Chipilin

ChipilinCommon Name: Chipilin

Scientific Name: Crotalaria longirostrata

Climate: Hot and temperate

Plant Description: The chipilín is a wild plant that grows in the tropical regions of Chiapas. It is an annual herb shrub that can reach about 1.5m. It has three small oval-shaped leaves, dark green on top and light green underneath and are alternate on the branches. The flowers are yellow, butterfly shaped, and grouped at the tip of the branches.

Cultivation: It is a direct sowing and transplanting crop and can be sown at any time of the year, as long as there is water for its development. It is sown with black soil, mixed with sand, with two seeds per hole in the tray.
It can be harvested by cutting the mature leaves and leaving the sprouts. The harvested chipilin leaves will maintain their quality for a maximum of two weeks in optimal conditions of temperature and humidity.

Plant it where it will get the most hours of sunlight. It needs little watering and can be watered every four days but if the weather is particularly dry it can be watered every two days.

ChipilinUses: It is an edible plant, used in different dishes of the traditional food of Chiapas, in tamales, for example. The cooking of the leaves is used for the treatment of insomnia and rheumatism. The root is used to treat patients with alcoholism and insomnia.

Pests and Diseases: The plagues that appear are cutworms, beetles, miners (insects that make tunnels in the leaves or stems), and white fly.


En español: Chipilín