Native wild edible : Oroxylum indicum

Native wild edibles, Salvaged, What we grow

Aug 112012

Basically an unknown vegetable for the Filipinos but for the people in rural Thailand this is a common vegetable tree that they grow in their backyards. The young fruits which they grill or ferment in rice wash and salt before being eaten with their infamously spicy and delicious concoction called “Nam pric” are found sold in fresh markets amidst an array of various other strange vegetables and herbs that we Filipinos, most probably, would not be familiar with .

Specimen : Wild trees

Habitat : Creek banks, open grasslands, ravines

Local name : Pinka-pinkahan

Trade name : Midnight horror

Botanical name : Oroxylum indicum

Family : Bignoniaceae
Specimen height : 8-12 meters

Trunk : Bole erect, cylindrical, slender; Bark fissured, greyish

Leaf : Compound; Leaflets ovate, crinkled, deep green

Fruit : Capsule, flattened (dagger-shaped), elongated (about a meter long, more or less), dark brown to nearly black; Flattened, winged seeds numerous

Fruiting season : Possibly year-round

Traits : Deciduous to semi-deciduous; Fast growing; Small to medium-sized tree; Sparingly branched

Recommendations : Vegetable tree for backyards; Light shade for crops; Living trellis; Nurse tree; Pioneer species for reforestation purpose; Riparian management; Wildcrafting

Used for : Shoots, flowers and young fruits are cooked or eaten raw as vegetable; Leaves, bark, roots and seeds have medicinal uses; Leaves are used in baths; Dye obtained from the bark is used to decorate rattan baskets

Native range : South Asia, China and Southeast Asia (including the Philippines)

National conservation status : Not threatened in the
Philippines

Threat : Clearing of woodlands for agricultural, residential and commercial use