If you would like to support this site, please consider Donating.
Useful Tropical Plants

Thalia geniculata

L.

Marantaceae

+ Synonyms

Maranta arundinacea Billb. ex Beurl.

Maranta flexuosa C.Presl

Maranta geniculata (L.) Lam.

Renealmia erecta (Vell.) D.Dietr.

Renealmia geniculata (L.) D.Dietr.

Thalia altissima Klotzsch

Thalia angustifolia C.Wright ex Griseb.

Thalia caerulea Ridl.

Thalia dipetala Gagnep.

Thalia divaricata Chapm.

Thalia erecta Vell.

Thalia schumanniana De Wild.

Thalia trichocalyx Gagnep.

Thalia welwitschii Ridl.

Common Name:

Thalia geniculata
Plant growing at the Rama IX Royal Park , Bangkok, Thailand
Photograph by: Tony Rodd
Creative Commons License
Thalia geniculata Thalia geniculata Thalia geniculata Thalia geniculata Thalia geniculata Thalia geniculata

General Information

Thalia geniculata is a rather stout, herbaceous plant growing 2 - 4 metres tall from a tuberous rhizome.
The plant is sometimes harvested from the wild for local consumption of its edible leaves and roots.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

331
Title
Flora of Guatemala
Publication
 
Author
Standley P.C. & J. A. Steyermark
Website
http://www.archive.org/
Publisher
 
Year
1946 - 1976
ISBN
 
Description
A superb reference, though somewhat dated. Gives lots of plant uses as well as information on plant habit and habitat. The entire flora (13 volumes) can now be downloaded from http://www.archive.org/

Range

Africa - Senegal to Sudan, south to Angola and Zimbabwe; S. America - Argentina north through C. America to Mexico; Caribbean - Trinidad to SE N. Amer

Habitat

Shallow water of open swamps, at or near sea level in Guatemala[
331
Title
Flora of Guatemala
Publication
 
Author
Standley P.C. & J. A. Steyermark
Website
http://www.archive.org/
Publisher
 
Year
1946 - 1976
ISBN
 
Description
A superb reference, though somewhat dated. Gives lots of plant uses as well as information on plant habit and habitat. The entire flora (13 volumes) can now be downloaded from http://www.archive.org/
].

Properties

Edibility Rating *  *
HabitPerennial
Height3.00 m
Cultivation StatusWild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

Leaves[
301
Title
Cornucopia II
Publication
 
Author
Facciola. S.
Publisher
Kampong Publications, California.
Year
1998
ISBN
0-9628087-2-5
Description
The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
].

Roots - cooked[
301
Title
Cornucopia II
Publication
 
Author
Facciola. S.
Publisher
Kampong Publications, California.
Year
1998
ISBN
0-9628087-2-5
Description
The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
]. They can be baked and eaten as a vegetable, or the starch can be extracted to make a sort of arrowroot[
301
Title
Cornucopia II
Publication
 
Author
Facciola. S.
Publisher
Kampong Publications, California.
Year
1998
ISBN
0-9628087-2-5
Description
The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -
Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2024-03-28. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Thalia+geniculata>

Add a Comment:

If you have any useful information about this plant, please leave a comment. Comments have to be approved before they are shown here.