Cyanotis barbata
D. Don.
CommelinaceaeRoots
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(c) jerrythornton, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND)
(c) jerrythornton, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND)
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Marc Henrion, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) Marc Henrion, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Tubers, Root, Corms
The underground corms are eaten raw by children.
Where to Find It
A tropical plant.
Africa, China, East Africa, Ethiopia, Himalayas, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, SE Asia, West Africa, Zimbabwe,
Countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Brunei, Bhutan, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, China, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, India, Kenya, Cambodia, Comoros, Laos, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Myanmar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Malawi, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Nepal, Philippines, Pakistan, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Singapore, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe
How to Identify
A herb. It forms tufts. The shoots lie along the ground and are 15-30 cm long. The leaves are narrowly sword shaped. They are 3-8 cm long by 3-7 mm wide. The flowers are dark blue. The fruit are square capsules. They have 6 seeds. The seeds are 1 mm long and wrinkled and brown.
Other Information
The underground corms are eaten raw by children.
Names & Synonyms
Cyanotis hirsutaTradescantia barbata (D. Don) Spreng.Tradescantia radicans Royle
References (6)
- Chapman, J. D. & Chapman, H. M., 2001, The Forest Flora of Taraba and Andamawa States, Nigeria. WWF & University of Canterbury. p 208
- Flora of Pakistan. www.eFloras.org
- Jardin, C., 1970, List of Foods Used In Africa, FAO Nutrition Information Document Series No 2.p 73
- Molla, A., Ethiopian Plant Names. http://www.ethiopic.com/aplants.htm
- Prodr. Fl. Nep. 46. 1825
- Regassa, T., et al, 2014, Ethnobotany of Wild and Semi-Wild Edible Plants of Chelia District, West-Central Ethiopia. Science, Technology and Arts Research Journal. 3(4): 122-134
