Coleus rotundifolius
Coleus rotundifolius
(N. E. Br.) G. Taylor
| Order | Lamiales |
|---|---|
| Family | Lamiaceae |
| Genus | Coleus |
2n = 64
Origin : Tropical africa
wild and cultivated
| English | Madagascar potato |
|---|---|
| French | pomme de terre de Madagascar |
- starchy tuber
- leaves : vegetable
- medicinal
Contents
Description
culture
flowering plant
flowers
tubers
- perennial plant with rounded or ovoid underground tubers varying in size (from the size of a hazelnut to that of a small lemon)
- fleshy stems, quadrangular, erect or half-recumbent, sometimes rooting
- oval, crenate, and slightly obtuse leaves, with more or less short and brittle petiole
- blue flowers arranged into false whorls (Chevalier)
Popular names
| English | Madagascar potato, Hausa potato, country potato (PROSEA) ; frafra potato, Sudan potato, coleus potato, Zulu round potato (PROTA) |
| French | pomme de terre de Madagascar (PROSEA) ; pomme de terre du Soudan (PROTA) |
| Bambara | oussou ni fing ("petite patate noire") (Chevalier) |
| Malagasy | ranofaritra (mérina), voamitra (sakalava) (Boiteau) |
| Indonesian | kentang Jawa (indonésien), kentang ireng (javanais), huwi kentang (sundanais) (PROSEA) |
| Malaysian | ubi kembili, ubi keling (PROSEA) |
| Thaï | man-khinu, man-nu (sud) (PROSEA) |
Classification
Coleus rotundifolius (Poir.) A. Chev. & Perrot (1905)
basionyme :
- Germanea rotundifolia Poir. (1788)
synonyme :
- Plectranthus rotundifolius (Poir.) Spreng. (1825)
- Plectranthus tuberosus Blume (1826)
- Coleus parviflorus Benth. (1848)
- Solenostemon rotundifolius (Poir.) J. K. Morton (1962)
Cultivars
Chevalier distinguishes varieties with black, brown, reddish, whitish tubers.
History
Chevalier already noted in 1953 the regression of this species cultivation.
Uses
Only cultivated. The native area is not definitely known; probably of tropical African origin (Madagascar, Ethiopia). Cultivated as a food crop in tropical Africa, India (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka), Sri Lanka and SE Asia. The starchy, slightly aromatic tubers are eaten boiled or steamed, sometimes raw. Cooked leaves also eaten as a vegetable. Used as a medicinal plant against dysentery and eye diseases in parts of tropical Africa and regarded as a potential anti-cancerogen. Formerly widely grown in the drier parts of tropical Africa, but now replaced mostly by Solanum tuberosum, Manihot esculenta, Arachis hypogaea, etc., despite of its nutritional quality and high capacity of yielding on soils of low fertility. Several cultivars differing in colour and size of the tubers can be distinguished.
References
- Busson F., Jaeger Paul, Carbiener R., Lanza J., 1959. Contribution à à l'étude botanique et chimique des tubercules de Coleus rotundifolius (Poir.) A. Chev. Journal d'agriculture tropicale et de botanique appliquée, 6 (12) : 675-679. doi : 10.3406/jatba.1959.2584
- Chevalier, Auguste. & Perrot, Emile, 1905. Les Coleus à tubercules alimentaires. in Végétaux Utiles de l'Afrique tropicale française, Vol. I, fasc. 1, p. 100-152.
- Chevalier Auguste, 1938. Les Labiées cultivées ou utilisées dans les Pays tropicaux. Revue de botanique appliquée et d'agriculture coloniale, 18 (203) : 470-488. doi : 10.3406/jatba.1938.5884
- Chevalier, Auguste, 1946. Notes et actualités. Un légume tropical à répandre : la petite pomme de terre d'Afrique (Coleus rotundifolius). Revue internationale de botanique appliquée et d'agriculture tropicale, 26 (285-286) : 296-300. Persée
- Chevalier, Auguste, 1953. Labiées du Genre Coleus Loureiro cultivées dans les Pays tropicaux de l'Ancien Monde. Revue internationale de botanique appliquée et d'agriculture tropicale, 33 (369-370) : 334-341. doi : 10.3406/jatba.1953.6788
- Miège, J. & Moncousin, C., 1989. Deux espèces à tubercules comestibles menacées de disparition: Solenostemon rotundifolius et Plectranthus esculentus (Lamiacées). Possibilité de leur conservation par micropropagation. Bull. Soc. Bot. France, Actual. Bot., 136 (3/4): 185-193.
