Hoffe

The Hoffe ( Dioscorea will bulbifera ), also called apple-in-the air in the island of the Réunion, masako in Guyana and in the the Antilles, or apple Edward with the Seychelles, is a climbing Plante originating in East Africa and close to the Igname (even botanical kind), giving edible air Tubercule S, from where its vernacular name . It was spread on all the east coasts of the Indian Ocean, then in the tropical zones .

Description

Its cylindrical stem more or less is Volubile and can reach 12 meters length. Its alternate sheets have a limb twisted (in the shape of heart) from 10 to 17 centimetres and a length Pétiole of 8 centimetres.

It almost never flowers, for as much it produces many Bulbille S air Ovoïde S or spherical from 2 to 200 grams which can reach 10 centimetres in diameter. These Tubercule S falls on the ground and is used for the multiplication of the plant while being enracinant quickly. Cooked, they are edible only when they are detached from the stem and are consumed like potatoes.

Push and culture

The plant pushes and proliferous as soon as it has a support on which to be rolled up, in the same way that his/her cousins Dioscorea . The hoffe having a very great foliar development . The stem dries annually and the plant sets out again at the beginning of the summer and the first Mousson S by growths since the tuber which enlarges each year.

She likes the light, well drained grounds and rather rich person.

The culture in plant of interior is possible, its broad sheets make a very decorative species of it.

Use

In the traditional Medicine Malagasy, its pulp dried is used against the wounds, wounds, furoncles. In India, the hoffes are also used to treat the Ulcère S, the Hémorroïde S, the Syphilis and the Dysenterie. The sheets are used against the evil of the eyes.

See too

External references

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