Łódź, Botanical Garden

Native to eastern USA. Ornamental plant. Important bees feeding plant. Edible plant - seeds cooked, oily, they are boiled and used like peas, after boiling the seeds lose their acid taste; young seedpods cooked, which contain a sweetish pulp that is safe to eat and is relished by small children; flowers cooked, a fragrant aroma, they are fried and also used in making jams and pancakes. Herbal plant - flowers are antispasmodic, aromatic, diuretic, emollient and laxative, they are cooked and eaten for the treatment of eye ailments; the inner bark and the root bark are emetic, purgative and tonic, the root bark has been chewed to induce vomiting, or held in the mouth to allay toothache; fruits are narcotic(!); leaves are cholagogue and emetic, the leaf juice inhibits viruses(!). Usable plant - widely planted for shelterbelts and windbreaks, and is also used to produce woody biomass for energy production; an essential oil is obtained from the flowers, it is used in perfumery; a yellow dye is obtained from the bark.