Taverniera cuneifolia (Roth) Arnott.
عصمط، ورد الجبل
For people
- Eaten by people
- Unknown
- Toxic to people
- Unknown
For livestock
- Grazed by livestock
- Good fodder
- Toxic to livestock
- Unknown
Edibility and safety notes
No reliable record was found of this plant being eaten as food, so it should not be treated as edible. Its sweet root contains glycyrrhizin and is used in Indian folk medicine as a substitute for liquorice; that is a medicinal use, not a food use, and its safety has not been studied. The Omani field guide rates it good grazing, but no other information on livestock use or toxicity was found. Do not confuse the name 'Indian liquorice' with Abrus precatorius, a different plant with highly poisonous seeds.
This guide is a hobby project, not expert advice. Never eat a wild plant, or feed it to animals, on the strength of this page alone. Read the disclaimer
Description
A shrubby plant or subshrub (annual or perennial), 50-100 cm tall, with velvety-hairy branches. Leaves simple or with 1-3 leaflets; leaflets obovate to oblanceolate, 0.6-2.5 cm long, entire, with a small point at the tip, velvety and becoming hairless. Flowers pink and white to purple with dark veins, in lax axillary racemes up to 10 cm long; calyx silky, 4-5 mm; standard petal 1-1.3 cm long. Fruit a small jointed pod of 1-3 one-seeded, ovoid, prickly and hairy segments. Flowers January to April in the UAE.
Habitat
Rocky and stony wadis and mountain slopes on gravelly soil.
Distribution
Somalia, the southern and eastern Arabian Peninsula (Oman, UAE), Pakistan and India.
Pastoral value
Rated good grazing in the Omani field guide; no other documentation of its fodder value was found.
Other uses
The sweet root contains glycyrrhizin and is traditionally used in Indian folk and Ayurvedic medicine as a substitute for liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), as an expectorant and for inflammation, ulcers and wounds.
Sources
- الدليل الحقلي المصور للنباتات البرية في سلطنة عُمان (BOOK.pdf p.120)
- POWO - Taverniera cuneifolia (Roth) Arn. — powo.science.kew.org
- UAE Flora - Taverniera cuneifolia — uaeflora.ae
- Flowers of India - Wedge-Leaf Taverniera — flowersofindia.net Taverniera.html
- LC-MS/MS standardization of glycyrrhizin from roots of Taverniera cuneifolia (PMC9429499) — pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
From the same family
All in this family
Fabaceae
Salam tree, Desert acacia
Acacia ehrenbergiana Hayne.
Fabaceae
Red thorn, Grey-haired acacia, Talh
Acacia gerrardii Benth.
Fabaceae
Gum arabic tree, Babul, Thorn mimosa, Egyptian acacia, Thorny acacia
Acacia nilotica (L.) Del.
Fabaceae
Gum acacia, Gum arabic tree, Sudan gum
Acacia senegal (L.) Willd.