View source for Lasia

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}
{{For|the insect genus|Lasia (fly)}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|image = Lasia spinosa.jpg
|image_caption = ''Lasia spinosa''
|taxon = Lasia
|authority = [[João de Loureiro|Lour.]]
|synonyms_ref = <ref name=asdfkajsdfljasertert/>
|synonyms = ''Lasius'' <small>Hassk.</small>
}}

'''''Lasia''''' is a [[genus]] of flowering plants in the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Araceae]], native to [[Asia]] and [[New Guinea]]. The [[genus]] contains only two known species, ''[[Lasia spinosa]]'' and ''[[Lasia concinna]]''.<ref name=asdfkajsdfljasertert>[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=108410 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]</ref><ref>Govaerts, R. & Frodin, D.G. (2002). World Checklist and Bibliography of Araceae (and Acoraceae): 1–560. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew</ref><ref>[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=117642 Flora of China, Vol. 23 Page 16 <big>刺芋属</big> ci yu shu, ''Lasia'' Loureiro, Fl. Cochinch. 1: 64, 81. 1790. ]</ref> ''Lasia'' was believed to be a [[monotypic]] [[genus]] until 1997 when a wild population of ''Lasia concinna'' was discovered in a farmer's [[paddy field]] in [[West Kalimantan]], [[Indonesia]].  The farmer had been growing them for their edible young leaves. This species of ''Lasia'' had been known of previously only from a single specimen at the [[Bogor Botanical Gardens|Bogor Botanic Gardens]], formally described in 1920.<ref>Alderwerelt van Rosenburgh, Cornelis Rugier Willem Karel van. 1920.  Bulletin du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg 1: 379</ref> Prior to 1997, the specimen was believed to have been a [[hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] between ''[[Lasia spinosa]]'' and ''[[Cyrtosperma merkusii]]''.<ref>Hay, A. (1990). ''Aroids of Papua New Guinea''. Christensen Research Center</ref> The subsequent discovery by Hambali and Sizemore led to the realization that it was in fact a distinct species.<ref>Bown, Demi (2000). ''Aroids: Plants of the Arum Family''. Timber Press. {{ISBN|0-88192-485-7}}.</ref><ref>Hambali, G. G. and Sizemore, M. (1997). ''The rediscovery of ''Lasia concinna'' Alderw. (Araceae: Lasioideae) in West Kalimantan, Borneo''. Aroideana 20: 37-39.</ref>

==Species==
#''[[Lasia concinna]]'' <small>Alderw.</small> – West Kalimantan (Borneo)
#''[[Lasia spinosa]]'' <small>(L.) Thwaites</small> – China (including Tibet), Taiwan, Indian Subcontinent, Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea

==Uses==
In Sri Lanka, ''Lasia spinosa'' is known as ''kohila'' (කොහිල) and the leaves and rhizomes of the plant are used in Sri Lankan cuisine.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.b4fn.org/resources/species-database/detail/lasia-spinosa/ |title=''Lasia spinosa'' |work=Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition |year=2018 |access-date=22 March 2022 }} </ref>

Leaf extract of Lasia spinosa has shown significant anthelminthic efficacy against the adult stages and migrating larvae of Trichinella spiralis. doi: 10.1007/s00436-011-2551-9.

==Myanmar==
In Myanmar, Lasia plant is known as Zayit (in Myanmar [[ဇရစ်]]). Its shoots are used in cuisines either as fried cuisine or soup.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://steemit.com/myanmar/@mamamyanmar/tamarind-browse-and-my-made-eating-part-9-02ec5cb33ed23 | title=Tamarind Browse and My Made Eating ( Part- 9 ) | date=10 May 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrdem2_oIA4 | title=#ဇရစ်ဟင်း#MPSDishes | website=[[YouTube]] | date=23 April 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYdYDL4YTB4 | title=ဇရစ္႐ိုးနဲ႔မန္က်ည္းရြက္ခ်က္ (ဇရစ္႐ိုးမန္က်ည္းရြက္ခ်က္နည္း | website=[[YouTube]] | date=August 2020 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q3309492}}

[[Category:Lasioideae]]
[[Category:Araceae genera]]
[[Category:Taxa named by João de Loureiro]]


{{Araceae-stub}}