Red Cotton Flower (Chinese: Mumian 木棉, 斑芝树, 英雄树, 攀枝花 Thai: ngiu งิ้ว Vietnamese: Gạo).

In Southwest China (among the Tai Yai people who are related to the Thais), Thailand and Laos, the core of the red cotton flowers are dried in the sun until they are brown. After that, they add them to a noodles soup dish called nam ngiao น้ำเงี้ยว . The dried red cotton flower core has a wonderful texture and it gives the spicy noodles soup an additional dimension. Nam ngiao is a signature dish of the Northern Thai Lanna cuisine.

Another Lanna dish that uses the red cotton flower core is the green kaeng khae curry แกงแค. Unlike curries in the south of Thailand, this curry dish is devoid of coconut milk and contains a whole variety of similar plants unheard of outside of the region. Once again, both its unique taste and texture create a very different dining experience that one should not miss.

Apart from putting the flower cores in soups and curries, you can also just deep-fry them: they make really great-tasting snacks!

The Cotton Tree, all parts, is an ancient Ayurvedic remedy for so many things:

The roots of the young plant can be boiled and eaten to treat diarrhea, dysentery, menorrhagia, styptic and applied on wounds.
The gum can be collected to treat dysentery, hemoptysis, pulmonary tuberculosis, influenza, burning sensation, menorrhagia and enteritis.
The bark can be applied to wounds to stop bleeding.
The flower petals can be mashed and applied on the face as an astringent or on the anus to treat hemorrhoid.
The seeds can be used to treat gonorrhea and chronic cystitis.
Its young fruits are used to treat chronic inflammations and ulceration of bladder and kidney.

and last but not least:

The medicinal effects of the red cotton tree have been reaffimed in a recent US study. In an experiment using traditional Ayurvedic treatment for sexual health, the red cotton tree’s young roots were given to male white rats. The juice of the red cotton tree’s roots, known as ’Semal Musli’ in India, is a traditional sexual stimulant. It was found that ’a gain in body and sexual organ weights was observed’, ‘an increase in serum testosterone levels was also observed’, ‘seminal fructose content and epididymal sperm count were significantly improved’, ‘penile erection index was also higher compared to control group animals’.

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INFORMATIVE RESOURCE: https://carryitlikeharry.com/red-cotton-tree-ayurvedic-treasure-trove/