Hagenia

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Hagenia
Hagenia abyssinica - Kohler-s Medizinal-Pflanzen-208.jpg
Hagenia abyssinica
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Subfamily: Rosoideae
Tribe: Sanguisorbeae
Subtribe: Agrimoniinae
Genus: Hagenia
J.F.Gmel.
Species:
H. abyssinica
Binomial name
Hagenia abyssinica

Hagenia is a monotypic genus of flowering plant with the sole species Hagenia abyssinica, native to the high-elevation Afromontane regions of central and eastern Africa. It also has a disjunct distribution in the high mountains of East Africa from Sudan and Ethiopia in the north, through Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania, to Malawi and Zambia in the south. A member of the rose family, its closest relative is the Afromontane genus Leucosidea .

Contents

Description

A Hagenia plant in the Rwenzori Mountains National Park in Uganda Kosso-2.jpg
A Hagenia plant in the Rwenzori Mountains National Park in Uganda

It is a tree up to 20 m in height, with a short trunk, thick branches, and thick, peeling bark. The leaves are up to 40 cm long, compound with 7-13 leaflets, each leaflet about 10 cm long with a finely serrated margin, green above, silvery-haired below. The flowers are white to orange-buff or pinkish-red, produced in panicles 30–60 cm long.

Nomenclature

It is known in English as African redwood, East African rosewood, [2] brayera, cusso, hagenia, or kousso, in Amharic as kosso, and in Swahili as mdobore or mlozilozi. Synonyms of the species include Banksia abyssinica, Brayera anthelmintica, Hagenia abyssinica var. viridifolia and Hagenia anthelmintica.

Distribution and habitat

It is generally found from 2000 to 3000 m elevation, in areas receiving 1000–1500 mm of rainfall annually. It can be found growing in mixed afromontane forest with Podocarpus , Afrocarpus , and other trees, and in drier afromontane forests and woodlands where Hagenia is dominant, or in mixed stands of Hagenia and Juniperus procera . It is often found near the upper limit of forest growth, giving way to giant heather zones above it.

Ecology

Hagenia is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including turnip moth.

Medical use

A drug obtained from the tree, known as Kousso, comprises the entire inflorescence kept in form by a band wound transversely round it. The active principle is koussin or kosin, C
31
H
38
O
10
, which is soluble in alcohol and alkalis, and may be given directly in doses or in an infusion of the coarsely powdered flowers. It is considered to be an effectual anthelmintic for tapeworm, Taenia solium . [3]

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References

  1. IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group & Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) (2020). "Hagenia abyssinica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T117894181A153936071. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  2. Bruijnzeel, L.A.; F. N. Scatena; L. S. Hamilton (2010). Tropical Montane Cloud Forests: Science for Conservation and Management. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 137. ISBN   9780521760355.
  3. Wikisource-logo.svg One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Kousso". Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 921.