Ramie
Boehmeria nivea
The ubiquitous plant grows everywhere but it is also very functional. The leaves can be used as pig feed or made into hakka rice cakes named ‘coarse-leaf tart’. Its stems can be made into rope, clothing, and shoes after being soaked and torn.
Dioscorea cirrhosa Lour.
The ball-shaped rhizome of cirrhosa reveals its red interior and intricate patterns when it is cut open. In the past, villagers would climb to the top of the mountain to forage cirrhosa to sell to fishermen to dye fishing nets. The gelatin and tannic acid in the sap of cirrhosa protects the hemp-made fish nets from seawater erosion. The book [local customs – traditional customs of chinese people in new territories] describes that the Tanka people would dip the cirrhosa-dyed ropes and fish nets in egg whites to further protect them from wear.
Flaccid Conehead
Strobilanthes Cusia
The plant blossoms into a sea of bluish-purple flowers in autumn. The leaves contain indigo, a type of common natural dye. The leaves have to be soaked, precipitated, filtered, and fermented before it can be used as a dye. The root of the plant, baphicacanthus root, is used in Chinese medicine. It clears heat and detoxifies, cools blood and relieves swelling. The adaptive plant grows in understory, in valleys or in streamside wetlands. It is opposite-leaved and leaves are saw-edged. The small, trumpet-shaped flowers are pink-purple in color. They are also the main food for dead leaf butterflies.