|
|
Post by SA Hunter on Sept 12, 2018 22:26:21 GMT 10
herbalistics.com.au/product/ipomoea-costata-desert-potato-seed/Ipomoea costata is a semi-prostrate scrambling vine with heart shaped leaves and funnel shaped rose/purple flowers with a dark throat. Native to sandy arid parts of Northern Australia (NT and WA). I. costata is a native whose tubers were an important food source for Aborigines. Closely related to the sweet potato it produces large, tasty tubers. Tubers can be as large as an adult head and can occur 0.5-1m below ground level. Aboriginals used to thump the ground to listen for a change in sound that would indicate the presence of a large tuber worth digging for.
|
|
|
|
Post by spinifex on Sept 13, 2018 9:57:07 GMT 10
Have eaten a lot of this plant. Very nice raw, much sweeter than any kind of potato ... more like a carrot in sweetness. Not so great cooked. Dunno about the stick thumping method of finding them. The folks I hung out with in the central deserts just used a keen eye to spot the last little remnants of the dead stems in dry times or the highly visible bright green vines in wet times. Of course they also knew the exact areas where they could be found so increasing the chances of finding them.
We even grew this plant in irrigated gardens; then realised its hard work digging up the tubers because even in a garden they set them deep underground and often at some distance out from where the vine stem comes out of the ground. The yield is low relative to common sweet potato and spuds.
Worth growing even as an ornamental as they have good looking flowers and foliage. The plant has other uses besides edible tubers.
|
|
|
|
Post by SA Hunter on Sept 13, 2018 20:56:29 GMT 10
Have eaten a lot of this plant. Very nice raw, much sweeter than any kind of potato ... more like a carrot in sweetness. Not so great cooked. Dunno about the stick thumping method of finding them. The folks I hung out with in the central deserts just used a keen eye to spot the last little remnants of the dead stems in dry times or the highly visible bright green vines in wet times. Of course they also knew the exact areas where they could be found so increasing the chances of finding them. We even grew this plant in irrigated gardens; then realised its hard work digging up the tubers because even in a garden they set them deep underground and often at some distance out from where the vine stem comes out of the ground. The yield is low relative to common sweet potato and spuds. Worth growing even as an ornamental as they have good looking flowers and foliage. The plant has other uses besides edible tubers. How would they go in a pot? |
|
|
|
Post by spinifex on Sept 14, 2018 8:06:32 GMT 10
Might be worth a go in a large (20+ litre) container. I suspect any pot smaller would restrict tuber formation. They like to grow in loamy sand.
|
|
