Explore Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Can't find the answer in our existing FAQs, submit a question to Mr. Smarty Plants.
Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.
rate this answer
Wednesday - May 14, 2008
From: Seminole, FL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Herb used in treating stomachache
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
Growing up in St. Petersburg, Fl my father had an herb or plant that he pronounced kee-low and I always thought it was spelled kilo. He would take it and pick it, dry it out and then make tea with it. My brother tells me he believes it was from Puerto Rico but not certain. It would grow approx. 6 inches and it was green and leafy. He would get it to us for a stomach ache. This is all the info I have for it so if you know what it might be I'd appreciate it. Thanks, SarahANSWER:
Well, dang, Mr. Smarty Plants hates to admit defeat, but we can't find it. We tried Googling on several spellings of the word, and on "kelo herb" we got a number of references but they all were for a scar-healing gel, sold by herbal pharmacists, and no mention of the plant from which they came. We tried searching on our Native Plant Database for herbaceous plants native to Florida (all 903 of them) and scanning through found nothing that sounded like that. Since our database includes only plants native to North America, we tried googling "native plants of Puerto Rico." That took us to the USDA Plants Database, which does include Puerto Rico, but a search on "kelo" in that produced some plants that had, somewhere in one of the Latin names for a plant, the letters "K-E-L-O".
Do you still have the plant growing in your area? Possibly if you could send us a picture, one of our plant ID experts could figure out what it is. Go to the Ask Mr. Smarty Plants page, and look in the lower right hand corner of the page under "Plant Identification", which will give you instructions for sending pictures.
More Plant Identification Questions
Winterberry holly not fruiting
October 22, 2009 - Regarding Ilex verticillata, which I have planted in a partial sun, somewhere between all dry and all wet location, i don't see any red berries, and it's mid-october. We are in the 'burbs of just ...
view the full question and answer
Identification of vine from Las Vegas NV
July 11, 2012 - I'm interested in identifying the vine shown by the leaf in this photo: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/zR3R4JSPYcCI4ESczNXWM4h8z33Cq5cyZNqSSYf9hx0?feat=directlink
My mother-in-law got one o...
view the full question and answer
Identity of purple flower with flowers similar to witch hazel
August 16, 2012 - Found along woods roads. Purple flower about 1 - 2 ft. in height. Central stem rises from a ground level leaf whorl of five leaves from 4 to 7 inches long and 2 to 3 inches at their widest point. C...
view the full question and answer
Identification of shrub with red berries in Kentucky
January 14, 2012 - I live in Laurel CO, KY. I am trying to identify a shrub/tree. The leaves are green and may turn reddish orange. There are huge pods of red berries hanging.
view the full question and answer
Tree with bright green seeds the size of a softball
October 22, 2008 - My daughter has moved to Taylorsville,Ga and thier are trees that drop bright green seed pods that are round and the size of a soft ball. The outer skin resembles a human brain. Do you have any idea w...
view the full question and answer
 |
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. Mr. Smarty Plants wants you to be his Facebook friend. Click the Facebook icon to add yourself to Mr. Smarty Plants list of friends. |
