*59. Beta vulgaris. (Chenopod.) Beetroot. 



A native of Europe ; grows well at all elevations. The leaves make a good 

 side-dish and are much preferred to the roots by Africans. Like spinach beet the 

 plant will live for two or more years. 



*60. Beta vulgaris. (Chenopod.) Spinach Beet or Swiss Chard. 



A herb which produces a succession of large leaves with thickened green or 

 white midribs. The plant does not seem to seed freely, if at all, in this country, 

 but owing to its large tap root can survive for several years. 



The leaf is edible, it cooks quickly and is of good flavour. The midribs are 

 tougher and make a good vegetable if cooked separately. The leaves are well liked 

 by Africans but unless it can produce seed in this country it is unlikely to be widely 

 grown. 



61. Bidens pilosa L. (Comp.). Blackjack". 



Cinomba, canonga (N), kanzota, kaliputi (C), cisosoci (Y), namulepo (Ngu), chisokono 

 (Tu), kahata (Tu, To), kapuninga (Su). 



An erect annual up to 5 ft. high, stem and branches quadrangular, leaves ovate 

 mostly pinnately lobed, disk florets yellow, ligule of ray florets white, fruiting heads 

 of black barbed achenes which cling tenaciously to clothing, etc. Extremely wide- 

 spread, a weed of cultivated and waste ground. 



The leaves are in very common use all over the country as a side-dish. When 

 young, the whole shoot is cooked, while of older plants the leaves only are used. 

 Potashes are not added, groundnuts and tomatoes are used when avaflable. The 

 cooked product has an unpleasantly aromatic taste and is not much liked. However, 

 because of its abundance and the ease with which it is cooked, it is frequently eaten 

 throughout the year. The leaves are often dried for use in the dry season. 



Ref. 1; 7. 



62. B. schitnperi Sch. Bip. 

 Mhilidzongwe (C), masanjala (Y, N). 



A herb growing up to 6 ft. tall with large yellow daisy-like flowers, leaves pinnate 

 and deeply indented, often tripartite. Very common on old cultivated ground and 

 is conspicuous as large yellow patches on the hill-sides during April and May. 



The young shoots are cooked as a side-dish from December until March. They 

 are broken up into small pieces and often cooked together with Bidens pilosa. The 

 product is very bitter and is not liked and is only eaten when there is shortage of 

 other side-dishes. Known to be eaten in the Kasungu, Kota Kota, Lilongwe, 

 Ncheu and Mlanje Districts. 



Ref. 1. 



*63. Bixa orellana L. (Bixac.) Annatto. 



Kurri (G). 



A much-branched small tree, native of tropical America, up to 25 ft. tall with 

 alternate leaves and showy pink or rose flowers in terminal panicles, fruit a bright 

 red softly spiny 2-valved capsule containing numerous round seeds covered with an 

 orange powder. Cultivated as an ornamental shrub or as a hedge plant, grows well 

 in the Lilongwe Hills at Mkhoma and in the Mzimba Kills at Livingstonia, also at the 

 Lake-shore. 



The powder covering the seeds is used as a dye for edible products such as 

 butter and cheese. It is not a fast dye for cotton. 



Ref. 17 ; 26. 



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