Spider Plant

English (cat's whiskers) Chonyi(mwangani), Giriama(mwagani), Kamba(mwianzo) Machakos(sake), Kitui(ithea-uthuku), Kambe(mwangani), Keiyo(saka), Kikuyu(thagiti), Kipsigis(isakyat), Kisii(chinsaga), Luhya (esaka), Marakwet(sachan), Meru(munyugunyugu), Okiek(isagek), Pokot(suriya), Rendille(bekeila-ki-dakhan), Sabaot(sakiantet), Samburu(sabai), Somali(jeugurreh), Swahili(mkabili), Teso(ecadoi), Tugen(kisakiat), Turkana(akio).

Description

An erect herb to 1.3 m high (usually 0.5-1.0 m). Stems hairy, rather oily.Leaves on long stalks, usually divided into 3, 5& 7 leaflets to 7 cm long.

Flowers white/pink borne on a long much branched inflorescence. Fruit is a long-stalked capsule splitting to release small rough, greyish black seeds. It is widely distributed in most of Africa as a weed of cultivation and disturbed areas 0-2400 m.

Uses

Leaves (often with flowers) widely used as a vegetable in Kenya, especially in the western & coastal regions e.g. Nandi, Luo & Teso. Not a traditional vegetable of the Central Bantu, however. By themselves leaves are better.

Leaves are boiled, butter added and eaten along with ugali made from finger millet flour.

This is served to important visitors such as in-laws as a sign of respect (Luo).

Usually cooked with other vegetables e.g. cowpeas, amaranth &Solanum nigrum. (Pokot). In Western Kenya, milk is added and preferably left overnight in a pot. This reduces the bitterness.

Leaves mixed with those of kandhira (Brassica carnita) are boiled, made into lumps, dried in the sun and stored in a clay pot(agulu) as a dry-season food.(Luo). This may be eaten with apoth (Asystasia mysorensis) as mboga.

Among the Kisii, it is almost mandatory for women to use this before and after childbirth, circumcised boys must eat it and it is served to important visitors.The leaves are eaten as cooked green, have a mildly bitter taste and contain 5% protein, 6% carbohydrates and is high in Vitamins A & C, calcium, phosphorus and iron.

The bitter taste is derived from polyphenolics, which constitute from 0.5-0.9% of the edible leaf. The plant is able to tolerate infertile soils and short-term drought but susceptible to chewing insects and birds.

The leaves are usually eaten fresh but may also be dried and stored for up to 2 years but this practise greatly reduces the crop's nutrition value.

In many communities, women use cooked spider plants before and after giving birth and also as long as they breast-feed their children.

It is believed that it restores the blood supply hence referred to as ‘traditional meat’ by some Kenyan communities. For similar reasons boys eat this vegetable just after circumcision.

Medicinal Benefits of Spider Plant

• Root infusion used for chest pain (Makueni), vegetable cure for constipation (Luo).



• Water obtained after boiling leaves is used to treat diarrhoea (Luo).


• Leaves are pounded with a little water and the extract drunk as a treatment for chira (a condition with symptoms like those if AIDS, but associated with a curse or punishment from the spirits. Patient also bathes with this.


• Sap from leaves may be used as an analgesic, particularly for headaches.


• Sap from pounded leaves is squeezed into ears, nostrils and eyes to treat epileptic seizures.


• As an infusion it is used as an eyewash.


• Roots and leaves are boiled and used as medicine for measles.


• The leaves have anti-inflammatory properties


• An infusion of boiled leaves and/or roots is administered to : - Facilitate childbirth in pregnant women.



Treat stomachaches and constipation.

Treat conjunctivitis.

Treat severe thread worm infection.

Relieve chest pains.

Treat arthritis.

• Are used to treat headaches, neuralgia, rheumatism and other localized pains. They are rubbed on the affected parts of the body or applied as a poultice. Care must be taken to remove the application before it causes blisters.


• Bruised leaves are applied to boils, to prevent formation of pus.


• An infusion from the leaves is used to treat anaemia.


• The leaves and roots are used to treat uterine disorders.


• Sap from the leaves is used to cure recurrent malaria.

Because of the bitterness of the leaves, some people prefer not to use salt. The Mijikenda believe that use of salt may lead to the disappearance of the plant fom cropland.

The related species (Somali: aiyo) is widespread in Africa and common as a weed in cultivation. Among the Luo (dek) is often used as a general term for a leafy vegetable.