haang jorakae (หางจระเข้)

Thai. ‘Crocodile's tail’. Thai name for a species of succulent plant with thick, lance-shaped leaves and with the botanical names Aloe vera and Aloe barbadensis. The margin of these leaves is serrated and has small white, tooth-like projections, somewhat resembling the tail of a crocodile, hence its name in Thai. These fleshy, green leaves, though very bitter and unpalatable, are edible and can be found amongst the vegetables on supermarket shelves (fig.). Aloe vera is a plant extremophile, i.e. an extreme plant, that is evolutionarily adapted to thrive in environments characterized by a high degree of abiotic stress, in this case extreme heat and drought. The thick and juicy inner mesophyll layer of the leaves evolved as a reservoir of water for the plant to keep up with photosynthesis during droughts. This unique adaptation to extremely high temperatures and dry conditions makes it an extremophyte. The goopy sap of this succulent purportedly has many medicinal uses, such as in the treatment of diabetes and a moisturizer used in skin care. Besides its use as a herb it is grown as an ornamental plant, too. Also called waan haang jorakae, with the prefix waan (ว่าน) being a general name for sedges, flags (plants with a bladed leaf), orchids, hemps and as in this case, herbs. It is one of the few plants that in English is known only by its binomial name, although it is sometimes nicknamed Medicine Plant. See also jorakae. See also POSTAGE STAMP. 回