Fabaceae FAMILY

Eriosema chinense

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial

Growth—

The plant is found growing in sandy soils in the wild^[1].

Propagation

Like many species within the family Fabaceae, once they have ripened and dried the seeds of this species may benefit from scarification before sowing in order to speed up and improve germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing^[PFAF]. Division of tubers Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Eriosema+chinense>

Pollinators

Insects

References

[1]Plant Resources of Southeast Asia — http://proseanet.org/ ↩︎Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
[2]Philippine Medicinal Plants — http://www.stuartxchange.org/CompleteList.html ↩︎A lovely site, giving brief details on the medicinal uses of several hundred (over 400 at the last count) plants in the Philippines, plus a picture of each plant.
[PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