''Uvaria siamensis, '' locally called nom-maew (), is a plant in the family

Annonaceae The Annonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs, or rarely lianas commonly known as the custard apple family or soursop family. With 108 accepted genera and about 2400 known species, it is the largest ...

. ''Uvaria siamensis'' is a shrub or

liana A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...

native to

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, and northern

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...

. It is related to the

ylang-ylang ''Cananga odorata'', known as ylang-ylang ( ) or cananga tree, is a tropical tree that is native to the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Queensland, Australia. It is also native to parts of Thailand and Vie ...

. It requires little care and can even be kept in containers, blooming from spring until fall. Despite their plainness, the flowers of the genus ''Uvaria'' have a aroma that can travel very far. It is for this that Asian gardeners include it among their favorite garden plants. This plant can tolerate some shade; however, lack of sunlight adversely affects flowering.

Description

''Uvaria siamensis'' a

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

plant with a small trunk, and a height of 1–2 meters, darkly-coloured stalks and drooping branches. Their leaves are especially

monocotyledonous Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, ( Lilianae ''sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are flowering plants whose seeds contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. A monocot taxon has been in use for several decades, but with various ranks an ...

, long, and sharp. A single one can bloom as group of 1–3 flowers, which are yellow-green in color, 1–2 cm large, very fragrant, and have 6 petals. The flowers bloom throughout the year.

Cultivation

This tree is a good container plant. It is relatively problem-free and requires little care. Even though the flowers are inconspicuous, a single flower has a quite strong and pleasant aroma, thus the plant has a high value and is often used in Asian gardens.

Properties

It is an essential ingredient in an Indonesian herbal concoction which includes, besides nom-maew, ginseng root and powdered corn. It has a pleasant taste and aroma, and claims to have a variety of benefits including: improving muscle one, expands circulation, reduces blood pressure, restores a regular heart rhythm, increases red blood cell count, reduces pain and fatigue, cleanses the body of toxic substances and stimulates intellectual activity.

Description

Cultivation

Properties

References

Further reading