Boophone disticha

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Boophone disticha
Boophone disticha07.jpg
Habitat
Boophone disticha.jpg
Inflorescence of
Boophone disticha
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily: Amaryllidoideae
Genus: Boophone
Species:
B. disticha
Binomial name
Boophone disticha
Synonyms [1] [2] [3]
  • Amaryllis distichaL.f. (basionym)
  • Boophone toxicaria(L.f.) Herb.

Boophone disticha is a bulbous tropical and subtropical flowering plant, endemic to Africa. Commonly called the century plant [4] or tumbleweed, [3] Boophone disticha was first collected in 1781 from South Africa by Swedish botanist Carl Peter Thunberg and described by Carl Linnaeus as Amaryllis disticha. [2] Since that time it has been placed in the genera Brunsvigia and Haemanthus , finally coming to rest as Boophone . The genus itself was written in three ways (Boophone, Boophane and Buphane) by the author William Herbert, straining the procedures of the rules of nomenclature. The etymology of the genus is from the Greek bous = ox, and phontes= killer of, a clear warning that eating the plant can be fatal to livestock. [5]

Contents

The genus as currently understood includes two or possibly three species. B. disticha is one of the most widely distributed bulbous species in South Africa, readily identified by its fan-like appearance and its bulb half-protruding from the ground. The Khoi, Bushmen and Bantu were aware of its poisonous nature and used parts of the plant medicinally and as an arrow poison. The principal compounds are eugenol - an aromatic, volatile oil smelling of cloves and having analgesic properties, and the toxic alkaloids buphandrin, crinamidine and buphanine, the latter having an effect akin to that of scopolamine and if taken in quantity may lead to agitation, stupor, strong hallucinations and (if over-ingested) coma or death. [6]

This species produces a single inflorescence before the arrival of the season's new leaves. While maturing the fruiting head's pedicels undergo a stiffening process and remarkable elongation to some 300mm. When the fruiting head separates at its junction with the stalk, it is easily moved by light breezes, scattering seeds as it rolls.

Native distribution and habitat

Boophone disticha is native to Angola, Botswana, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa (in the provinces of Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Western Cape), Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. [1] It grows wild in dry savannas, grasslands, and glades in forests. [3]

Uses

Boophone disticha has been used locally to make poison for arrow's tips, and in the treatment of equine piroplasmosis. [7] [8]

The bulb has a wide range of uses in traditional African medicine. [9] It contains alkaloids such as lycorine, undulatine, buphanisine, buphanamine, nerbowdine, crinine, crinamidine, distichamine, 3O-acetyl-nerbowdine, buphacetine and buphanidrine which have analgesic and hallucinogenic properties. [8]

Material from this species' bulb was associated with preservation of the Khoi Kouga mummy found in the Langkloof.

Related Research Articles

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<i>Zamioculcas</i> Species of plant

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<i>Crocosmia paniculata</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Scadoxus puniceus</i> Species of flowering plant

Scadoxus puniceus, commonly known as the paintbrush lily, is a species of bulbous plant. It is native to much of southern and eastern Africa: Ethiopia, Sudan, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini (Swaziland), and South Africa. Scadoxus puniceus can be found in cool, shady habitat such as ravines and forests, where it is often found in moist leaf litter. Other common names include snake lily, royal paintbrush, King-of-Candida, African blood lily (English), rooikwas (Afrikaans), isisphompho, and umgola (Zulu). There are nine species of Scadoxus of which three, S. puniceus, S. multiflorus and S.membranaceus, occur in South Africa.

<i>Scadoxus</i> Genus of flowering plants

Scadoxus is a genus of African and Arabian plants in the Amaryllis family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. The English names blood lily or blood flower are used for some of the species. The genus has close affinities with Haemanthus. Species of Scadoxus are grown as ornamental plants for their brilliantly coloured flowers, either in containers or in the ground in frost-free climates. Although some species have been used in traditional medicine, they contain poisonous alkaloids.

<i>Scadoxus cyrtanthiflorus</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Boophone</i> Genus of plants

Boophone is a small genus of herbaceous, perennial and bulbous plants in the Amaryllis family It consists of two confirmed species distributed across South Africa to Kenya and Uganda. It is closely related to Crossyne, a genus whose species have prostrate leaves. They are drought tolerant but not cold-hardy, and are very poisonous to livestock.

