Strobilanthes tonkinensis is a species of herbaceous plant native to Southeast Asia. It is used as a flavoring for tea and other food.
Names
Many sources still refer to the plant by the synonym Semnostachya menglaensis, but this name is not a validly published name as that herbarium where the type specimen is located was not specified.[7]
The genus name Strobilanthes can be broken down into στροβιλοϛ (strobilus) meaning 'pine cone',[12] and ανϑοϛ (anthos) meaning 'flower'.[13] The specific epithettonkinensis refers to the type locality of Tonkin (Northern Vietnam).[1] The epithet nivea derives from the latin niveum meaning 'snow white',[14] perhaps referring to the white flowers. The epithet menglaensis refers to Mengla County in China.[6]
In Chinese it is called 糯米香 (nuò mǐ xiāng "glutinous rice fragrance"),[7] because it smells and tastes like sticky rice.[9] In Thai, it is called เนียมหอม[15] (niamhom).[16] The Vietnamese names for the plant include chuỳ hoa bắc bộ and cơm nếp.[17][18]Chuỳ hoa refers to members of Strobilanthes as a whole,[19] and Bắc Bộ refers to Northern Vietnam. The sarmentosus variety is called chuỳ hoa bắc bộ có lỏng.[17]Khmu language speakers in Laos call it pl̀tàap.[20]
Uses
The aroma evokes sticky rice, but has also been compared to pandan.[16] Dried leaves of S. tonkinensis are used to flavor black tea and pu'er tea to impart its fragrance and sticky rice flavor.[21] The use of the leaves in tea has a long tradition among the Dai people.[22] It can also be used as a flavoring for jiuqu, cookies, ice cream, and dim sum.[23] The herb can also be mixed with slaked lime for betel nut chewing or added to tobacco to make those strong flavors more palatable.[24]
Outside of food or drink, the leaves can be used to give laundry a fresh scent.[24]
S. tonkinensis was briefly in the StrobilanthessubgenusSympagis.[5] The subgenus was subsequently elevated to genus status,[5] before being determined to be a synonym of Strobilanthes,[26] which now has no subgenera.
The varietyStrobilanthes tonkinensis var. sarmentosus is so named because it has sarmentose (long and slender) branches.[2]
The plant is herbaceous with a woody base and shrubby, roughly four-sided, pubescent branches.[1][7] When dry the plant is fragrant.[7]
The leaves are ~23×12 cm or a little smaller and egg-shaped, starting wide and narrowing quickly to the acuminateapex (tip). The margins are nearly entire, with irregular sinuous 'teeth'. The leaf epidermal cells are hexagonal with straight cell walls.[27] The leaf stomata are hypostomatic (on the abaxial side) and solely diacytic.[27] The non-glandular leaf trichomes tend to be simple, composed of two cells, and cone-shaped.[27] The leaf petioles are 3–4 cm long.[1]Adaxially there are prominent striated cystoliths[1][7] with a point on one end.[27]
S. tonkinensis has white flowers that are opposite, arising from pedunculate, tomentosespikelets in the upper axils.[1] The flowers are in lax, terminal spikes similar to Strobilanthes collina.[28] The bracts are 10×3 mm, slightly spathulate, obtuse, and densely tomentose.[1]Bracteoles are 6×1 mm in size, lanceolate, obtuse, and densely tomentose.[1] The calyx is also obtuse and tomentose, and about 8.5×1.4 mm.[1] The corolla lobes are short and 6x6 mm with a subacute and sinuate apex.[1] The stamen filaments are hairy and laterally bifurcated at the base with a pubescent line running down.[1]Anthers are 3.5 mm long.[1] The pollen grains are 85×60 μm.[1] The stylus is 20 mm long and glabrous with a 3 mm stigma.[1]
The capsule is 15 mm long and 4 mm wide, with a compressed base and acute apex.[1] It's minutely glandular-pubescentand contains four glabrous seeds.[1] The glabrous seed is unusual among Strobilanthes of East Asia.[29] The seeds have no trichomes on their areoles, only annular thickenings.[29]
Dried S. tonkinensis leaves contains abundant minerals and trace elements, particularly high levels of calcium, potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus.[9] Additionally, it contains essential trace elements such as iron, copper, manganese, and zinc, which are necessary for human health.[9] The plant is rich in nutrients such as crude protein, crude fiber, and amino acids, with a high content of essential amino acids that meets the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization's recommended ratio.[9]
^ abBenoist, Raymond (1935). Gagnepain, François; Humbert, Henri; Lecomte, P. Henri (eds.). Flore Générale de l'Indo-Chine (in French). Vol. 4. Paris: Masson. p. 677. Archived from the original on 26 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
^Craib, William Grant (1 May 1914). "Contributions to the Flora of Siam". Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, Royal Gardens, Kew. 3: 131. Archived from the original on 9 September 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
^National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). "Chapter 4: Potassium: Dietary Reference Intakes for Adequacy". In Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). pp. 120–121. doi:10.17226/25353. ISBN978-0-309-48834-1. PMID30844154. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
^ abLê, T.C. (2005). Danh lục các loài thực vật Việt Nam (in Vietnamese). Vol. 3. Nhà xuất bản Nông nghiệp. p. 276. Archived from the original on 26 June 2024. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
^"Strobilanthes tonkinensis Lindau". Vietnam Plant Data Center. BotanyVN – Botany Research and Development Group of Vietnam. Archived from the original on 5 March 2024. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
^PAN, Yu-Mei; LIU, Hong-Mao; XU, Zai-Fu (2006). "西双版纳傣族传统饮料植物利用的研究" [Traditional Beverage Plants Used by Dai Villagers in Xishuangbanna]. Plant Diversity / Acta Botanica Yunnanica (in Chinese). 28 (6): 664. Archived from the original on 23 June 2024. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
^WU, Gang; MA, Shuai; ZHANG, Cuiling; ZHUANG, Huifa; ZHANG, Jiaming (25 July 2011). "糯米香种质资源遗传多样性的 RAPD 分析" [Analysis to Genetic Diversity in Strobilanthes tonkinensis by RAPD]. Chinese Journal of Tropical Crops (in Chinese). 32 (7): 1320–1324. ISSN1000-2561. Archived from the original on 22 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
^"Sympagis (Nees) Bremek". The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Archived from the original on 23 June 2024. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
^Lamxay, V.; Lanorsavanh, S.; Chanthavong, K.; Souvannakhoummane, K.; Bounphanmy, S. (2021). ບັນຊີລາຍຊື່ພືດທີ່ມີທໍ່ລໍາລຽງຂອງ ສປປ ລາວ [A Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Lao PDR version 1.0] (PDF) (in Lao). Faculty of Natural Science, National University of Laos. Archived(PDF) from the original on 7 June 2024. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
.png)
