Hi Dave, Yes, I think you may be right and we have had a "false alarm identity crisis!" Especially also in view of the fact that the scientific name "Gynura Procumbens" is in contradiction to the physical attributes of the plant. From Latin: procumbens, procumbent - present participle of procumbere, to bend down : pro-, forward, -cumbere, to lie down. That is, the plant is definitely "low lying" and therefore can not reach heights of 5 or 6 metres as we have growing. One gardener in Indonesia would also agree as his "Sambung Nyawa" (the local Malay/Indonesian name often used synomously with GP) in the photos he has sent me never grow higher than 50cm! So we are still searching! Keep in touch and let me know if you discover any more clues to put us back on the right track. Cheers! Dr Hugo
Tropical Herbs and Spice!
Is our search dead in the water? Where can we go from here to scientifically identify this wonderful plant?? Any more ideas anyone??
My bet is that Dave is still working on it!
Still hoping to find something!
One thing that may help is to make an herbarium sheet, to send to any local plant experts.
This is done by pressing a sample of the plant on a sheet of cardboard, including flowers and seeds. Include a description of the plant with the pressed and dried sample; the physical characteristics of the plant are key in identification, rather than it's medicinal qualities.
So far the plant looks like a shrub in the Composite Family, Asteraceae.
There is a great website at the University of British Colombia with an ID Forum...you might try there.
Thanks for the advice but we do not have any institution in Malaysia that I know of yet that can analyse the plant. I could prepare a herbarium sheet like you say Dave and send it to you?? Aloha, I have already posted many messages on the UBC Botanical website but everyone there also seems stumped. We found many new plants recently growing wild on the edge of the jungle and would love to harvest and dry the leaves to make herbal healing tea to help others with various ailments. What an irony ~ here we are in the Age of Information and I can't find the information we need! Any help from anyone would be eternally appreciated as I continue my search for the real identity of this wonderful plant. Cheers! Dr Hugo
Thanks Dr. Hugo, I would be glad to have an herbarium sheet of the plant; seeds would be better, I would like to grow the plant.
Maybe sending an herbarium sheet to the Tropicos section of Missouri Botanical Garden would help. I will track down how to go about that if you wish.
Sure it isn't a Cestrum?
Oh my! Cestrums are extremely poisonous members of the Nightshade Family (Solanaceae), though they are wonderfully fragrant.
Hmmm....one man's treat is another's poison!!!
A deadly plant, oh how I miss my toxic garden in Montreal: nothing but highly toxic, perrenial and preferably large-sized plants where the lawn contractor is not allowed to enter alone. I have to admit those dangerous plantsare still the ones that hold the highest fascination for me.
Sylvain.
Hi Dave, Yes I can prepare a herbarium sheet if you give me the guidelines. I can laminate the leaves for a start, and the small white flowers also. But where am I to find the seeds as I can never see any? I could snip young buds off before they bloom too. I don't suppose I could airmail or courier a few stem cuttings to you could I?? There are probably quarantine regulations against it. Stem cuttings are very hardy and often I have left them for days or even weeks in a bucket of water and when planted they just shoot up. I would really like to know the true identity of the plant so I could write a full description of it including all its uses for healing. Why do you think we are having so much trouble identifying the plant? We are now drying the leaves in the tropical sun and making tea from them as well as "chewing the cud." Please give me specific directions about how to prepare samples and send to where for professional identification and analysis. I look forward to your reply. Cheers! Dr Hugo
This message was edited Feb 25, 2009 6:39 AM
I am still trying to identify this herbal plant. Some of the white flowers have burst and produced tiny seeds. But what is it called? Can anyone help?
Hi Dr Hugo, can you show the seeds on the plant, and separated?
Jim Duke has written several books on herbs, He has traveled extensively. Perhaps you can find a way to contact him. I'll look for my books tomorrow and see if they give a web address. Otherwise, you could google Dr. James Duke.
katiebear
This has been excellent reading I am going to try to grow some cacao here for fun. I just wonder how big a 4 year old tree will be have to keep it in pots and green house for the winter months but it interesting to do the vanilla looks interesting too! Thanks so much for posting this...Dana Tumeric I like to grow my own too
