Flemingia vestita Or (Sohphlang) | |
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Sohphlang, Ready to Eat | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
(unranked): | Angiosperms |
(unranked): | Eudicots |
(unranked): | Rosids |
Order: | Fabales |
Family: | Fabaceae alt. Leguminosae |
Subfamily: | Faboideae |
Tribe: | Phaseoleae |
Subtribe: | Cajaninae |
Genus: | Flemingia |
Species: | vestita |
Binomial name | |
Flemingia vestita Benth. ex Baker, 1876 |
Flemingia vestita (synonyms Flemingia procumbens Roxb.; Moghania vestita (Benth.) ex Baker Kuntze; Moghania procumbens (Roxb.) Mukerjee) famously known as Sohphlang is a nitrogen fixing herb with characteristic tuberous root, belonging to the genus Flemingia. The root is edible and is a common vegetable in some Asian tribal communities. In addition, it has been traditionally used as an anthelmintic, the basis of which is scientifically validated.
It is found as a wild herb along the mountain slopes of Himalayas. It is distributed in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces of China, Nepal and Khasi hills , Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya in Northeast India. It is also sparsely found in Laos, Philippines and Vietnam.
F. vestita is a perennial herb, having a prostrate but weak stem, measuring about ~60 cm in average. It is highly branched with hairy rhizome and hirsute stems. The roots are tuberous (6 cm or longer). Leaves are pinnately compound with obovate-cuneate leaflets. Leaves are digitately 3-foliolate; and also pubescent like the stem. Lateral leaflets are obliquely elliptic, and slightly smaller. Raceme is axillary or terminal, about 2–10 cm, and densely pubescent; bracts lanceolate. Calyx is 5-lobed; lobes are linear-lanceolate, lower one is longest, longer than the tube. Corolla is slightly longer than calyx and elliptical. Fruits are hairy sub-cylindrical pods. Seed is globose, brown or black in colour. Flowers are bright-red. It flowers during August and September.