Biology:Aframomum angustifolium

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Short description: Wild cardamom

Aframomum angustifolium
Aframomum angustifolium fruit.jpg
Aframomum angustifolium fruit
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Zingiberaceae
Genus: Aframomum
Species:
A. angustifolium
Binomial name
Aframomum angustifolium
(Sonn.) K.Schum.[1]
Synonyms[1]
  • Aframomum baumannii K.Schum.
  • (K.Schum.) K.Schum. Sonn.
  • K.Schum. Amomum sansibaricum
  • Amomum clusii Werth
  • Aframomum sceleratum Sm.
  • (Sonn.) Kuntze Cardamomum clusii
  • Amomum madagascariense (Sm.) Kuntze
  • Aframomum sanguineum A.Chev.
  • Lam. Kuntze
  • Marogna paludosa Amomum nemorosum
  • Salisb. Zingiber meleguetta
  • Amomum angustifolium Bojer
  • Gaertn. Cardamomum melegueta
  • Cardamomum angustifolium Amomum sanguineum

Aframomum angustifolium, known as "wild cardamom" in English,[2] is a species in the ginger family Zingiberaceae that grows in tropical Africa and in Madagascar .[1]

Description

Aframomum angustifolium is herbaceous and like other plants of this family, its erect "stems" consist of layered tubular leaf bases. The fruit is a berry containing many seeds surrounded by sugary-sweet and sour edible pulp.

Etymology

The species name, angustifolium, means "narrow-leaved" in Latin.

In Madagascar, it is known as longoza, due to its use as a source of energy during long hunting treks (lona "long hours", and hoza "to experience diificulties").[3]

Uses

The plant's crushed seeds are used as a peppery spice.[2] The leaves are also used as disposable receptacles for eating rice.[3]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Aframomum angustifolium (Sonn.) K.Schum.". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:871829-1. Retrieved 2020-10-03. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 Ruffo, Christopher K.; Birnie, Ann; Tengnäs, Bo (2002). Edible wild plants of Tanzania. Regional Land Management Unit/Sida. ISBN 9966-896-62-7. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 Boiteau, Pierre (1999). "longoza" (in fr). longoza. III. Editions Alzieu. https://en.mondemalgache.org/bins/teny2/longoza. 

Wikidata ☰ Q15318259 entry