Coscinium fenestratum

Last updated

Coscinium fenestratum
Coscinium fenestratum.jpg
Illustration of plant parts from Coscinium fenestratum (1852).
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Menispermaceae
Genus: Coscinium
Species:
C. fenestratum
Binomial name
Coscinium fenestratum
(Goetgh.) Colebr
Synonyms [2]
  • Coscinium maingayiPierre
  • Coscinium miosepalumDiels
  • Coscinium peltatumMerr.
  • Coscinium usitatumPierre
  • Coscinium wallichianumMiers
  • Coscinium wightianumMiers ex Diels

Coscinium fenestratum, or yellow vine as it is sometimes referred to in English, is a flowering woody climber, native to South Asia and Mainland Southeast Asia. It is rare and critically endangered in many of its habitats.

Contents

Coscinium fenestratum is a member of the family Menispermaceae and the genus Coscinium . The plant is known by many different names, such as: [3] Tree turmeric, False calumba, Colombo weed, Weni wel (වෙනිවැල්), Weniwelgeta (වෙනිවැල්ගැට),Baanvalgata (බාන්වැල්ගැට) (in Sinhala), Dāru Haridrā or Kāleyaka (दारुहरिद्रा, कालेयकः in Sanskrit), Mara Manjal (in Tamil and Malayalam), [4] Haem herb (in Thai), [5] Voer Romiet (in Khmer), [6] etc.

Description

Coscinium fenestratum is a sturdy woody climber with leathery, shiny leaves and bright yellow sap. It is dioecious, flowering and fruiting in August to October. [7] The fruits consists of one or two drupes up to 2 cm (0.8 in) across. The plant has a generation span of 25 years. [8] [1]

Distribution

The habitat for Coscinium fenestratum spans South Asia and parts of Southeast Asia, from India to Indonesia. It can only thrive in a tropical climate and prefers mixed and dense evergreen forest, with fertile soil and high moisture.

The plant has been determined to be native to Sri Lanka and the Western Ghats in India. It is unclear if the populations in Cambodia, Vietnam and west Malaysia are truly wild or the result of cultivation. [1]

Use

Coscinium fenestratum has a long history as a medicinal plant in the various traditional medicines of the region where it grows. [6] This includes Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha medicine in India, Sinhala medicine in Sri Lanka, the Kru Khmer healing traditions in Cambodia, traditional Vietnamese medicine of Thuốc Nam, etc. The plant is used for a large variety of diseases and conditions, from fevers and diabetes to celiac disease and snake bites. It is unclear if all these medicinal uses of C. fenestratum are backed up by science, but laboratory tests have shown that the plant has potent bioactive properties. [8]

There is speculation that C. fenestratum might also have found a modern use in the illegal drug market industry. [9]

Bioactive compounds

The primary bioactive ingredient in Coscinium fenestratum is berberine, but also palmatine and jatrorrhizine. [8]

Critically endangered

Because of the growing populations and industrialization of Asia, the demand for Coscinium fenestratum has increased manifold in the last decades, decimating the natural distribution of the plant dramatically. It is therefore now listed as rare and critically endangered in many of its habitats.[ citation needed ] Some of these habitats are designated as protected areas or national parks, but that has not safeguarded the plant from opportunistic gathering. [10] [11]

Considering the entirety of C. fenestratum's range, not enough field data is available as of 2015 for any reliable assessment of its global status in the IUCN Red List. Locally however, IUCN has categorized C. fenestratum as follows: [8] [1]

The Indian and Sri Lankan populations of C. fenestratum are probably the most disturbed and severely affected. Over a 75 year period (three generations for this species), the plant population has been reduced by 80% due to indiscriminate gathering by local people. Hardly any mature plants are left in the wild. [1]

Experiments with cultivating Coscinium fenestratum, instead of harvesting the plant in its natural environment, is carried out at present. [3]

Trade and regulations

As of 2008, an estimated 140 metric tons (150 short tons ) of raw material from C. fenestratum is traded each year in India (Ved and Goraya 2008). It is illegal to export C. fenestratum from India. [1]

In some areas, like Cambodia and Laos for instance, C. fenestratum is harvested on a large scale and subsequently processed with toxic acids, posing a pollution threat to the local eco-systems. It is unclear who buys the yellow vine extractions, and for what purpose they are used. In Cambodia, hazardous processing like these are illegal since 2002 and since 2006 it has also been illegal to export both yellow vine and "yellow vine powder". [10]

Related Research Articles

<i>Cassia fistula</i> Species of plant

Cassia fistula, also known as golden shower, purging cassia, Indian laburnum, kani konna, or pudding-pipe tree, is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. The species is native to the Indian subcontinent and adjacent regions of Southeast Asia. It is the official state flower of Kerala state and Delhi UT in India. It is also a popular ornamental plant and is also used in herbal medicine.

