ສົ້ມສ້ຽວ / Malabar Orchid Tree
APA 6th ed. ສົ້ມສ້ຽວ / Malabar Orchid Tree. (2019, April 3). Retrieved from https://www.phakhaolao.la/kb/0000186
MLA 8th ed. ສົ້ມສ້ຽວ / Malabar Orchid Tree. Pha Khao Lao, 3 April 2019, https://www.phakhaolao.la/kb/0000186.
Chicago 17th ed. Pha Khao Lao. 2019. "ສົ້ມສ້ຽວ / Malabar Orchid Tree." Published April 3, 2019. https://www.phakhaolao.la/kb/0000186.
Bauhinia castrata Hassk.
Bauhinia hawkesiana F.M.Bailey
Bauhinia malabarica var. reniformis Baker
Bauhinia platyphylla Miq.
Bauhinia rugulosa Miq.
Casparea castrata (Hassk.) Hassk.
Pauletia acida (Korth.) Hassk.
Piliostigma acidum (Korth.) Benth.
Cambodian: choeung koo
Vietnamese: tai tuong, tai vong
English: Malabar orchid, mountain ebony, sweet and sour leaf
Som sieo is a semi-evergreen tree up to 10 m tall, with short crooked bole of up to 50 cm in DBH. Leaves are divided into two lobes or into two leaflets, 3.5 cm-12 cm x 5 cm-16 cm, and the leaf blades are hairy, with a powdered coating underneath and a leafstalk 2 cm-4 cm long. Inflorescences are flat-topped branched clusters of 2 cm-long flowers, white to whitish-green and 0.5 cm wide. The fruit pod, on a long stalk, opens spontaneously at maturity to release 5-15 flat seeds, 20 cm-25 cm x 1 cm-1.5 cm. Two varieties exist, one with no hair (B. piliostigma, Bauhinia malabarica Roxb, Bauhinia tomentosa auct. non L., B. acida Reinw. ex Korth., B. castrata Hassk., B. platyphylla Zip. ex Miq., B. rugulosa Bl. ex Miq., Casparea castrata (Hassk.) Hassk., Piliostigma acidum (Reinw. ex Korth.) Benth., P. malabaricum (Roxb.) Benth.Som Sieo Food: leaf shoots, fruit, seed Medicine: bark, flowers, root Fibre: bark Charcoal and fuel wood: stem Ornamental: whole 204 malabaricum), and one with hair on the lower leaf surface (B. piliostigma var. acidum), the latter only found in dry northern areas. The tree is mainly grown for its white, pinky-red or mauve flowers
Som sieo sour young leaf shoots and leaves are eaten blanched with a jeo or used in soups instead of lime juice. The leaves are also used as a medicine to lower fever,assist menstrual discharge, and increase the flow of urine. An extract from the flowers and bark can be taken to help cough up saliva, or to treat dysentery. The young fruit and seeds are also edible. Bark fibres are used to make rope and the wood for charcoal and fuel. Compounds from its roots have anti-malarial uses and may treat cancer. The tree is often planted as an ornamental and fixes nitrogen.