Drimia maritima

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Drimia maritima
Drimia maritima - Kohler-s Medizinal-Pflanzen-277.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Scilloideae
Genus: Drimia
Species:
D. maritima
Binomial name
Drimia maritima
(L.) Stearn [2]
Synonyms [2]
  • Charybdis maritima(L.) Speta
  • Ornithogalum maritimum(L.) Lam.
  • Scilla maritimaL.
  • Squilla maritima(L.) Steinh.
  • Stellaris scillaMoench, nom. superfl.
  • Urginea maritima(L.) Baker
Wild Drimia maritima, Iran Wild Drimia Maritima in Iran.jpg
Wild Drimia maritima, Iran

Drimia maritima (syn. Urginea maritima) is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae (formerly the family Hyacinthaceae). [3] This species is known by several common names, including squill, sea squill, sea onion, [4] and maritime squill. [5] It may also be called red squill, particularly a form which produces red-tinged flowers instead of white. [5] It is native to southern Europe, western Asia, and northern Africa. [4]

Contents

Description

Wild Drimia maritima flowers Wild Drimia Maritima Flowers.jpg
Wild Drimia maritima flowers

This plant grows from a large bulb which can be up to 20 cm (7.9 in) wide and weigh 1 kg (2.2 lb). Bailey reported weights of up to fifteen pounds (seven kilograms), probably referring to a clump. [6] Several bulbs may grow in a clump and are usually just beneath the surface of the soil. In the spring, each bulb produces a rosette of about ten leaves each up to a meter long. They are dark green in color and leathery in texture. They die away by fall, when the bulb produces a tall, narrow raceme of flowers. This inflorescence can reach 1.5–2 m (4 ft 11 in – 6 ft 7 in) in height. [5] [7] The flower is about 1.5 cm (0.59 in) wide and has six tepals each with a dark stripe down the middle. The tepals are white, with the exception of those on the red-flowered form. The fruit is a capsule up to 1.2 cm (0.47 in) long. [5]

Ecology

This plant often grows in rocky coastal habitat, especially in the Mediterranean Basin, where it is common. [5] It occurs in many other types of habitat, except for the driest deserts. [7] It can grow in open and also in very shady areas. [8] Its habit of producing leaves in the spring and flowers in the fall is an adaptation to the Mediterranean climate of its native range, where the summers are hot and dry. [9]

This species has two different pollination syndromes, entomophily and anemophily; it is pollinated by insects and wind. Insect pollinators include the western honey bee (Apis mellifera), the Oriental hornet (Vespa orientalis), and the paper wasp species Polistes gallicus . [7]

Uses

The plant has been used as a poison and as a medicinal remedy. The main active compounds are cardiac glycosides, including unique bufadienolides such as glucoscillaren A, proscillaridine A, scillaren A, scilliglaucoside and scilliphaeoside. The plant can have a cardiac glycoside content of up to 3%. Scilliroside, the most important of the toxic compounds, is present in all parts of the plant. [10] The broad leaves of this plant, when they completely dry out, lose their toxicity and are consumed by cattle and sheep. [11] In Palestine, Arab peasants are known to use the plant to mark the butts and bounds of farm land, on account of the plant's distinct features. [11] [12] [13]

Medicine

This species has been used as a medicinal plant since ancient times. It is noted in the Ebers Papyrus of the 16th century BC, one of the oldest medical texts of ancient Egypt. [9] Pythagoras wrote about it in the 6th century BC. [14] Hippocrates used it to treat jaundice, convulsions, and asthma. [5] Theophrastus was also familiar with it. [9] Its primary medicinal use was as a treatment for edema, then called dropsy, because of the diuretic properties of the cardiac glycosides. [15] A solution of sea squill and vinegar was a common remedy for centuries. [15] The plant is also used as a laxative and an expectorant. [5]

Poison

The plant has also been used as a poison. It is very bitter, so most animals avoid it. Rats, however, eat it readily, and then succumb to the toxic scilliroside. This has made the plant a popular rodenticide for nearly as long as it has been in use as a medicine. [5] The bulbs are dried and cut into chips, which can then be powdered and mixed with rat bait. The plant was introduced as an experimental agricultural crop in the 20th century primarily to develop high-toxicity varieties for use as rat poison. [9] Interest continued to develop as rats became resistant to coumarin-based poisons. [5] [16]

