Łódź, Botanical Garden

The pollen-eating hoverfly is Eristalis tenax, male. It is found across China, in Europe in north-eastern Italy and Slovenia. Ornamental plant. Edible plant - leaves and young shoots raw or cooked like asparagus or celery; flower buds raw or cooked, they taste somewhat like green beans; flowers raw or cooked, they can be dried and used as a thickener in soups; the flowers are a traditional food in China where they are steamed and then dried; roots cooked, they taste like a blend of sweet corn and salsify. Herbal plant - the juice of the roots is an effective antidote in cases of arsenic poisoning, the root also has a folk history of use in the treatment of cancer - extracts from the roots have shown antitumour activity; a tea made from the boiled roots is used as a diuretic. Usable plant - the tough dried foliage is plaited into cord and used for making footwear.