Cryptolepis decidua

Last updated

Cryptolepis decidua
Cryptolepis decidua (Curroria decidua).jpg
A botanical illustration of Cryptolepis decidua (published using the synonymous name Curroria decidua). [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Genus: Cryptolepis
Species:
C. decidua
Binomial name
Cryptolepis decidua
Synonyms [2]
  • Curroria deciduaPlanch. ex Benth.

Cryptolepis decidua is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae family. It is native to Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. [3] [4] George Bentham, [5] the botanist who first formally described the species, named it after its falling (deciduus in Latin) leaves that leave behind overlapping persistent petiole bases. [6] [7]

Contents

Description

It is a shrub reaching 1.5 meters in height. [8] Its straight, slender, stems have pale grey bark. Its leaves occur in clusters. Its hairless, linear to slightly spatula-shaped leaves are 1.9–2.5 by 0.25–0.5 centimeters. The tips of its leaves are blunt or slightly pointed. The base of the leaves terminate in a rudimentary petiole. When the leaves fall, the petioles persist and form overlapping stacks. Its solitary flowers occur at the junction of the leaves and stem, and because the leaves are clustered can occur in groups of two or more. The flowers are on pedicels that are 0.8–1.9 centimeters long. The pedicels have slender hairless bracts midway up their length. The flower buds are twisted in a spiral. Its flowers have 5 lance-shaped sepals that are 2.5 millimeters long with pointed tips. The 5 petals are fused at their base to form a 2.5 millimeter-long, bell-shaped tube. The lance-shaped, hairless lobes of the petals are 7.6 millimeters long. The flowers have a ring-like structure between the petals and its stamen called a corona. Its corona have 5 thread-like, lobes that are 3.8–5.1 millimeters long and attached half-way up the petal tubes. Its stamen have tapering anthers that arch over the stigma. The styles of the pistils are shorter than the anthers and have cone-shaped tops. [6] [9]

Reproductive biology

The pollen of Cryptolepis decidua is shed as permanent tetrads. [10]

Distribution and habitat

It has been observed growing at elevations up to 2000 meters. [8]

Uses

Its roots have been reported as being used as a traditional medicine in Namibia and extracts from its tissues have been shown to have immunomodulatory activity in laboratory tests with isolated human blood cells. [11] It has also been included in lists of South African poisonous plants. [12]

Related Research Articles

<i>Neostenanthera hamata</i> Species of flowering plant

Neostenanthera hamata is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. George Bentham, the English botanist who first formally described the species, using the basionym Oxymitra hamata, did not explicitly explain the specific epithet, but it has distinctive outer petals with hooked tips.

<i>Monodora tenuifolia</i> Species of plant in the family Annonaceae

Monodora tenuifolia is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to equatorial Africa. George Bentham, the English botanist who first formally described the species, named it after its slender leaves.

<i>Annona cherimolioides</i> Species of flowering plant

Annona cherimolioides is a species of plant in the Annonaceae family. It is native to Colombia and Ecuador. José Jerónimo Triana and Jules Émile Planchon, the botanists who first formally described the species, named it after its resemblance to another Annona species A. cherimoya.

<i>Xylopia macrantha</i> Species of flowering plant

Xylopia macrantha is a species of plant in the Annonaceae family. It is native to Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama. José Jerónimo Triana and Jules Émile Planchon, the botanists who first formally described the species, named it after its large flowers.

<i>Baroniella camptocarpoides</i> Species of flowering plant

Baroniella camptocarpoides is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae family. It is endemic to Madagascar. Julien Noël Costantin and Ernest-Isidore Gallaud, the botanists who first formally described the species, named it after its resemblance to, but distinctiveness from, plants in the genus Camptocarpus.

<i>Batesanthus pseudopalpus</i> Species of flowering plant

Batesanthus pseudopalpus is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae family. It is native to the Republic of the Congo and Gabon. Hendrik J. T. Venter and Rudolf L. Verhoeven, the botanists who first formally described the species, named it after the lobes of its corona which they said resemble the pedipalps of the rain spiders Palystes castaneus and Palystes superciliosus.

<i>Batesanthus purpureus</i> Species of flowering plant

Batesanthus purpureus is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae family. It is native to the Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Nigeria. Nicholas Edward Brown, the botanist who first formally described the species, named it after its purple flowers.

<i>Buckollia volubilis</i> Species of flowering plant

Buckollia volubilis is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae family. It is native to the Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda. Rudolf Schlechter, the botanist who first formally described the species, named it after its twining growth habit, using the synonymous name Raphionacme volubilis.

<i>Camptocarpus mauritianus</i> Species of flowering plant

Camptocarpus mauritianus is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae family. It is native to Comoros, Madagascar and Réunion. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, the naturalist who first formally described the species named it, using the synonym Cynanchum mauritianum, after the region of the Indian Ocean that includes the island of Mauritius, although the type specimen he examined did not list a specific location.

<i>Camptocarpus sphenophyllus</i> Species of flowering plant

Camptocarpus sphenophyllus is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae family. It is endemic to the island of Rodrigues. Isaac Bayley Balfour, the naturalist who first formally described the species named it, using the synonym Tanulepis sphenophylla, after its wedge-shaped leaves.

