Amorphophallus, a medicinal plant with unique flower

Fellow blogger Nebu has correctly identified the photo in my previous post (Have you seen this flower?) as that of amorphophallus flower. The common names of amorphophallus ssp (botanical name) is ‘elephant foot yam’ or ‘elephant yam’.

The local names include Zaminkund, Anto, Balukund, Chena, Daga, Ilis-ilis, Kand godda, Karak-kavanai, Karnai kilangu, Oroy, Poong, Puung, Sooweg, Mo-yu, Suron, Teve, Tamari, Waloor, Arsaghna, Konjac, Konniaku, Konnyaku, Koe, Tigi, Ol kuchu, Kidaran, and Ol.

Elephant yam is considered to have several medicinal properties and effective in the treatment of amenorrhea, anorexia, arthritis, cough, dysmenorrhea, general debility, hemorrhage, hemorrhoids, inflammation, sexual weakness, and vomiting. The corms are used in different cuisines.

Though elephant yam is common in many tropical countries, its flower is rarely seen. It comes out from the center of some of the yams that are kept aside as seeds for planting. A few photos of the flower are given below:

Photos by Rose Petrov, AT (Copyright reserved).
Click on them to enlarge.

Also see:
Medicinal Plants: Noni (Morinda citrifolia) planting for profit?

Health, Gardening: Periwinkle, a wonder plant