| Brucea javanica | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Simaroubaceae |
| Genus: | Brucea |
| Species: | B. javanica |
| Binomial name | |
| Brucea javanica | |
| Synonyms [2] | |
Brucea javanica, commonly known as the Macassar kernels, [4] is a plant in the family Simaroubaceae. The specific epithet javanica is from Latin, meaning "of Java". [5] Other common names in English include Java brucea and kosam. [6]
Brucea javanica grows as a shrub or small tree to 5 metres (16 ft) tall. The tiny flowers (1.5–2 mm in diameter) are greenish white to greenish red or purple and occur in panicles. [5] There are separate male and female flowers on each plant, making it a monoecious species. The anthers are typically red. [4] In the northern hemisphere it flowers in June and July and sets fruit in July and August, in Australia it flowers from October to February and fruits from February to July. [7] [8] The fruit, which are drupes, measure up to 0.5 cm (0.2 in) long. [5] When ripe they are a black-gray color and they become wrinkled when dry. The seed is whitish yellow and covered with an oily membrane. It has compound leaves with typically 7–9 (but range from 3–15) ovate to ovate-lanceolate leaflets with serrate margins. [7] Each leaflet is 20–40 cm long at maturity and comes to a point at the apex. The leaves are covered with fine hairs that are most prominent on the veins and on the undersides of the leaves. All parts of the plant are intensely bitter. [7]
Brucea javanica occurs naturally from Sri Lanka and India to China, Indochina, Malesia, New Guinea and Australia. [3] [5] Its habitat includes open areas, secondary forest and sometimes sand dunes. [5] In Australia it grows as an understory tree from sea-level to 500 metres (1,600 ft) altitude. [4]
The fruit of this plant was first mentioned as medicine in the Chinese medical monograph Omissions from the Grand Materia Medica, written in 1765. [9] It contains quassinoid compounds called bruceolides that are anticancer and antiparasitic. [10] [11] It is traditionally used to treat dysentery and malaria, though no clinical trials have been published confirming efficacy for these conditions despite test tube studies repeatedly showing anti-malarial activity. [12] [13] Moronic acid, another compound found in the plant, shows also potential anti-HIV activity. [14] An injectable oil emulsion from the plant has been studied in China in controlled trials for treating lung cancer patients combined with chemotherapy, with promising results. [15] More high-quality trials are needed to confirm this use.
Aglaia is a genus of 121 recognised species of woody dioecious trees in the mahogany family Meliaceae. They occur in the subtropical and tropical forests of Southeast Asia, northern Australia and the Pacific.
Aristolochia is a large plant genus with over 500 species that is the type genus of the family Aristolochiaceae. Its members are commonly known as birthwort, pipevine or Dutchman's pipe and are widespread and occur in the most diverse climates. Some species, like A. utriformis and A. westlandii, are threatened with extinction.
Strychnos nux-vomica, the strychnine tree, also known as nux vomica, poison fruit, semen strychnos, and quaker buttons, is a deciduous tree native to India and to southeast Asia. It is a medium-sized tree in the family Loganiaceae that grows in open habitats. Its leaves are ovate and 5–9 centimetres (2–3.5 in) in size. It is known for being the natural source of the extremely poisonous compound strychnine.
Phyllanthus emblica, also known as emblic, emblic myrobalan, myrobalan, Indian gooseberry, Malacca tree, amloki or amla, is a deciduous tree of the family Phyllanthaceae. Its native range is tropical and southern Asia.
Parthenocissus tricuspidata is a flowering plant in the grape family (Vitaceae) native to eastern Asia in Korea, Japan, and northern and eastern China where it thrives in floodplain bushes, riverside woodland and moist mountain mixed forests. Although unrelated to true ivy, it is commonly known as Boston ivy, grape ivy, and Japanese ivy, and also as Japanese creeper, and by the name woodbine.
Phellodendron amurense is a species of tree in the family Rutaceae, commonly called the Amur cork tree. It is a major source of huáng bò, one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine. The Ainu people used its fruit, called "shikerebe-ni", as a painkiller. It is known as hwangbyeok in Korean and (キハダ) kihada in Japanese.
