I am very much smittened with this Pelidanthus Tithymaloides or Slipper Flowers which look like a ‘bunch of little birds’ perched among the bracts. I fell in love head over heels when I first set eyes on this plant two years ago. I finally bought a pot of this plant home on Chinese New Year Eve.
Took a picture of this pretty white flower in my garden that started blooming at one corner. Thank you Cindi for the info ~
This is Cat’s Whiskers ~ The Cat’s whiskers is native to tropical areas of Asia and has spread to the East Indies, Indochina and Indonesia. It is also cultivated in Java and Sumatra. The plant owes its name to the four strikingly long stamens, which stick out, as long as a pen, looking like a cat’s whiskers sticking out from the white to pale purple flowers lip. The flowers are in spike-like flowery whorls, which is expressed by the epithet: Lat “aristatus” (= with ears). The genus name Orthosiphon comes from the Greek and means “upright tube.” The perennial, herbaceous plants will grow up to 60 inches and has purple, four-sided stems that are coarsely toothed with pointed leaves, arranged in decussate.
This is Cat’s Whiskers ~ The Cat’s whiskers is native to tropical areas of Asia and has spread to the East Indies, Indochina and Indonesia. It is also cultivated in Java and Sumatra. The plant owes its name to the four strikingly long stamens, which stick out, as long as a pen, looking like a cat’s whiskers sticking out from the white to pale purple flowers lip. The flowers are in spike-like flowery whorls, which is expressed by the epithet: Lat “aristatus” (= with ears). The genus name Orthosiphon comes from the Greek and means “upright tube.” The perennial, herbaceous plants will grow up to 60 inches and has purple, four-sided stems that are coarsely toothed with pointed leaves, arranged in decussate.
‘Fui Gui Cai’ ( 福贵菜) or ‘Ta Cai'(塌菜) a special type of Chinese vegetable only available in the local market during Chinese New Year. It looked just like a big bunch of ‘xiao bai cai’ (小白菜) all stuck together. I love to give this a quick stir fry with garlic and oyster sauce. This is also good for hot pot or steam boat. Taste wise, it’s almost similar to the texture of xiao bai cai.
It’s actually called Tatsoi (Brassica narinosa/Brassica rapa var. rosularis/塌棵菜/ 瓢儿菜/乌
塌菜/塌古菜 in Chinese and タアサイ or 塌菜 in Japanese). It’s also known in English as
spinach mustard, spoon mustard or rosette bok choy. 🙂
Thanks for the info from Criz Lai of CRIZ BON APPETITE
First time I saw this vibrant, bright green coral vegetable at the local market. It is known as Romanesco Cauliflower. The staller told me to cut it into florets and blanch them into hot boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Can use to use them as salad, hotpot or stir fry. I added it into soup. Very delicious, have a little crunch when you bite into them.
