Coix lachryma jobi

PLANT NAME: Coix lachryma-jobi L.

COMMON NAMES: Pü’ohe’ohe, kükaekölea [Hawai’i]; job’s tears, pearl barley, adlay [USA]; yi yi ren (kernel), yi yi gen (root) [China]; yee yee yun, yi yi yan, san yi mai (kernal), yi yi gan (root) [Canton]; bhirkoulo, jabe [Nepal]; sanasana [Samoa]; lagrimas de san pedro [Colombia, Panama], santa maria, santa juana, capin rosario, lagrimas de job, lagrimas de cristo, capin de nossa, cuenta de la virgen [Spanish]; boukon, bonkori, ewuruwura [Nigeria]; kali bugi [Sierra Leone]; mtasubihi, mtasbihi [Swahili]; gromwell, false gromwell [Shaker]; larmes de job [Martinique]; mullu [Aymara]; kuymi [Quechua].

FAMILY: Poaceae (Grass family).

PROPERTIES: Kernels & roots: Sweet, bland, cool to cold. Leaves are neutral.

USES: QI tonic in the form of tea (leaves decocted)

USE AS FOOD: Kernels used as food, bread and cake [Cherokee], coffee [Japan], food for convalescents [Samoa]. Kernels are inside the seeds.  Locally, all parts of the plants are wilcrafted except the seeds.  This is because the seeds are processed through a method known only to the Chinese. You can buy the kernels from China.

CAUTIONS AND CONTRAINDICATIONS: Not in pregnancy.