About Limnocharis flava (L.) Buchenau
Limnocharis flava (L.) Buchenau, commonly known as yellow velvetleaf, sawah flower rush, and sawah lettuce, is a species of aquatic flowering plant. It is native to Mexico, Central America, South America, Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, and is widely naturalized in southern and southeastern Asia, including India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and the southern Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Yunnan.
Limnocharis flava grows in clumps to a height of roughly 50 centimetres (20 inches). It has triangular-shaped leaves, hollow glabrous stems, and very characteristic inflorescences that produce three-lobed yellow flowers around 1.5 cm in diameter. Its fruits are spherical. While it is not a floating plant, its seeds are dispersed by water currents. Yellow velvetleaf typically grows in shallow stagnant fresh water and swampy areas. It sometimes invades rice fields, where it acts as a weed. As an invasive species, it has become a pest in some wetlands in other regions of the world.
Traditionally, this plant is an important vegetable in parts of Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Isan (Thailand), and parts of India. The central flower stalk and leaves are used in soups, curries, salads, and stir-fries, and immature flower buds are also eaten. In Isan, the leaves are eaten raw with nam phrik. Due to its mild, flat flavor, it is often considered poor people's food or emergency food, eaten when other food is scarce. This characteristic was referenced in the 1940s Banyuwangi-language hit song Genjer-genjer from Java, created by Muhammad Arief.
