Madhuri ji: what an acute observation as a child... smart.... have you seen similar plants now? if you do... please get some pics and seeds... that would be lovely... usha di ==
On Wed, Sep 7, 2011 at 2:06 AM, Madhuri Pejaver <[email protected]>wrote: > Dear Ushadi > In my childhood we had a cotton plant in our garden, I do not know the > genus and sps. But it was called as Dev kapus. > The cotton balles have seeds inside. In one variety all seeeds are joined > togather to form one bundle. This is considered as good cotton? > While the second one has its seeds seperate. For seperating the seeds the > first one is better, Because cleaning is easy. > we use to make the battis in lamps from this cotton. the plant was there > atleast for 10 to 11 years as per my memory. We use to cut it to keep the > proper height so that we can remove the cotton. One day it fail in rain > Madhuri > > --- On *Tue, 6/9/11, ushadi Micromini <[email protected]>* wrote: > > > From: ushadi Micromini <[email protected]> > Subject: [efloraofindia:79982] Malvaceae week 09 05 2011 UD 004 Ban Kapas > Thespesia lampas Jungli Paras Piplo Kolkata 08 > To: "efloraofindia" <[email protected]>, "Gurcharan Singh" < > [email protected]>, "J.M. Garg" <[email protected]> > Date: Tuesday, 6 September, 2011, 6:02 PM > > > Dear All: > > This is a new plant for me... never knew cotton plants would go on and on > for years... this one does apparently... look at its stem... its about 8 - 9 > inches in diameter... I always thought cotton plants were a yearly > affair... may be the agricultural pathos had brainwashed me/us... > > This was in a well tended herbal Garden ... for demonstration purposes to > Ethnomedicine and other students.. > > > Family : Malvaceae > > * * > > *Species: Thespesia lampus* (Cav.) Dalz. Ex. Dalz. & Gibs. ; > > Syn: *Azanzas lampas* (Cav.) Alef.; > > *Thespesia macrophylla* Blume > > Vernacular names : Bengali: Ban Kapas * *বন* *কাপাস > > Gujarati: Jungli Para piplo જંગલી* > *પ।રસ પીપળો > > > > This specimen was about 9-10 feet tall, grew kinda straight up, had a few > flowers, I went in 4 pm , so the flowers were closing, but the petal color > was still beautiful pink... and a few pods high up had opened up to reveal > the cotton. The leaves were varied in size... largest were 7-8 inches long. > > > > > What is used is: Various tribes use differently... Some use flower paste > for burn, root paste for eczema, juice of young pods on Scabies. I found > it very curious that Santhals of Bengal mix juice of its stem bark and > Aristolochia indica root paste on snake bite.... this we learned in class. > > > But along a Bengal village by the Damodar river we found an old lady who > said she had in the past used the root bark juice to induce miscarriage ( > this is quite opposite to the effect of Thepesia populinea root bark paste > effect... which says it helps women get pregnant, esp get a male child... > curiouser and curiouser!!!) > > > Come to think of it ... similar plant had been growing beyond the wall of > students' garden at a Ayurvedic college... and the local young gardeners, > very sheepishly asked us not to photograph it... > > there was so much else to learn that we did not pursue that tree... but I > distinctly remember it had cotton pods.. round ones , just like this one... > > > Thanks.. > > Usha di > >
