Cullen badocana

Family: Fabaceae

What it is like

A strong smelling shrubby herb. It has ridged woolly hairy stems. It grows 1.2-3 m tall. The leaves are oval or sword shaped and 5-10 cm long by 2-5.5 cm wide. The leaf stalks are 3 cm long. The leaves have softly grey hairs over them. The largest leaves have slightly wavy edges. The flowers are 1 cm across and occur in round heads. 1.5-2.5 cm long. There are normally 3 flowers at each node. The outer ring of sepals of the flower have 2 deep lips. The flowers are blue with a white standard. The fruit is an oval pod 3.5 mm long and 2.5 mm wide. It has a network of veins over it and is compressed. It has one seed.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It grows in tropical places. In Papua New Guinea it grows from sea level to 120 m altitude. It grows naturally in grassland and on sand dunes.

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, Australia, East Timor, Pacific, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, SE Asia, Timor-Leste

How it is used for food

The roots are scraped and roasted then eaten.

Edible parts

Roots

How it is grown

Its other names

Local names

Alpu-rara, A-mega

Synonyms

Liparia badocana Blanco; Lotodes badocanum (Blanco) Kuntze; Meladenia densiflora Turcz.; Psoralea badocana (Blnaco) Benth.; Psoralea badocana (Blanco) Blanco;