<i>Chlorocyathus lobulata</i> Species of flowering plant

Chlorocyathus lobulata is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae family. It is native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa. Hendrik J. T. Venter and Rudolf L. Verhoeven, the botanists who first formally described the species named it, using the synonym Raphionacme lobulata, after the distinctive lobes of the corona of its flowers.

<i>Chlorocyathus monteiroae</i> Species of flowering plant

Chlorocyathus monteiroae is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae family. It is native to Angola, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Daniel Oliver, the botanist who first formally described the species named it after Rose Monteiro who collected the specimen he examined from Maputo Bay.

<i>Camptocarpus semihastatus</i> Species of flowering plant

Camptocarpus semihastatus is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae family. It is native to Madagascar. Jens Klackenberg, the botanist who formally described the species named it after the distinct coronal lobes of its flowers that resemble half the head of a spear.

<i>Condylocarpon amazonicum</i> Species of flowering plant

Condylocarpon amazonicum is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae family. It is native to Bolivia, Brazil, Suriname, and Venezuela. Friedrich Markgraf, the botanist who first formally described the species, using the basionym Anechites amazonicus, named it after the area near the Amazon River in Pará Brazil where the specimen he examined was collected by Adolpho Ducke.

<i>Condylocarpon guyanense</i> Species of flowering plant

Condylocarpon guyanense is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae family. It is native to Brazil, French Guiana, and Guyana. René Louiche Desfontaines, the botanist who first formally described the species, named it after Guyana where Joseph Martin collected the specimen he examined.

<i>Condylocarpon isthmicum</i> Species of flowering plant

Condylocarpon isthmicum is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae family. It is native to Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. José Mariano de Conceição Vellozo, the botanist who first formally described the species, named it after the narrow neck connecting the two sections of its fruit.

<i>Condylocarpon pubiflorum</i> Species of flowering plant

Condylocarpon pubiflorum is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae family. It is native to Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. Johannes Müller Argoviensis, the botanist who first formally described the species, named it after an invalid nomen nudum, Hortsmania pubiflora, previously offered by George Bentham.

<i>Cryptolepis africana</i> Species of flowering plant

Cryptolepis africana is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae family. It is native to Kenya. Arthur Allman Bullock, the botanist who first formally described the species, using the synonymous subspecies name Cryptolepis sinensis subsp. africana, named it after the location where the sample he examined was collected in East Africa.

<i>Cryptolepis capensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Cryptolepis capensis is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae family. It is native to South Africa and Eswatini. Rudolf Schlechter, the botanist who first formally described the species, named it after the region where the sample he examined was collected in South Africa.

Cryptolepis delagoensis is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae family. It is native to Mozambique and South Africa. Rudolf Schlechter, the botanist who first formally described the species, named it after the location where the specimen he examined was found near Maputo Bay which was then called Delagoa Bay.

References

  1. ↑ Engler, A.; Drude, O. (1910). Die Vegetation der Erde :Sammlung pflanzengeographischer Monographien, V. IX Die Pflanzenwelt Afrikas insbesondere seiner erenen Gebiete Grundzüge der Pflanzenverbreitung in Afrika und die Charakterpflanzen Afrikas [The vegetation of the earth: collection of plant-geographical monographs, V. IX The flora of Africa, in particular its older areas, basic features of the plant distribution in Africa and the characteristic plants of Africa]. Leipzig: W. Engelman.
  2. ↑ "Cryptolepis decidua (Planch. ex Hook. fil. & Benth.) N. E. Br". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000. n.d. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Cryptolepis decidua (Planch. ex Benth.) N.E.Br". Plants of the World Online. The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. n.d. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Cryptolepis decidua (Planch. ex Benth.) N.E. Br". Tropicos. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. n.d. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  5. ↑ "George Bentham". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens . Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Hooker, J.D.; Bentham, George (1849). Niger Flora; or, an Enumeration of the Plants of Western Tropical Africa. London: Hippolyte Bailliere. p. 457.
  7. ↑ Stearn, William (2004). Botanical Latin. Portland, Ore. Newton Abbot: Timber Press David & Charles. ISBN   9780881926279.
  8. 1 2 Germishuizen, G.; Meyer, N.L. (2003). Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Pretoria: National Botanical Institute. p. 145. ISBN   1-919795-99-5.
  9. ↑ Brown, N.E. (1902). "Order LXXXV. Asclepiadeae". In Thiselton-Dyer, William T. (ed.). Flora of Tropical Africa. Vol. IV. Section 1. Oleaceae to Gentianeae. London: Lovell Reeve & Co., Ltd. p. 243. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.42.
  10. ↑ Joubert, Lize (2007). A Taxonomic Study of Cryptolepis (Apocynaceae) in Southern Africa (M.Sc. thesis). University of the Free State. OCLC   638720409 . Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  11. ↑ Preez, C.I. Du; Gründemann, C.; Reinhardt, J.K.; Mumbengegwi, D.R.; Huber, R. (2020). "Immunomodulatory effects of some Namibian plants traditionally used for treating inflammatory diseases". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 254. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2020.112683. hdl: 11070/3018 .
  12. ↑ Bullock, A.A. (1952). "South African Poisonous Plants". Kew Bulletin. 7 (1): 117–129. JSTOR   4117678.
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.