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December 22, 2007 : Parkia biglandulosa
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Keywords: Fabaceae | Parkia biglandulosa Wight & Arn. | cultivated in India
Another thank you to Dinesh Valke of India aka dinesh_valke@Flickr of India today, for sharing one of his images with BPotD (original). Appreciated as always, Dinesh.
The genus Parkia is named after the African explorer Mungo Park. It has thirty species, distributed across the tropics. The species in today's photograph, Parkia biglandulosa, is native to Malaysia, but despite its Asian origin, one of its common names reflects what some once thought might be its native distribution: African locust-tree. Perhaps the first encounter with this species by European explorers occurred in Africa, where the species had been cultivated. For what purpose? Lost Crops of Africa provides a clue: “Seeds roasted, also a substitute for coffee; seedlings also consumed.”
A close relative of Parkia biglandulosa, Parkia speciosa, is also consumed as a food. As an aside, those of you who are fans of Bohnanza will note that one common name of Parkia speciosa is stink bean.
The densely-flowered tennis-ball sized inflorescence of Parkia biglandulosa is only covered with open flowers for one night, according to Mabberley's “The Plant Book”.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at December 22, 2007 12:00 AM
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Posted by: Dinesh Valke at December 22, 2007 3:16 AM
I tend to forget that Fabaceae can look like this too. Very informative and interesting. Thanx!!
Posted by: fotrristi at December 22, 2007 5:16 AM
We got a chuckle out of twisting the name of this species into meaning something to do with "parks in a big land". hee hee
Carol
Posted by: Carol Ross at December 22, 2007 9:14 AM
Please share your comments about the photograph(s) and accompanying write-up. Telling a story about the subject of the photograph(s) is also much appreciated! If you have a gardening question, the best place to ask is on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Thank you!
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Thank you very much, Daniel !!