Practical
Plants

Coix lacryma-jobi

Job's Tears

a perennial member of the Coix genus in the family Gramineae.

No photo available

Taxonomy and growth

Family
Gramineae
Genus
Coix
Life cycle
perennial
Height
1 m
Spread
0.15 m
Fertility
Wind
Flower type
monoecious
Pollinators
Wind

Uses

Edible uses

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Seed - cooked. A pleasant mild flavour, it can be used in soups and broths[21].. It can be ground into a flour and used to make bread or used in any of the ways that rice is used[1][16][24][2][15]. The pounded flour is sometimes mixed with water like barley for barley water[21]. The pounded kernel is also made into a sweet dish by frying and coating with sugar[21]. It is also husked and eaten out of hand like a peanut[21]. The seed contains about 52% starch, 18% protein, 7% fat[4][13]. It is higher in protein and fat than rice but low in minerals[4]. This is a potentially very useful grain, it has a higher protein to carbohydrate ratio than any other cereal[24], though the hard seedcoat makes extraction of the flour rather difficult. A tea can be made from the parched seeds[23][25][3][15], whilst beers and wines are made from the fermented grain[21]. A coffee is made from the roasted seed[15]. (This report refers to the ssp. ma-yuen)

Product or use
Coffee
Product or use
Tea
Plant part
Seed

Medicinal uses

Historical medicinal uses. These records describe reported uses. They do not establish safety or effectiveness. Ask a qualified health professional before using any plant medicinally.

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

The fruits are anodyne, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, hypoglycaemic, hypotensive, sedative and vermifuge[18][19]. The fruits are used in folk remedies for abdominal tumours, oesophageal, gastrointestinal, and lung cancers, various tumours, as well as excrescences, warts, and whitlows. This folk reputation is all the more interesting when reading that one of the active constituents of the plant, coixenolide, has antitumor activity[21]. The seed, with the husk removed, is antirheumatic, diuretic, pectoral, refrigerant and tonic[14][18][20]. A tea from the boiled seeds is drunk as part of a treatment to cure warts[5][13]. It is also used in the treatment of lung abscess, lobar pneumonia, appendicitis, rheumatoid arthritis, beriberi, diarrhoea, oedema and difficult urination[7][14]. The plant has been used in the treatment of cancer[18]. The roots have been used in the treatment of menstrual disorders[20]. A decoction of the root has been used as an anthelmintic[22]. The fruit is harvested when ripe in the autumn and the husks are removed before using fresh, roasted or fermented[19].

Product or use
Anodyne
Product or use
Anthelmintic
Product or use
Antiinflammatory
Product or use
Antipyretic
Product or use
Antirheumatic
Product or use
Antispasmodic
Product or use
Cancer
Product or use
Diuretic
Product or use
Hypoglycaemic
Product or use
Pectoral
Product or use
Refrigerant
Product or use
Sedative
Product or use
Tonic
Product or use
Warts

Material uses

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

The seeds are used as decorative beads[1][25][2][12][22]. The stems are used to make matting[8].

Product or use
Beads
Product or use
Weaving

Environment

Range
E. Asia - E. India.
Habitat
Wet places in grassland in the foothills of the Himalayas[6][8]. Open sunny places to elevations of 2000 metrs in Nepal[22].
Light
full sun
Shade tolerance
no shade
Water
moderate
Hardiness
Zone 9+
Soil textures
sandy, loamy, clay
Soil pH
very acid, acid, neutral, alkaline
Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
No
Drought
intolerant

Propagation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Seed - pre-soak for 2 hours in warm water and sow February/March in a greenhouse[11]. The seed usually germinates in 3 - 4 weeks at 25°c. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots. Grow them on in cool conditions and plant out in late spring after the last expected frosts[1][11]. Seed can also be sown in situ in May[1] though it would be unlikely to ripen its seed in an average British summer. In a suitable climate, it takes about 4 - 5 months from seed to produce new seed[21]. Division of root offshoots[22]. This is probably best done in the spring as plants come into fresh growth[22].

