Duboisia

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The orchid genus described by Karsten as Duboisia is now included in Myoxanthus. For the prehistoric antelope genus, see Duboisia (antelope).

Duboisia
Duboisia myoporoides - Kohler-s Medizinal-Pflanzen-055.jpg
Duboisia myoporoides
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Subfamily: Nicotianoideae
Tribe: Anthocercideae
Genus: Duboisia
R.Br.
Type species
Duboisia myoporoides
R.Br. 1802
Species

Duboisia (commonly called corkwood tree)[ citation needed ] is a genus of small perennial shrubs and trees that grow up to 14 metres (46 feet) tall, with extremely light wood and a thick corky bark. There are four species; all occur in Australia, and one also occurs in New Caledonia.

The alternate, glabrous leaves are narrow and elliptical. The inflorescence is an open cymose panicle of apically small white flowers, sometimes with a purple or mauve striped tube. They flower profusely in spring. The fruit is a small, globular, black, juicy berry.

Aboriginal Australians sometimes chew the nicotine-containing leaves of Duboisia hopwoodii (see entry on pituri ) mixed with wood ash for their stimulant and, after extended use, depressant effects. The leaves of Duboisia leichhardtii and Duboisia myoporoides also contain scopolamine and hyoscyamine, along with some other pharmaceutically important alkaloids. A derivative of scopolamine is the drug butylscopolamine, a potent peripherally acting antispasmodic. These trees are commercially grown for the pharmaceutical industry.

The genus was named by Robert Brown in honour of Louis DuBois who wrote Méthode éprouvée, avec laquelle on peut parvenir facilement et sans maître à connaître les plantes de l'intérieur de la France et en particulier celles des environs d'Orléans, par M. Dubois, théologal de l'église d'Orléans, ancien démonstrateur du Jardin des plantes (1803). [1]

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Pituri, also known as mingkulpa, is a mixture of leaves and wood ash traditionally chewed as a stimulant by Aboriginal Australians widely across the continent. Leaves are gathered from any of several species of native tobacco (Nicotiana) or from at least one distinct population of the species Duboisia hopwoodii. Various species of Acacia, Grevillea and Eucalyptus are burned to produce the ash. The term "pituri" may also refer to the plants from which the leaves are gathered or from which the ash is made. Some authors use the term to refer only to the plant Duboisia hopwoodii and its leaves and any chewing mixture containing its leaves.

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References

  1. Don, George (1838). A general history of the dichlamydeous plants, comprising complete descriptions of the different orders. Volume IV. Corolliflorae. London. p. 479.