It has also been tested as an insecticide against pests such as the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum). [16]

Spiritual use

Pythagoras and Dioscorides hung the bulbs with sprouted leaves outside the door in spring as protection against evil spirits. [5] The bulbs are still gathered and displayed in the winter as part of Greek Christmas and new year's traditions. [17]

Ornamental use

The tall inflorescences are used as cut flowers in floristry. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cardiac glycoside</span> Class of organic compounds

Cardiac glycosides are a class of organic compounds that increase the output force of the heart and decrease its rate of contractions by inhibiting the cellular sodium-potassium ATPase pump. Their beneficial medical uses include treatments for congestive heart failure and cardiac arrhythmias; however, their relative toxicity prevents them from being widely used. Most commonly found as secondary metabolites in several plants such as foxglove plants and milkweed plants, these compounds nevertheless have a diverse range of biochemical effects regarding cardiac cell function and have also been suggested for use in cancer treatment.

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

Erysimum, or wallflower, is a genus of flowering plants in the cabbage family, Brassicaceae. It includes more than 150 species, both popular garden plants and many wild forms. Erysimum is characterised by star-shaped and/or two-sided) trichomes growing from the stem, with yellow, red, pink or orange flowers and multiseeded seed pods.

<i>Hyacinthoides non-scripta</i> Species of flowering plant

Hyacinthoides non-scripta is a bulbous perennial plant found in Atlantic areas from the north-western part of the Iberian Peninsula to the British Isles, and also frequently used as a garden plant. It is known in English as the common bluebell or simply bluebell, a name which is used in Scotland to refer to the harebell, Campanula rotundifolia. In spring, H. non-scripta produces a nodding, one-sided inflorescence of 5–12 tubular, sweet-scented violet–blue flowers, with strongly recurved tepals, and 3–6 long, linear, basal leaves.

Squill is a common name for several lily-like plants and may refer to:

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

Scilla is a genus of about 30 to 80 species of bulb-forming perennial herbaceous plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. Sometimes called the squills in English, they are native to woodlands, subalpine meadows, and seashores throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East. A few species are also naturalized in Australasia and North America. Their flowers are usually blue, but white, pink, and purple types are known; most flower in early spring, but a few are autumn-flowering. Several Scilla species are valued as ornamental garden plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scilloideae</span> Subfamily of bulbous monocot plants

Scilloideae is a subfamily of bulbous plants within the family Asparagaceae. Scilloideae is sometimes treated as a separate family Hyacinthaceae, named after the genus Hyacinthus. Scilloideae or Hyacinthaceae include many familiar garden plants such as Hyacinthus (hyacinths), Hyacinthoides (bluebells), Muscari and Scilla and Puschkinia. Some are important as cut flowers.

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

Puschkinia is a genus of four known species of bulbous perennials in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. It is native to the Caucasus and the Middle East. Puschkinia scilloides is grown as an ornamental bulbous plant.

<i>Calotropis gigantea</i> Species of plant

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.

<i>Kalanchoe delagoensis</i> Species of succulent

Kalanchoe delagoensis, formerly known as Bryophyllum delagoense and commonly called mother of millions or chandelier plant, is a succulent plant native to Madagascar. Like other members of Bryophyllum, it is able to propagate vegetatively from plantlets that develop on its leaf margins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scilliroside</span> Chemical compound

Scilliroside is a toxic compound derived from the plant Drimia maritima, which is sometimes used as a rodenticide.

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

Bowiea, commonly known as climbing-onion, is a genus of bulbous, perennial, succulent plants which thrive in dry and desert regions of eastern and southern Africa, ranging from Uganda to South Africa. It is native to a region stretching from Kenya to Cape Province. It is the 14th most commonly sold medicinal plant in South Africa, used to treat various health conditions. Due to massive harvesting, populations of this plant have been significantly reduced. Because of its high content of potent cardiac glycosides, it is highly poisonous, and deaths of humans and other animals after ingestion are attributed to cardiac arrest. Due to its unique appearance, it is cultivated as a houseplant.

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

Drimia is a genus of African, south European and south Asian flowering plants. In the APG IV classification system, it is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. When broadly circumscribed, the genus includes a number of other genera previously treated separately, including Litanthus, Rhodocodon, Schizobasis and Urginea.