Cultivation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Succeeds in ordinary garden soil[10]. Best grown in an open sunny border[1][10]. Prefers a little shelter from the wind. Job's Tears is reported to tolerate an annual precipitation in the range of 61 to 429cm, an average annual temperature of 9.6 to 27.8°C and a pH in the range of 4.5 to 8.4[21]. Weed to some, necklace to others, staff-of-life to others, job's tear is a very useful and productive grass increasingly viewed as a potential energy source[21]. Before corn (Zea mays) became popular in Southern Asia, Job's tears was rather widely cultivated as a cereal in India[8][21]. It is a potentially very useful grain having a higher protein to carbohydrate ratio than any other cereal[24]. The seed has a very tough shell however making it rather difficult to extract the grain. The ssp. ma-yuen. (Roman.)Stapf. is grown for its edible seed and medicinal virtues in China, the seedcoat is said to be soft and easily removed[24][15]. This form is widely used in macrobiotic diets and cuisine[15]. The ssp. stenocarpa is used for beads[24]. Whilst usually grown as an annual, the plant is perennial in essentially frost-free areas[21]. Plants have survived temperatures down to about -35°c[9]. (This report needs verifying, it seems rather dubious[K].) Plants have often overwintered when growing in a polyhouse with us, they have then gone on to produce another crop of seed in their second year[K]. We have not as yet (1995) tried growing them on for a third year in a polyhouse[K].

References

  1. F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951-00-00

    ↩1↩2↩3↩4↩5

  2. Polunin. O. Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. Oxford University Press 1969-00-00 ISBN 0192176218

    ↩1↩2

  3. Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976-00-00

    ↩

  4. Chakravarty. H. L. The Plant Wealth of Iraq.

    ↩1↩2

  5. Brooklyn Botanic Garden Oriental Herbs and Vegetables, Vol 39 No. 2. Brooklyn Botanic Garden 1986-00-00

    ↩

  6. Gamble. J. S. A Manual of Indian Timbers. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh 1972-00-00

    ↩

  7. ? A Barefoot Doctors Manual. Running Press ISBN 0-914294-92-X

    ↩

  8. Gupta. B. L. Forest Flora of Chakrata, Dehra Dun and Saharanpur. Forest Research Institute Press 1945-00-00

    ↩1↩2↩3

  9. Natural Food Institute, Wonder Crops. 1987.

    ↩

  10. Grounds. R. Ornamental Grasses. Christopher Helm 1989-00-00 ISBN 0-7470-1219-9

    ↩1↩2

  11. Bird. R. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 4. Thompson and Morgan. 1990-00-00

    ↩1↩2

  12. Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952-00-00

    ↩

  13. Kariyone. T. Atlas of Medicinal Plants.

    ↩1↩2

  14. Yeung. Him-Che. Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas. Institute of Chinese Medicine, Los Angeles 1985-00-00

    ↩1↩2

  15. Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990-00-00 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9

    ↩1↩2↩3↩4↩5

  16. Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972-00-00 ISBN 0-486-20459-6

    ↩

  17. Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5

  18. Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985-00-00 ISBN 0-917256-20-4

    ↩1↩2↩3

  19. Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995-00-00 ISBN 0-7513-020-31

    ↩1↩2

  20. Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986-00-00

    ↩1↩2

  21. Duke. J. Handbook of Energy Crops - 1983-00-00

    ↩1↩2↩3↩4↩5↩6↩7↩8↩9↩10↩11

  22. Manandhar. N. P. Plants and People of Nepal Timber Press. Oregon. 2002-00-00 ISBN 0-88192-527-6

    ↩1↩2↩3↩4↩5

  23. Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959-00-00

    ↩

  24. Schery. R. W. Plants for Man.

    ↩1↩2↩3↩4↩5

  25. Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974-00-00 ISBN 0094579202

    ↩1↩2

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