Garden nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus)

Garden nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) is a species of plant in the Tropaeolaceae, herbaceous, short and branched roots, creeping and fragile stems, pale green or reddish in color, glabrous, succulent, soft and winding.

T. majus has green or greyish green leaves, stems 5-30 cm long and peltate. The leaves are 4-15 cm wide, orbicular in shape with flat, wavy or slightly lobed edges, glabrous and have many radial veins.

Hermaphroditic flowers, resembling small trumpets, 2.5-7 cm wide, yellow or orange or red, 5 sepals 1-2 cm long fused at the base. One of the nectar-bearing sepals is 2.5-4 cm long, straight or slightly curved. Flowers have 8 stamens and an ovary on top with a style and stigma.

The fruit of the schizocarp divides into three wrinkled pepperrps, each carpel with one large seed, ovoid with a prominent longitudinal ridge, pale green in color and turning pale brown when ripe.

This species grows in coastal and disturbed areas especially, scrub land, herbaceous fields, wetlands, river banks, urban bush land, roadsides, railway tracks, elevations up to 3000 meters, in full sun or partial shade, not tolerant against drought.

This plant contains carotenoids (violaxanthin, antheraxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, zeinoxanthin, β-cryptoxanthin, α-carotene, β-carotene), beta carotene, glycosides, flavonoids (quersetin, isoquercetin, quercetin 3-glucoside, myricetin, kaempferol, pelargonidin, delphinidin, cyanidin, derivatives of hydroxycinnamic acid), polyphenols, glucosinolates (benzyl glucosinolate (glucotropaeolin), sinalbin), fatty acids (erucic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid).

This plant has antibacterial, antifungal, antiseptic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, depurative, diuretic, emmenagogue, expectorant, aphrodisiac, sedative, stimulant, antibacterial and antiviral, antibiotic, anticancer, antiseptic and antiscorbutic activities.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Brassicales
Family: Tropaeolaceae
Genus: Tropaeolum
Species: Tropaeolum majus

Elephant bell gourd (Trichosanthes tricuspidata)

Elephant bell gourd ( Trichosanthes tricuspidata ) is a plant species in the Cucurbitaceae, stems grow elongated to propagate or climb, many branches, cylindrical in shape and green in color. T. cochinchinensis has stem tips or branches that twist to attach themselves to a support or other plant. It grows to climb to cover a support, usually on another plant, up to several meters and creeps along the ground to reach another support. Arrow-shaped leaves, split base, sharp apex and two wings at an acute angle, have many veins ending at a sharp edge, green and have a long petiole. Single flower is white. The fruit is round to oval, ends with a tail, young green and turns red with maturity, thin skin, thick flesh and reddish yellow, has a short stalk and hangs. The seeds are in the middle of the fruit. Seeds are white, oval and flat. Black coated seeds. Elephant bell gourd grows wild in primary and secondary forests, agricultural land, roadsides, watersheds, especially on slopes, damp a

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