My Flower Photography # 442

Hello Blurtters,
Today I’m going to share you five photos of beautiful Kenikir flowers that I took using the camera of a smartphone. Hope you like it.

Cheers,
Larasbpn

Kenikir or Cosmos is a tropical plant member of the kenikir-kenikiran tribe (Asteraceae) that is native to Latin America and Central America, but grows wild and readily available in Florida, USA, as well as in Southeast Asian and South Asian countries. The species was brought to Southeast Asia via the Philippines by Spanish explorers in the 16th century. The plant with purple flowers is a popular vegetable in Indonesia. In Malaysia, the young leaves are eaten raw with rice, or chopped and mixed with budu (an anchovies sauce), sambal terasi (sauce made with shrimp paste), tempoyak (salty condiment made of fermented durian), and cincalok (shrimp paste). This species is called ulam raja in Malaysia which means king salad.

It is distributed in Central America where the temperature is hot. It likes a hot climate that is not so humid, sandy and fertile soil, open ground and full sun. In Indonesia, kenikir is widely grown in Java and lowlands to mountains up to 1200 meters above sea level. It is usually planted in home yards as an ornamental plant.

Kenikir is a pipe-stemmed perennial plant with longitudinal stripes. Its height can reach 1 m and its leaves are long-stemmed and sit opposite the leaves, so they are divided pinnately into 2-3 stalks. It smells like resin when squeezed. The flowers are arranged on a cone that is mostly found at the end of the stem and in the axils of the top leaves, red with yellow spots in the middle, and the seeds are beak-shaped.

Young kenikir leaves and shoots can be used for vegetables, eaten raw and boiled. Javanese people are accustomed to using it as a complement to pecel (salad made of blanched vegetables served with peanut sauce). This vegetable can be found in markets. This plant can be used for flavoring and stimulating appetite. Reportedly, kenikir can repel insects (by planting kenikir among such plants, and alang-alang (tall, coarse grass).

This plant can be propagated by seeds, but unfortunately this plant in the rainy season is easily attacked by fungal pests.

Kenikir atau Cosmos adalah tumbuhan tropis anggota suku kenikir-kenikiran (Asteraceae) yang berasal dari Amerika Latin dan Amerika Tengah, tetapi tumbuh liar dan mudah didapati di Florida, Amerika Serikat, serta di negara-negara Asia Tenggara dan Asia Selatan. Spesies ini dibawa ke Asia Tenggara melalui Filipina oleh penjelajah Spanyol di abad ke-16. Tumbuhan dengan bunga berwarna ungu ini dijadikan sebagai sayuran lalap yang populer di Indonesia. Di Malaysia daun mudanya dimakan mentah bersama nasi, atau dicacah dan dicampur dengan budu, sambal terasi, tempoyak, serta cincalok. Spesies ini disebut ulam raja di Malaysia yang berarti salad raja.

Tersebar di Amerika Tengah yang suhunya panas. Ia menyukai iklim panas yang tak begitu lembap, tanah yang berpasir dan subur, tanah terbuka dan penyinaran matahari yang penuh. Di Indonesia, kenikir banyak ditanam di Jawa dan dataran rendah hingga pegunungan sampai ketinggian 1200 mdpl. Biasanya ditanam di pekarangan rumah sebagai tanaman hias.

Kenikir adalah tumbuhan tahunan yang berbatang pipa dengan garis-garis yang membujur. Tingginya dapat mencapai 1 m dan daunnya bertangkai panjang dan duduk daunnya berhadapan, sehingga terbagi menyirip menjadi 2-3 tangkai. Baunya seperti damar apabila diremas. Bunganya tersusun pada bongkol yang banyak terdapat di ujung batang dan pada ketiak daun-daun teratas, berwarna merahberbintik-bintik kuning di tengah-tengahnya, dan bijinya berbentuk paruh.

Daun kenikir yang masih muda dan pucuknya dapat digunakan untuk sayuran, dimakan mentah-mentah dan direbus lalap. Masyarakat Jawa sudah biasa menggunakan sebagai salah satu pelengkap pecel. Sayuran ini dapat ditemui di pasar-pasar. Tumbuhan ini dapat digunakan untuk penyedap dan merangsang nafsu makan. Dilaporkan, kenikir dapat mengusir serangga (dengan menanam kenikir di antara tumbuhan tersebut, dan alang-alang.

Tumbuhan ini dapat diperbanyak dengan biji, namun sayang sekali tumbuhan ini pada musim hujan mudah diserang hama jamur.