BIRD'S NEST FERN

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Asplenium nidus

FAMILY: Aspleniaceae

USES

1. Is commonly sold as a house plant;
2. Its sprout is edible and a very popular vegetable food in Taiwan.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asplenium_nidus

http://www2.bishopmuseum.org/ethnobotanydb/resultsdetailed.asp?search=ekaha

COMMON IVY

I bought these two Variegated Ivy plants because they looked so pretty. I did not realise that they are used to absorb toxins from the air and are also supposed to generate positive Qi for the garden.

Here is some information about this plant.

Common names: Common ivy, English ivy

Scientific name: Hedera helix

Family: Araliaceae

YELLOW COSMOS

Nama saintifik (Scientific name): Cosmos sulphureus

Nama lain (Other names) : Yellow Cosmos, Sulfur Cosmos

Famili (Family): Asteraceae

Chinese name: 黃波斯菊

JATROPHA BUNCIT

Famili: Euphorbiaceae

Nama Melayu: Jarak Bunting, Jatrofa Buncit

Nama Saintifik: Jatropha podagrica

Nama Lain: Coral nut, Guatemalan rhubarb, Hook, Physic Nut, Goutystock, Buddha Belly Plant, Nettlespurge, Purging Nut, Tartoga, Gout Stick

Chinese name: 珊瑚油桐 , 佛肚树 , 独脚莲

Bahagian Beracun: Keseluruhan pokok terutama biji

Kesan Keracunan
Simptom yang ditunjukkan ialah sakit perut dan kesan terbakar pada tekak setelah setengah jam termakan bijinya. Ini diikuti pula oleh rasa loya, muntah dan cirit birit yang mungkin mengandungi darah. Dalam kes keracunan yang teruk, dehidrasi dan pendarahan dalam perut mungkin berlaku termasuk gangguan ke atas sistem saraf dan jantung.

Rujukan: http://www.prn2.usm.my/mainsite/plant/jatropha-p.html

ENGLISH VERSION

BUDDHA BELLY PLANT

I have this plant in my own garden. It is called Jatropha Podagrica. When I checked up on it the some websites I found that it is a poisonous plant (if eaten) as it contains the toxin, curcin. However, many people nowadays grow it as an ornamental plant.

Malay name : Jarak Bunting, Jatrofa Buncit
Other names: Coral Nut, Guatemalan rhubarb, Hook, Physic Nut, Goutystock Nettlespurge, Buddha Belly Plant, Purging Nut, Gout Stick, Tartoga
Family: Euphorbiaceae

Chinese name: Chinese name: 珊瑚油桐 , 佛肚树 , 独脚莲

GARDENING ACTIVITY

My students will help me to do some gardening during recess or after school. They usually help to water the plants, weed the Herb Garden and also plant the new herbal plants that I bought from the Farmer's market.

LEAVES OF THE GOD (SAMBUNG NYAWA)

It is no wonder that this plant is named Leaves of God or Daun Dewa as it is said to be able to treat quite a number of ailments. The Sambung nyawa is a Malaya traditional medicine to help lower cholesterol and high blood pressure. It is also said to help treat constipation, diabetes, kidney problems and cancer.

Here is more information about this herbal plant.

Common names: Leaves of the God, Sambung nyawa, Daun dewa, Googolipid, Mollucan spinach, Bai bing cai, Kelemai merah, Akar sebiak, Seribu dinar.

Scientific name: Gynura procumbens

Family: Asteraceae

Reference: www.melur.com

DURIAN KURA-KURA

Common name: Durian kura-kura; kekura
Scientific name: Durio testudinarium
Description: Medium sized, very rare, wild durian of Borneo. The fruits are pale yellow to brown in color, flesh is yellow. The flavour is often described as being not as sweet as many of the other durians. Reputedly, the flesh is stinkier than the common durian and can take quite a bit of getting used to.
Propagation: By seeds.

Native Range: Native to Borneo.

Sources:
http://www.dougfurtek.com/Durian.html
http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/kura_kura.htm

AFRICAN TULIP (Spathodea campanulata)

You can find a lot of Africa Tulip trees planted all along the road to my school. When the flowers are in bloom it is a lovely sight to behold. I had long admired the flower while driving to and from school but did not stop my car to have a closer look until a few days ago. Believe me, up close the flower looks stunning. And I found out later that the Africans use this plant for medicinal purposes as well.

Here is information about the African Tulip

Common name: African Tulip

Scientific name: Spathodea campanulata

Classification: Family Bignoniaceae

Botany

This tree grows up to 10 - 15 metres. It has large showy, red flowers.

Uses

The seeds are edible. Paper can be made from the soft white timber. Used in African traditional medicine. The stem, bark and leaf are used in treatment for dyspepsia and peptic ulcer. The leaf, root, bark and fruit are used for arthritis and fractures. The stem bark is used for toothache and stomache. Root bark seed is used for stomach ulcers.

References:

http://stuartxchange.org/TulipTree.html

http://naturia.per.sg/buloh/plants/afrincan_tulip.htm

MID AUTUMN FESTIVAL PRESENT

I did not check up on this blog until today as I was busy celebrating the Mid Autumn Festival with my family in Ipoh.

Anyway when I went online this evening to check, a big surprise was waiting for me. A visitor (a very knowledgeable one on botany) left many comments in different posts that I had done for the blog. NSWong (not sure if it is Mr, Mrs or Miss) had kindly helped to either correct the spellings of the scientific names of the plants or supplied the scientific names for some. I guess this must be my Mid Autumn Festival present.

I had first started this blog to provide information about the herbs that were planted in the Herb Garden of my school. Since Puan Idayati (the other teacher in-charge of the Herb Garden) and I had limited funds for our garden, we only make plaques giving the local and scientific names of the herbs. Then I got the idea of giving more information about the plants by starting a blog for it. I decided to do the posts in both English and Bahasa Melayu so that more people can get the information. The teachers in the English language and Bahasa Melayu department help me out by checking the grammar of the articles that I have written in Bahasa Melayu or helping to translate my articles into the Malay language. Some help to translate articles written by Puan Idayati into English. If any of the teachers, students or staff of the school wanted to know more about the plants, they could visit our Taman Herba STESMA blog.

Surprisingly, not many of them visit the blog. When they want information, they either come see me or Puan Idayati or call us. Actually the garden is just next to the library and I am practically sitting next to it. BUT then not all is lost. It appears that I have people from Malaysia and all over the world visiting the blog. So my effort is not in vain.