Heracleum rigens

Wall. ex DC.

ApiaceaeFruitLeaves

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Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves, Fruit

The leaves and fruit are eaten.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant. It grows in evergreen forests.

Asia, India,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei, Bhutan, China, Georgia, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mongolia, Maldives, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

How to Identify

A large herb or small shrub. It has tuberous roots and keeps growing from year to year. It grows 1 m tall. The leaves are large and twice divided. The leaves have lobes and these vary in size becoming smaller towards the tip. There are teeth along the edge. The leaves are hairy. The flowers are large and in erect compound groups with stalks from the same point. The flowers have 5 oval petals. The fruit are 1 cm long by 0.5 cm wide. They are narrowly oval and flattened with 3 ridges.

Medicinal Uses

The plant is used in medicine.

Production

In southern India plants flower and fruit August to September.

Notes

An unresolved name in The Plant List. It is used in medicine.

Names & Synonyms

Chittelam, Kattu kothamalli, Rai kai

Heracleum courtallense GambleHeracleum sprengelianum Dalzell & A. GibsonPastinaca candolleana Wight & Arn.Pastinaca ligusticifolia Wight & Arn.Pastinaca rigens WightTetrataenium rigens (Wall. ex DC.) Manden.

References (1)

Arinathan, V., et al, 2007, Wild edibles used by Palliyars of the western Ghats, Tamil Nadu. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge. 6(1) pp 163-168