Arkostafida - Levantine pokeweed, American pokewee
«Αγριοσταφίδα (Phytolacca americana)» Πηγή: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:01783_-_Phytolacca_americana_%28Amerikanische_Kermesbeere%29.JPG
A wild green grass which is included in the medicinal plants of Cyprus. It flowers from July to October on dry hillsides and alongside the roads in Agros, Geratzies, Pedoulas and Lefkara.
Name - Origin
μελανιά, μηλιάτσος, κιρμίζι, αγριοσταφίδα It is a sturdy, perennial, branched shrub up to 1.5 m Leaves: large, ovate-elliptic, acuminate. Flowers: male, female on different plants, many together in upright inflorescences. Fruit: fleshy, glossy. Flowers in July-October on dry hillsides and alongside the roads in Agros, Geratzies, Pedoulas and Lefkara (Zannetou-Panteli 2011).
Xenophon P. Pharmakidis states in his Glossary that it is a wild, edible green (Kypri 1983 [2003²], entry αρκοσταφί(δ)ες,οι, 131)
Scientific name: Phytolacca americana, pruinosa. It belongs to the family Phytolacchidae (Zannetou-Panteli 2011).
Additional information and bibliography
It is included in the medicinal plants of Cyprus (Zannetou-Panteli 2011).
Zannetou-Panteli K. (2011), Τα φαρμακευτικά φυτά της Κύπρου, Printco Ltd.
Kypri Th. D. (ed.) (1983 [2003²]), Materials for the compilation of a historical dictionary of the Cypriot dialect, Part B, Glossary of Xenophon P. Pharmakides, Publications of the Centre for Scientific Research, IX, Nicosia.
Stalo Lazarou, Petroula Hadjittofi, Argyro Xenophontos
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