hot drink with cow's milk.

Distribution

It is a subtropical plant. It grows in grasslands and on rocky hillsides.

Where It Grows

Africa, East Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho, Southern Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe,

Notes

It is also put in the family Asclepidaceae.

Synonyms

Also Known As

Montsoko, Montsokoane

References (5)

• Fox, F. W. & Young, M. E. N., 1982, Food from the Veld. Delta Books. p 104
• Long, C., 2005, Swaziland's Flora - siSwati names and Uses http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora/
• Plowes, N. J. & Taylor, F. W., 1997, The Processing of Indigenous Fruits and other Wildfoods of Southern Africa. in Smartt, L. & Haq. (Eds) Domestication, Production and Utilization of New Crops. ICUC p 185
• Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 20
• Welcome, A. K. & Van Wyk, B.-E., 2019, An inventory and analysis of the food plants of southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 122 (2019) 136–179

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