Ledebouria revoluta | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Asparagales |
Family: | Asparagaceae |
Subfamily: | Scilloideae |
Genus: | Ledebouria |
Species: | L. revoluta |
Binomial name | |
Ledebouria revoluta | |
Synonyms | |
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Ledebouria revoluta, the south Indian squill, is a flowering plant species in the genus Ledebouria found in Southern Africa and India.
The leaves of Ledebouria revoluta are smooth and fleshy, and unlike those of some other Ledebouria species they are present when the flowers emerge. The leaves' venation is obscure and their margins are usually a similar colour to the rest of the leaf.
The flowers are born densely, often on multiple, drooping inflorescences. The flowers are purple-to-pink, with pink pedicels and pale yellow anthers. The ovary has 6 lobes and the seeds are a brown colour.
Unlike some other Ledebouria species, both the leaves and bulb scales of L. revoluta have threads when torn. [2] [3]
In Africa some tribes consume the bulbs of L. revoluta. It is widely used as an ethnomedicinal in Southern Africa. Homoisoflavanones can be isolated from the bulbs of L. revoluta. [4] In India, this species is commonly known as ‘Indian squill’ or ‘jangali pnyaaj’ (wild onion), and fresh squill yields several cardiac glycosides—Scillarin-A, Scillarin-B, 3-benzyl-4-chromanones, Scillarenin bis-L-rhamnoside, etc. and therefore known as a cardioprotective plant. [5] The scaly bulb of L. revoluta had potential antibacterial (against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria) and antifungal activity. [6]
Micropropagation of Ledebouria revoluta through callus culture and indirect somatic embryogenesis [5] as well as shoot organogenesis [6] was well established. Artificial seeds technology was successfully performed by alginate-encapsulation of this somatic embryos. [5]
Detail cytological studies of sporophytic and gametophytic generation of Ledebouria revoluta was made by Haque and Ghosh (2016). [7] Meiotic studies revealed 15 bivalents in L. revoluta, which confirms their diploid numbers 2n = 30. Diploid karyotype as well as haploid karyotype was studied from somatic cells and pollen grains respectively. [7]
Ledebouria is named for Carl Friedrich von Ledebour (1785-1851), [8] a botanist who published, among other things, the first complete Russian flora. [9]
Ploidy is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, respectively, in each homologous chromosome pair, which chromosomes naturally exist as. Somatic cells, tissues, and individual organisms can be described according to the number of sets of chromosomes present : monoploid, diploid, triploid, tetraploid, pentaploid, hexaploid, heptaploid or septaploid, etc. The generic term polyploid is often used to describe cells with three or more sets of chromosomes.
In botany, apomixis is asexual development of seed or embryo without fertilization. However, other definitions include replacement of the seed by a plantlet or replacement of the flower by bulbils.
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.
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.
Crinum is a genus of about 180 species of perennial plants that have large showy flowers on leafless stems, and develop from bulbs. They are found in seasonally moist areas, including marshes, swamps, depressions and along the sides of streams and lakes in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide.
Plant callus is a growing mass of unorganized plant parenchyma cells. In living plants, callus cells are those cells that cover a plant wound. In biological research and biotechnology callus formation is induced from plant tissue samples (explants) after surface sterilization and plating onto tissue culture medium in vitro. The culture medium is supplemented with plant growth regulators, such as auxin, cytokinin, and gibberellin, to initiate callus formation or somatic embryogenesis. Callus initiation has been described for all major groups of land plants.
Ornithogalum is a genus of perennial plants mostly native to southern Europe and southern Africa belonging to the family Asparagaceae. Some species are native to other areas such as the Caucasus. Growing from a bulb, species have linear basal leaves and a slender stalk, up to 30 cm tall, bearing clusters of typically white star-shaped flowers, often striped with green. The common name of the genus, star-of-Bethlehem, is based on its star-shaped flowers, after the Star of Bethlehem that appears in the biblical account of the birth of Jesus. The number of species has varied considerably, depending on authority, from 50 to 300.
Ledebouria is a genus of African bulbous perennial herbs in the Asparagus family, Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. Most members were previously part of the genus Scilla. A number of species are grown by cacti and succulent enthusiasts for their patterned leaves.
Drimia maritima is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. This species is known by several common names, including squill, sea squill, sea onion, and maritime squill. It may also be called red squill, particularly a form which produces red-tinged flowers instead of white. It is native to southern Europe, western Asia, and northern Africa.
Eucomis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, native to southern Africa. Most species of this genus are commonly referred to as pineapple flowers or pineapple lilies. They are bulbous perennials with basal rosettes of leaves and stout stems covered in star-shaped flowers with a tuft of green bracts at the top, superficially resembling a pineapple – hence the common names.
Plant tissue culture is a collection of techniques used to maintain or grow plant cells, tissues, or organs under sterile conditions on a nutrient culture medium of known composition. It is widely used, to produce clones of a plant in a method known as micropropagation. Different techniques in plant tissue culture may offer certain advantages over traditional methods of propagation, including:
Somatic embryogenesis is an artificial process in which a plant or embryo is derived from a single somatic cell. Somatic embryos are formed from plant cells that are not normally involved in the development of embryos, i.e. ordinary plant tissue. No endosperm or seed coat is formed around a somatic embryo.
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.
Prospero is a genus of bulbous flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. It is distributed in Europe, around the Mediterranean, and through the Middle East to the Caucasus.
Pseudoprospero is a genus of bulbous flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. The genus has a single species Pseudoprospero firmifolium, which is endemic to South Africa.
Homoisoflavonoids (3-benzylidenechroman-4-ones) are a type of phenolic compounds occurring naturally in plants.
Ledebouria floribunda is a species of flowering plant in the Asparagaceae family. It is a bulbous geophyte native to South Africa, Eswatini, and Lesotho.
Eucomis montana is a plant species in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, found in South Africa and Eswatini (Swaziland). When in flower in summer, the plant reaches a height of up to 45 cm, with a dense spike (raceme) of greenish flowers, topped by a "head" of green bracts.
Ledebouria ovalifolia is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa.