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<big>''[[Limnocharis flava]]'' (L.) Buchenau</big>
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:Protologue: Abh. Naturw. Ver. Bremen 2: 2 (1868).
== Synonyms ==
*''Alisma flava'' L. (1753), *''Limnocharis emarginata'' Kunth (1807), *''L. plumieri'' Richard (1815).
== Vernacular names ==
== Properties ==
Per 100 g edible portion ''L. flava'' contains: protein 1 g, fat 0.3 g, carbohydrates 0.5 g, vitamin A 5000 IU and vitamin B<sub>1</sub>10 IU. The energy value is 38 kJ/100 g.
== Botany ==
*A perennial, erect, laticiferous, aquatic to swampy-terrestrial herb, 20-100 cm tall, strongly tillering. *Leaves in a basal rosette, glabrous; petiole 5-75 cm long, thick, trigonous with many air chambers, sheathing at the base; leaf-blade orbicular, broad elliptic or ovate, 5-30 cm × 4-25 cm, yellow-green; nervation characteristic, main nerves 9-13 with numerous transverse parallel running secondary nerves. *Inflorescence umbelliform, 3-15-flowered, peduncle up to 90 cm long, erect when flowering, downcurved when fruiting; flowers in the axils of membranous bracts; pedicel 2-7 cm long; sepals 3, ca. 2 cm long; petals 3, ovate to orbicular, 1.5-3 cm long, yellow; stamens more than 15, surrounded by a whorl of staminodes; ovaries 10-20. *Fruit compound, composed of the ripe carpels forming together a globose or broadly ellipsoid body of 1.5-2 cm in diameter, enclosed by the sepals. Seed horseshoe-shaped, 1-1.5 mm long, provided with transverse crests, dark brown. *Seedling with one, 8-11.5 mm long cotyledon, sheathing around the first leaf.
''L.'' ''flava'' flowers the whole year round. The flowers open in the morning and close after a few hours. There is no record of any pollinating agent. After anthesis the sepals enlarge and surround the fruit whereas the petals become a slimy mass. When ripe the fruit carpels fall into the water where they release the seeds, which sink to the bottom. The downturned inflorescence which rests on the water surface often produces a new plant.
== Ecology ==
== Prospects ==
''L.'' ''flava'' is one of the most relished local vegetables of West Java and is also popular in Thailand; it deserves more attention in other areas. There is little information on this species. Cultivation in an integrated pisciculture system seems to be a good practice.
== Literature ==
* Djajadiredja, R. & Jangkaru, Z., 1979. Small scale fish/crop/livestock home industry integration. A preliminary study in West Java. Indonesian Agricultural Research & Development Journal 1(3/4): 1-4.
* Soerjani, M., Kostermans, A.J.G.H. & Tjitrosoepomo, G., 1987. Weeds of rice in Indonesia. Balai Pustaka, Jakarta, Indonesia. pp. 118-119, 592-593.
* van Steenis, C.G.G.J., 1954. Butomaceae. In: van Steenis, C.G.G.J. et al. (Editors), 1950- . Flora Malesiana. Series I. Vol. 5(1). Noordhoff-Kolff, Djakarta, Indonesia. pp. 118-120.
== Authors ==
*M.H. van den Bergh
[[Category:Vegetables (PROSEA)]]
[[Category:PROSEA]]
