Re: [gardeners] Ivy Gourd, Kaempfer or Cork Wood Tree

Margaret Lauterbach (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Mon, 12 Mar 2001 05:53:13 -0700 

At 01:53 PM 3/11/01 -0500, you wrote:
>At 01:44 PM 3/11/01 -0500, you wrote:
>>Ivy gourd is Ivy Gourd, Coccinea grandis, Cucurbitaceae
>>In Hawaii, it is acting rather like Kudzu.
>>It looks like a cucumber vine with hot red peppers growing on it.
>>The fruits and leaves are edible.  Cook the leaves and the fruits
>>can be raw or cooked and eaten young or ripe.  It has
>>some medicinal uses as well.  It has both male and female
>>plants.
>>
>>Kaempfer is most likely Kaempferia  which is  lesser galangale which is
>>a root similar to ginger and turmeric and is a cousin to both. Seems to 
>>me that it was better known in the middle ages.  I think Penzey's sells it.
>>Our local ethnic grocery store has it or greater galangale occasionally,
>>though I am not sure which as they don't label it.
>>It got its German name due to being named after a German botanist
>>who worked in the late 1600's.
>>
>>But it could be
>>Latin Name Common Name Family Synonyms
>>Aristolochia kaempferiAristolochiaceaeA. lineata. Hocquartia kaempferi.; 
>>Aristolochia lineata; Hocquartia kaempferi
>>Broussonetia kazinokiKozoMoraceaeB. kaempferi. non Sieb.&Zucc. B. 
>>monoica. B. sieboldii.; Broussonetia kaempferi
>>Catalpa ovataChinese catalpaBignoniaceaeC. kaempferi.; Catalpa kaempferi
>>Farfugium japonicumLeopard plantCompositaeLigularia kaempferi. 
>>(DC.)Sieb.&Zucc. L. tussilaginea. (Burm.)Makino. Senecio kaempferi. DC. 
>>Tussilago japonica.; Ligularia kaempferi; Senecio kaempferi
>>Iris ensataJapanese water irisIridaceaeI. kaempferi. I. lactea.; Iris 
>>kaempferi
>>Iris macrosiphonBowltube irisIridaceaeI. amabilis. I. californica. I. 
>>elata.; I. kaempferi
>>Larix kaempferiJapanese larchPinaceaeAbies leptolepis; L. japonica; L. 
>>kaempferi var. pendula; L. leptolepis; L. leptolepis f. pendula; L. 
>>leptolepis var. murrayana; L. leptolepis var. pendula; Pinus kaempferi; 
>>Pseudolarix kaempferi
>>Phytolacca acinosaIndian pokePhytolaccaceaeP. kaempferi
>>Phytolacca esculentaPhytolaccaceaeP. acinosa esculenta. P. kaempferi.; 
>>Phytolacca kaempferi
>>Pseudolarix amabilisGolden larchPinaceaeP. fortunei. Mayr. P. kaempferi. 
>>Gord.; Pseudolarix kaempferi; Larix kaempferi; Larix kaempferi var. 
>>pendula; Pinus kaempferi
>>Rhododendron kaempferiEricaceaeAzalea obtusa var. kaempferi; R. obtusum 
>>var. kaempferi
>>Rhus vernicifluaLacquer treeAnacardiaceaeR. kaempferi. R. vernicifera. R. 
>>vernix. non L. Toxicodendron verniciflua. (Stokes.)F.Barkley.
>>Vitis thunbergiiVitaceaeV. sieboldii.; V. kaempferi

By George, I think you've got it!!!  Wow.


>>For the Cork Wood Tree, I would guess the Cork Oak, Quercus Suber.
>>It takes 40 years to get from acorn to first wine cork and then you can get
>>more corks every 9-12 years.  They usually grow around the mediterranean
>>mostly.  The only one I can think of in the US is on the campus of
>>UC-Davis in California.
>>
>>There's also Phellodendron amurense  with an edible turpentine
>>scented fruit and P. japonicum which are sometimes
>>called Cork Trees.  They have little black fruits.
>>
>>And Entelea arborescens which is
>>an evergreen shrub and not
>>edible.
>>
>>
>>
>>Sharon
>>gordonse@one.net

Sharon, the photo for the Cork Wood Tree shows a cluster of locust 
tree-like leaves and fat white pea-like pods. I can't tell whether they're 
pods or buds.  Do you know who has winged bean seeds for sale?  I once grew 
some from Richters, I think, that advised eating them before they were 1 
and 1/2 inches tall.  Plants were only about 6 inches tall, so the pods 
were very hard to see.  I never did get any that small.  But I understand 
these regular winged beans may be eaten up to 3 or 4 inches long. Surely 
I'd see them before that.  Thanks very much for the above info.  Margaret L