<i>Ipomoea aquatica</i> Species of plant

Ipomoea aquatica, widely known as water spinach, is a semi-aquatic, tropical plant grown as a vegetable for its tender shoots. I. aquatica is generally believed to have been first domesticated in Southeast Asia. It is widely cultivated in Southeast Asia, East Asia, and South Asia. It grows abundantly near waterways and requires little to no care.

<i>Pouteria campechiana</i> Species of plant

Pouteria campechiana is an evergreen tree native to, and cultivated in, southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and El Salvador. It is cultivated in other countries, such as India, Costa Rica, Brazil, the United States, the Dominican Republic, Australia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and the Philippines. The edible part of the tree is its fruit, which is colloquially known as an egg fruit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Menispermaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Menispermaceae is a family of flowering plants. The alkaloid tubocurarine, a neuromuscular blocker and the active ingredient in the 'tube curare' form of the dart poison curare, is derived from the South American liana Chondrodendron tomentosum. Several other South American genera belonging to the family have been used to prepare the 'pot' and 'calabash' forms of curare. The family contains 78 genera with some 440 species, which are distributed throughout low-lying tropical areas with some species present in temperate and arid regions.

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

Anamirta is a genus of woody vines in the family of Menispermaceae, native to southern Asia. It has a single extant species, which is Anamirta cocculus.

<i>Dipterocarpus</i> Genus of trees

Dipterocarpus is a genus of flowering plants and the type genus of family Dipterocarpaceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amboina box turtle</span> Species of turtle

The Amboina box turtle or Southeast Asian box turtle is a species of Asian box turtle widely distributed across Southeast Asia. It is native to the Asian mainland from northeast India, through Bangladesh, Burma and Thailand, across Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Malaysia. It is also found on the archipelagos of Indonesia and the Philippines.

<i>Andrographis paniculata</i> Species of herb in the Acanthaceae family

Andrographis paniculata, commonly known as creat or green chiretta, is an annual herbaceous plant in the family Acanthaceae, native to India and Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of Cambodia</span>

The wildlife of Cambodia is very diverse with at least 162 mammal species, 600 bird species, 176 reptile species, 900 freshwater fish species, 670 invertebrate species, and more than 3000 plant species. A single protected area, Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, is known to support more than 950 total species, including 75 species that are listed as globally threatened on the IUCN Red List. An unknown amount of species remains to be described by science, especially the insect group of butterflies and moths, collectively known as lepidopterans.

<i>Hiptage benghalensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Hiptage benghalensis, often simply called hiptage, is a perennial, evergreen liana native to India, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and the Philippines. Its habitat is variable and prefers climates ranging from warm temperate to tropical. In Hawaii, where H. benghalensis is considered a weed, as it is in Australia, Mauritius and Réunion, it grows from sea level to 1,000 m (3,281 ft). H. benghalensis is cultivated for its white-pink scented flowers.

<i>Campylospermum serratum</i> Species of shrub or tree

Campylospermum serratum is a plant in the family Ochnaceae. The specific epithet serratum is from the Latin meaning "with teeth", referring to the leaf margin. It is found in Tropical Asia, from Sulawesi, Indonesia to Hainan, Zhōngguó/China and over to southwestern India. Gomphia serrata was a previous common name for the species. The plant is used for it wood and its sap is used in folk medicine and in the past for teeth-blackening.

Kanneliya–Dediyagala–Nakiyadeniya or KDN is a forest complex in southern Sri Lanka. The forest complex designated as a biosphere reserve in 2004 by UNESCO. The KDN complex is the last large remaining rainforest in Sri Lanka other than Sinharaja. This forest area has been identified as one of the floristically richest areas in South Asia. The forest complex is situated 35 km northwest of city of Galle. The rain forest is a major catchment area for two of the most important rivers in southern Sri Lanka, the Gin and Nilwala Rivers. This biosphere reserve harbors many plants and animal species endemic to Sri Lanka.

