Sunday 3 May 2009

Little Purple Five-Lobes


This morning I woke from a direct communication with a plant, and immediately sat down with Medicinal Plants of Southern Africa to clarify.


I knew it was to be found in grasslands and that the name seemed like pantasilia.

But you know I'm still a slightly fuzzy receiver for the plant community.

There she was -Pentanisia Prunelloides.

This lovely herb of the pale purple five-pointed star has long been known by the Zulu and Afrikaner as a remedy for heartburn. The Zulu name icimamlilo mean 'putting out the fire'.


But there's more.


Root and leaf extracts have been found to have both antibacterial and antiviral properties .


Pic: and more info, found at PlantzAfrica, a great resource I've just discovered five minutes ago.

1 comment:

  1. How interesting -- I first saw this plant on the Athi plains (grasslands) of Kenya and it is very pretty in flower, purple and mauve.

    Putting out fires too -- the leaves and the tuberous root are used. The roots of most grasslands species are very high in alkaloids.

    xxMary

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