<i>Croton gratissimus</i> Species of shrub

Croton gratissimus, is a tropical African shrub or small tree with corky bark, growing to 8 m and belonging to the family of Euphorbiaceae or spurges. Young twigs are slender and angular and covered in silver and rust-coloured scales.

<i>Scadoxus multiflorus</i> Species of flowering plant

Scadoxus multiflorus is a bulbous plant native to most of sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal to Somalia to South Africa. It is also native to Arabian Peninsula and to the Seychelles. It is naturalized in Mexico and in the Chagos Archipelago.It is also found in Indian peninsula. It is grown as an ornamental plant for its brilliantly coloured flowers, either in containers or in the ground in where the climate is suitable. There are three recognized subspecies. Strongly toxic like other Scadoxus species, it has been used as a component of arrow poisons and fishing poisons, as well as in traditional medicine. Common names, some of which are used for other species, include blood lily, ball lily, fireball lily, blood flower, Katherine-wheel, oxtongue lily, poison root and powderpuff lily.

<i>Gazania krebsiana</i> Species of flowering plant

Gazania krebsiana is one of some 19 species of Gazania that are exclusively African and predominantly South African - only Gazania krebsiana subsp. serrulata (DC.) Roessler ventures northwards from the Transvaal into Tanzania.

<i>Scadoxus membranaceus</i> Species of plant

Scadoxus membranaceus is a flowering plant in the Amaryllidaceae family. It is a bulbous plant from South Africa. The smallest of the species of Scadoxus, it is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental plant where a minimum temperature of 5 °C (41 °F) can be maintained.

<i>Scadoxus pole-evansii</i> Species of flowering plant

Scadoxus pole-evansii, commonly known as the Inyanga fireball, is a herbaceous plant endemic to mountains in east Zimbabwe. It was only discovered for science in 1960. Similar in many respects to the more widely grown Scadoxus multiflorus, it is cultivated as an ornamental plant.

<i>Crossyne</i> Genus of flowering plants

Crossyne is a genus of African plants in the Amaryllis family.

<i>Cnestis polyphylla</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Connaraceae

Cnestis polyphylla, or itch pod, is a liane or scrambling shrub belonging to the family Connaraceae and occurring south from Kenya in East Tropical Africa through Mozambique and Zimbabwe to Southern Africa where it is found in coastal and escarpment forest in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Swaziland and KwaZulu-Natal, and further south to the Eastern Cape. It also grows on the Indian Ocean islands of Madagascar, Mauritius and Réunion. The genus has at least 13 species with many still unresolved. They are distributed mainly in tropical Africa and nearby islands, but extend to SE Asia and China.

<i>Crinum macowanii</i> Species of flowering plant

Crinum macowanii is a species of flowering plant in the Amaryllidaceae family. It is a deciduous bulbous plant species native to Africa that has been used in traditional medicine throughout southern Africa.

References

  1. 1 2 3  Under its treatment as Boophone disticha (from its basionym Amaryllis disticha) this plant name was first published in Botanical Magazine 52: sub t. 2578. 1825. "Boophone disticha". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  2. 1 2  Amaryllis disticha, the basionym of Boophone disticha, was originally described and published in Supplementum Plantarum 195. 1781. "Name - !Amaryllis disticha L.f." Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden . Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten and Petra Ballings (2002). "Species information: Boophone disticha". Flora of Zimbabwe. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  4. Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Southern and Eastern Africa - John Mitchell Watt, and Maria Gerdina Breyer-Brandwijk (1962)
  5. Archer, R. H; Snijman, D. A; Brummitt, R. K (2001). "(1478) Proposal to Conserve the Name Boophone Herbert with That Spelling (Amaryllidaceae)". Taxon. 50 (2): 569. doi:10.2307/1223904. JSTOR   1223904.
  6. Du Plooy, W. J.; Swart, L.; Van Huysteen, G. W. (2001). "Poisoning with Boophane disticha: A forensic case". Human & Experimental Toxicology. 20 (5): 277–278. doi:10.1191/096032701678227749. PMID   11476161. S2CID   31831014.
  7. James A. Duke. "Boophone disticha (LILIACEAE)". Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  8. 1 2 Neuwinger, Hans Dieter (1996). African Ethnobotany: Poisons and Drugs : Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology. pp. 10–16. ISBN   9783826100772.
  9. 'Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Southern and Eastern Africa' - Watt & Brandwijk (1962)
Boophone disticha02.jpg
Flowerhead with larvae of Diaphone eumela
Boophone disticha03.jpg
Fruiting head