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Cleome viscosa

Common name:	Tickweed	Family:	Capparidaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:	Polanisia viscosa ((L.)DC.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Pantropical.
Habitat:	Sandy and freely draining soils in open woodland scrub and on scree slopes in dry areas[200].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	C. icosandra[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Asian Spider-flower [B], Asian Spiderflower [P], L [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	viscosa = sticky;
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Etjeng; India; India(Gujarat); India(Santal); Indochina; Machmud panta; Maman; Maman hutan; Sudan

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 1.5m. It is frost tender. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Condiment; Leaves; Oil.

Leaves and young shoots - cooked as a vegetable[272]. A sharp mustard-like flavour[183].
The pungent seed can be pickled or used as a mustard substitute in curries[183, 272].
The seedpods are made into pickles[183].
The juice of the plant is used as a condiment[183].
An oil obtained from the seeds is used for cooking[272].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Anthelmintic; Carminative; Diaphoretic; Rubefacient; Stimulant.

The leaves are diaphoretic, rubefacient and vesicant[240]. They are used as an external application to wounds and ulcers[240].
The juice of the leaves has been used to relieve earache[240].
The seeds are anthelmintic, carminative, rubefacient, stimulant and vesicant[240, 272]. The seed contains 0.1% viscosic acid and 0.04% viscosin[240].
A paste of the root is applied externally in the treatment of earaches[272].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Prefers a light fertile soil in a warm dry sunny position with plenty of room to spread[200].
A frost tender plant, it can be grown as a summer annual in Britain[200].

Propagation

Seed - surface sow or only lightly cover the seed in spring in a greenhouse[164]. The seed usually germinates in 5 - 14 days at 25°c[164]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in late spring. Day time temperatures below 20°c depress germination but a night time fall to 20° is necessary[164].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Polanisia viscosa (a possible synonym).

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[164] Bird. R. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 4. Thompson and Morgan. 1990
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. A good article on Yuccas, one on Sagebrush (Artemesia spp) and another on Chaerophyllum bulbosum.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Cleome+viscosa
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Cleome+viscosa

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