Hi all! I’m currently conducting field work in Thailand on traditional leafy vegetables used by the Karen people. Every village I’ve talked to has mentioned a local vegetable called “Hor wo” or “Phak Ee Lueng” or “ผักอิหลึง”. It used to be very easily grown and consumed in rotational shifting cultivation (RSC) systems. However, since use of RSC systems have declined among the Karen, the availability of Hor wo has also declined. I’m trying to identifying the scientific name of this species and would appreciate help doing so. It is currently the dry season here so I only have photos of the dried seeds to be used for next season and photos I’ve scoured from Facebook. It almost certainly belongs to the mint family. The scientific names I have come across are Isodon Ternifilious and Elsholtzia sp (maybe Elsholtzia ciliata, Elsholtzia communis, or Elsholtzia stachyodes). I think Elsholtzia communis might be the correct one, but I’d appreciate any information people have about this plant and its scientific name/synonyms.
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Moringa is covered in Eric Toensmeier’s excellent Trees with Edible Leaves. I’ve been using a leaf or two in my cooked greens mixes. I think I detect a little bitterness when I first tried them on their own, but any bitterness is low enough that they’re fine in mixes, at least with the youngish leaves I use. My bush isn’t established enough yet to experiment with a larger quantity of leaves at once.