<i>Anthericum ramosum</i> Species of flowering plant

Anthericum ramosum, known as branched St Bernard's-lily, is a herbaceous perennial plant with a rhizome. The genus Anthericum is currently placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. It was formerly placed in its own family, Anthericaceae, and before that in the Liliaceae.

Drimia indica is a species of flowering plant found from South Asia to South Africa.

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

Daubenya is a genus of bulbous flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. It is native to the Cape Province of South Africa.

Drimia nagarjunae is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. It was included in Drimia indica, but is accepted as a separate species. It is distributed in south India.

<i>Ledebouria revoluta</i> Species of flowering plant

Ledebouria revoluta, the south Indian squill, is a flowering plant species in the genus Ledebouria found in Southern Africa and India.

The Asparagales are an order of plants, and on this page the structure of the order is used according to the APG III system. The order takes its name from the family Asparagaceae and is placed in the monocots. The order is clearly circumscribed on the basis of DNA sequence analysis, but is difficult to define morphologically, since its members are structurally diverse. The APG III system is used in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families from the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. With this circumscription, the order consists of 14 families with approximately 1120 genera and 26000 species.

<i>Drimia elata</i> Species of flowering plant

Drimia elata is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. It is widely distributed in eastern and southern Africa.

<i>Scilla amoena</i> Species of flowering plant

Scilla amoena, the star hyacinth or squill, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Scilla.

References

  1. ↑ Lansdown, R.V. (2018). "Drimia maritima". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T202953A18614115. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T202953A18614115.en . Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Drimia maritima". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  3. ↑ Chase, M.W.; Reveal, J.L.; Fay, M.F. (2009). "A subfamilial classification for the expanded asparagalean families Amaryllidaceae, Asparagaceae and Xanthorrhoeaceae". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 161 (2): 132–136. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00999.x .
  4. 1 2 "Drimia maritima". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 2017-12-18.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Drimia maritima (maritime squill). Archived October 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  6. ↑ Liberty Hyde Bailey, "Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture" (1935 edition) Volume 3 page 3417
  7. 1 2 3 Dafni, A. and R. Dukas. (1986). Insect and wind pollination in Urginea maritima (Liliaceae). Plant Systematics and Evolution 154(1-2), 1-10.
  8. ↑ Grammatikopoulos, G., et al. (1999). Site-dependent differences in transmittance and UV-B-absorbing capacity of isolated leaf epidermes and mesophyll in Urginea maritima (L.) Baker. [ dead link ]Journal of Experimental Botany 50(333), 517-21.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Gentry, H. S., et al. (1987). Red squill (Urginea maritima, Liliaceae). Economic Botany 41(2), 267-82.
  10. ↑ Metin, M. and B. Bürün. (2010). Effects of the high doses of Urginea maritima (L.) Baker extract on chromosomes. [ permanent dead link ]Caryologia 63(4), 367-75.
  11. 1 2 Shmida, Avi (2005). MAPA's Dictionary of Plants and Flowers in Israel (in Hebrew). Tel-Aviv: MAPA Publishers. p. 55. OCLC   716569354., s.v. Urginea maritima
  12. ↑ Al-ʻĀrif, ʻĀrif (1937). History of Be'er Sheva and its Tribes (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv-Yafo: Shoshani Publishing Co. OCLC   874901157. (reprinted in Jerusalem 2000, by Ariel Publishers and Merkaz G'o Alon, OCLC   45679806)
  13. ↑ Dalman, Gustaf (2013). Work and Customs in Palestine. Vol. I/1. Translated by Nadia Abdulhadi Sukhtian. Ramallah: Dar Al Nasher. p. 99. ISBN   9789950385-00-9. OCLC   1040774903.
  14. ↑ Hollman, A. (1992). Plants in cardiology: Medicinal plant discovery. British Heart Journal 67(6), 506.
  15. 1 2 Stannard, J. (1974). Squill in ancient and medieval materia medica, with special reference to its employment for dropsy. Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 50(6), 684.
  16. 1 2 Pascual-Villalobos, M. J. Anti-insect activity of bufadienolides from Urginea maritima. p. 564–66. In: Janick, J. and A. Whipkey (eds.) Trends in New Crops and New Uses. ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA. 2002.
  17. ↑ "Unusual Greek Christmas Customs". GreekReporter.com. 2021-12-23. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
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