Kapok flowers |
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| Bombax Ceiba Linn. |
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| Bombacaceae | |
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| Cotton tree | |
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| Ngio dok daeng, Ngio luang, Ngio daeng, Ngio pong, Ngio ban | |
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| Tree 25 m. high found in Thailand, India and Burma as well as Yunan, Africa and Australia, growing in mixed deciduous forest throughout Thailand except the South, lightweight wood, thorny trunk. Leaves palmate; leaflets 5-7, obvate-lanceolate, dark green-brown, 6-12 in. long. Flowers numerous at the top of the branches; calyx urn-chaped, 2-3.5 cm. long; petals 5, oblong, bright red, their lower parts attached to the numerous (60) facicular stems. Capsule widely uniform, densly wooly inside, seeds ovoid. | |
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Lanna people use the stem and pistil for kaeng khae, or nam ngio. Chinese tonic drink chap Liang has ngio flowers mixed in. In India the flowers are made into desserts mixing in opium seeds, sugar and milk. Fresh petals are nutritiously as good as carrots and pumpkin. |
Traditional Thai medical formulas use the bark which is pungent to stimulate blood circulation and to treat swollen wounds and stomach ulcers. Flowers taste mild to cool, good to stop bleeding, to treat boils and abscesses, to stimulate urination. Roots or root bark has a cool taste and can be used to heal wounds and swollen bodies in a woman after giving birth. | |
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| Winter Season | |
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Rattana Phromphichai. (1999). Ngio Dok Daeng. In Saranukrom Wattanatham Thai Phak Nuea (Vol. 3, pp. 1378-1379). Bangkok: The Siam Commercial Bank Foundation for the Encyclopedia of Thai Culture. (in Thai). |
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