Coca Plant
The coca plant is one of the most misjudged plants currently being produced and used Most commonly known for being the plant which cocaine is derived from, it has the stereotype of being a dangerous plant. However, the coca plant has many medicinal and safe uses, which have been used by practitioners since the species' discovery.
The coca plant thrives in South America, Africa, Ceylon, Taiwan, Indonesia and Formosa. However, it is most commonly stereotyped for its presence in the Andes of South America, where the majority of cocaine is produced. The first known documentation of the plant was in 1783, but it was not officially registered until 1786, where it was given the name Erythroxylum coca. However, it is believed that the coca plant has been tended as a domestic plant for over 2,000 years. There is evidence within burial grounds of coca to support this belief.
Diligence and effort is needed to care for the coca plant. The life of the coca plant starts as a fruit, which is picked when the drupes are almost ripe. These drupes are placed within a basket and left to sit where the flesh of the fruit becomes soft. Once this has occurred, the seeds are taken and the seeds are set in the sun to dry out.
Only once this occurs, the seeds can be sown. Germination takes approximately 24 days. Once the plant has grown 4 leaves, they are guarded by a lattice covering for a year.
After the year has completed, the plants are transferred to preparation fields. This transportation can only be done during the rainy season. Three years after this transfer, some leaves may be harvested. Once the coca plant is able to be processed, they are gathered three or four times a year. A fully established acre of coca plants can yield 1,500 to 2,000 pounds of leaf per year.
While coca plants are annual, a field will be resown once every twenty years, as the quality of the plant fades over time.
As coca plants are so valuable, there are many steps taken to protect the crops from natural predators and disease. There are some varieties of bugs that eat on the coca plants, as well as fungus that can cripple or kill the stalks, branches and leaves. Weeds can also be fatal to adolescent coca plants, as the weeds remove the soil of the nutrients that the plants need for basic life.
Coca-Cola is the most known producer and user of the coca plant.While this drink no longer contains any drugs, it is still made directly from the coca leaf.
Modern medicinal uses of coca include use as a bactericide, as spinal anesthetics and as treatments for ailments such as eczema and shingles.
To find additional information on landscaping and plants visit Life Cycle Of The Bean Plant also go to Nursery Plants
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