Lasimorpha senegalensis

Common Name | Swamp Arum

Family Name | Araceae

Native to | West Africa

Lasimorpha senegalensis is a very large aquatic plant from west Africa, found in swamps, ponds, and other areas with slow moving water. Beneath the water’s surface, this plant grows quite vigorously by lateral shoots, or rhizomes. Its flowers rise singularly from its base and smell of decomposing fruit. L. senegalensis’s stems, or petioles, are angular and thorned with arrow-shaped leaves. These leaves are known to have been used as a vegetable and as a medicine during childbirth. Its rhizome has also been used medicinally to treat ulcers and, as a decoction, for nervousness and pain.