On Aug 26, 3:48*pm, "Mary Fisher" wrote:
"Cat(h)" wrote in message

...

well, they are blind no more.
The tallest one (easily 8 or 9 foot! *Taht's just not natural!) is now
sporting a big yellow flower at the top, and has a couple of side
flower buds slightly below that comign off the main stem.
The other few can't be far behind.
It's my first time growing them since I was a kid. *Then, in drier and
sunnier climes, they didn't grow a third as tall!!!
Is this all down to the very wet and warmish weather we have been in
the last month or two?

Cat(h)

I've been impressed at the huge size of the leaves on ours - almost as big
as rhubarb leaves!

The sheer girth of the stem is what floored me. They're easily 4 to 5
cm in diameter!

Can you eat them?

:-)

Mary

You picked my curiosity.

Apparently, "The astringent quality of the leaf tea makes it useful as
a poultice for snake bites and spider bites" (see website below)

However if the snake bite is deadly, this does not say how far the
"usefulness" stretches...

http://www.nps.gov/archive/hocu/html/plants.html

You can eat the seeds when ripe - though you have to compete with the
birds. And in my case, I'm going to need a ladder to harvest!

Cat(h)