Botum Sakor National Park is the largest national park of Cambodia. Situated on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand, Botum Sakor is a peninsula projecting southwest from the Cardamom Mountains. The national park comprises an area of 1,825.85 km2 (704.96 sq mi) and spans three districts of Koh Kong Province: Kiri Sakor, Botum Sakor and Koh Kong. The park is under the administration of the Cambodian Ministry of Environment, and a small part of the park is included in the Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project (SCRP).

<i>Cordia dichotoma</i> Species of plant

Cordia dichotoma is a species of flowering tree in the borage family, Boraginaceae, that is native to the Indomalayan realm, northern Australia, and western Melanesia.

<i>Acronychia pedunculata</i> Species of flowering plant

Acronychia pedunculata is a large shrub or small tree of the understory, gaps and fringes of low country and lower hill tropical forests of tropical Asia.

<i>Solanum trilobatum</i> Species of herb

Solanum trilobatum is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. It is native to India, Sri Lanka and mainland Southeast Asia. It is used as a medicinal herb.

<i>Gloriosa superba</i> Species of plant

Gloriosa superba is a species of flowering plant in the family Colchicaceae. Common names include flame lily, climbing lily, creeping lily, glory lily, gloriosa lily, tiger claw, and fire lily.

<i>Antidesma ghaesembilla</i> Species of plant in Phyllanthaceae family

Antidesma ghaesembilla is a species of plant in the Phyllanthaceae family. It is native to an area from northern Australia to the Philippines, China, and west to India. The shrub or tree usually grows in moist soils in plant communities ranging from savannah to gallery forest to closed forest. It is associated with a number of species of fungus, insects and animals, including emus. Amongst the Mangarrayi and Yangman people of north Australia, the sweet ripe fruit of the tree are much appreciated and linked to the build-up season and to the koel. As well as food, the plant is used as a calendar-plant, for dyeing, in traditional medicine, in religious/magical practices, as fuel, and as an insecticide.

Stephania pierrei, also known as Stephania erecta or binh voi in Vietnamese, is a caudiciform vine native to the Indo-Chinese Peninsula. It is cultivated as a houseplant; in commerce it is typically described as Stephania erecta. It was first described by Ludwig Diels in 1910. The root or caudex is used medicinally in Vietnam; the 2006 Vietnam Red List of Medicinal Plants lists Stephania pierrei as a vulnerable species within the country.

<i>Samadera indica</i> Species of plant

Samadera indica, the bitter wood or Niepa bark tree, is a species of plant in the family Simaroubaceae. It is a shrub or tree and grows primarily in wet tropical regions, from west Africa, through India, then down through Indonesia to Malesia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ved, D.; Saha, D.; Ravikumar, K.; Haridasan, K. (2015). "Coscinium fenestratum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2015: e.T50126585A50131325. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T50126585A50131325.en . Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Coscinium fenestratum (Goetgh.) Colebr. The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1
  3. 1 2 Senarath, W.T.P.S.K. (2010). "In vitro propagation of Coscinium fenestratum (Gaertn.) Colebr. (Menispermaceae) – an endangered medicinal plant". Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka. 38 (4): 219–223. doi: 10.4038/jnsfsr.v38i4.2648 . Archived from the original on 2014-02-22.
  4. ↑ Mooss, N. S. (1983). "Identification of Daru–Haridra (Coscinium fenestratum)". Anc Sci Life. 2 (3): 135–136. PMC   3336755 . PMID   22556968.
  5. ↑ Coscinium Usitatum Archived 2014-02-12 at archive.today Health & Herbals
  6. 1 2 Ashwell, D. and Walston, N. (2008): An overview of the use and trade of plants and animals in traditional medicine systems in Cambodia . TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, Greater Mekong Programme, Ha Noi, Viet Nam.
  7. ↑ "Coscinium fenestratum (Gaertn.) Colebr". India Biodiversity Portal.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Dr. Gupta & Dr. Tuohy (2015). Biotechnology of Bioactive Compounds - Sources and applications. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 173–175.
  9. ↑ See the documentary film: "Death in the Forest". Speculation on the potential drug use of yellow vine.
  10. 1 2 Daniel Otis (9 May 2014). "The secret garden". Southeast Asia Globe. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  11. ↑ Tran Thien An, Stefan Ziegler (1 August 2001). "Newsletter of the Medicinal Plant Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission" (PDF). Medicinal Plant Conservation. 7: 3–5. Retrieved 18 November 2016.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.