Moronic acid is a natural triterpene. Moronic acid can be extracted from Rhus javanica, a sumac plant traditionally believed to hold medicinal applications. The molecule has also been extracted from mistletoe.
Codonopsis pilosula, also known as Dangshen, is a perennial species of flowering plant in the bellflower family. It is native to Asia, where it grows in forests, meadows, and scrub.
Choerospondias axillaris, known in English as the Nepali hog plum, is a tree in the family Anacardiaceae. It is the sole species in genus Choerospondias. It is native to the Himalayas, Indochina, southern and north-central China, Taiwan, and Japan. It is a common fruit in Nepal and Bhutan, called lapsi and aamli in the Nepali-speaking community.
Calotropis gigantea, the crown flower, is a species of Calotropis native to Cambodia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, China, Pakistan, and Nepal.
Aglaia odorata is a species of plant in the family Meliaceae. It is found in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and possibly Laos.
Aquilaria sinensis, known as incense tree, is a species of plant in the family Thymelaeaceae. It is endemic to China. It is threatened by habitat loss. This medicinal plant is a source of fragrant wood, formed under a pathological condition, called agarwood.
Ceodes umbellifera, synonym Pisonia umbellifera, commonly known as the birdlime tree or bird catcher tree, is a species of plant in the Nyctaginaceae family. The evergreen shrub has soft wood, small pink or yellow flowers, and produces cavate brown fruit throughout the period March to April. The species has been categorized under different genera in its documented lifetime, being reallocated between Pisonia and Ceodes. Its former genus, Pisonia, is named after a Dutch scientist, Willem Piso, and umbellifera is derived from Latin umbelliferum, denoting the species' big, 'shade-carrying' foliage.
Huáng bǎi, huáng bó or huáng bò is one of the fifty fundamental herbs of traditional Chinese medicine. Known also as Cortex Phellodendri, it is the bark of one of two species of Phellodendron tree: Phellodendron amurense or Phellodendron chinense.
Hansenia weberbaueriana, synonym Notopterygium incisum, is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native from northeastern Tibet to central China. It is known as the notopterygium root. Its root and rhizome parts of the plant have long been used in traditional Chinese medicine, and the plant continues to be thoroughly studied to this day. As a result of its use, it has become endangered due to excessive cultivation for use in commercial products.
Elemenes are a group of closely related natural chemical compounds found in a variety of plants. The elemenes, which include α-, β-, γ-, and δ-elemene, are structural isomers of each other and are classified as sesquiterpenes. The elemenes contribute to the floral aromas of some plants, and are used as pheromones by some insects.
Cassia javanica, also known as Java cassia, pink shower, apple blossom tree and rainbow shower tree, is a species of tree in the family Fabaceae. Its origin is in Southeast Asia, but it has been extensively grown in tropical areas worldwide as a garden tree owing to its beautiful crimson and pink flower bunches.
Wurfbainia villosa, also known by its basionym Amomum villosum, is a plant in the ginger family which is grown as a cardamom-like spice throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Like cardamom, the plant is cultivated for its fruits, dry capsules containing strongly aromatic seeds. W. villosa is an evergreen monocotyledonous plant 1.5 to 3.0 m in height, the branches and leaves of which are similar to those of ginger. It grows in the shade of trees and has a reproductive peculiarity whereby those flowers borne on creeping growth at ground level will set fruit, while those borne on aerial branches will not. It blooms in March and April, the colour, translucency and waxy lustre of the flowers being likened traditionally to those of white jade.
Rheum lhasaense is a plant from eastern Tibet belonging to the genus Rheum in family Polygonaceae. It is a mid-sized rhubarb species with triangular leaves and spherical fruit.
Saposhnikovia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae. Its only species is Saposhnikovia divaricata, known as fángfēng防風 in Chinese, bangpung in Korean, and siler in English. The plant is still frequently referenced under the obsolete genus name Ledebouriella in many online sources devoted to traditional Chinese medicine. It was first described as Stenocoelium divaricatum by Nikolai Turczaninow in 1844, and transferred to Saposhnikovia in 1951.
