Nectandra

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Nectandra
Nectandra saligna.jpg
Nectandra saligna
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Laurales
Family: Lauraceae
Genus: Nectandra
Rol. ex Rottb.
Species

See text.

Nectandra is a genus of plant in the family Lauraceae. They are primarily Neotropical, with Nectandra coriacea being the only species reaching the southernmost United States. [1] [2] They have fruit with various medical effects. [3] Sweetwood is a common name for some plants in this genus. [2]

Contents

Description

They are trees and bushes, hermaphrodites. The leaves are alternate, entire, glabrous or pubescent pinnatinervias with longitudinal grooves. Simple, alternate, petiole 0.9 to 2.2 cm in length canalicular limbo 11 to 28 cm long and 5 to 11 cm wide, with 16–28 secondary veins; base acute decurrent and revolute, entire, apex elliptically shaped, green dark, and very oblique secondary veins visible on the underside. Terminal buds are whitish. The inflorescences are pseudo-axillary and paniculate, the last divisions cimosas, mostly somewhat pubescent, the flowers are small, rarely more than 1 cm in diameter, and white or greenish tepals equal. The fruit is an ovoid, fleshy drupe with a reddish-pink dome, green when immature and black when ripe.

Ecology

Nectandra cissiflora berry. Flickr - Joao de Deus Medeiros - Nectandra cissiflora.jpg
Nectandra cissiflora berry.

A neotropical genus with 114 species, Nectandra is similar to Ocotea , to which it is closely related. The most characteristic distinguishing features are the position of the locules in the anther (in an arc in Nectandra and two rows in Ocotea); papillose pubescence is present; the Nectandra petals are fused at the base itself and fall as a unit in the old flowers; they are free in Nectandra but fall individually in Ocotea.

Medium trees reach 60 cm in diameter and 25 m in height with straight, slender, cylindrical boles with low low and thin protuberances at the base. The various species are located in the middle stratum of forests. Many species are used as timber. [4]

The family Lauraceae was part of the Gondwanaland flora, and many of its genera migrated to South America via Antarctica on ocean landbridges during the Paleocene era. There, they spread over most of the continent. When the North American and South American tectonic plates joined in the late Neogene, volcanic mountains started creating island chains, later forming the Meso-American landbridge.

Pliocene elevation created new habitats for speciation. While some genera died out in increasingly xerophytic Africa, starting with the freezing of Antarctica about 20 million years ago and the formation of the Benguela current, others, like Beilschmiedia and Nectandra, which also reached south and meso-America, are still surviving today in Africa in several species. The genus Persea , however, died out in Africa, except for Persea indica , surviving in the fog-shrouded mountains of the Canary Islands, which, with Madagascar, constitutes Africa's Laurel forest plant refugia. In Meso-America, the genus Nectandra proliferated into new species, and some of its berries constitute a valuable food supply for the quetzal bird that lives in the montane rainforests. Since this habitat is constantly threatened by encroaching agriculture, the laurel forest animal and plant species have already become rare in many of its former habitats and are threatened by habitat loss.

The quetzal's favorite fruits are berries of relatives of Nectandra umbrosa . Their differing maturing times in the Cloud forest determine the migratory movements of the quetzals to differing elevation levels in the forests. With a gape width of 21 mm, the quetzal swallows the small berries (aquacatillos) whole, which he catches while flying through the lower canopy of the tree, and then regurgitates the seed within 100 meters from the tree. Wheelwright, in 1983, observed that parent quetzals take far fewer time intervals to deliver fruits to the young brood than insects or lizards, reflecting the ease of procuring fruits, as opposed to capturing animal prey. Since the young are fed exclusively berries in the first two weeks after hatching, these berries must be highly nutritional. Usually, only the total percentage of water, sugar, nitrogen, crude fats and carbohydrates are reported by ornithologists. [5]

Medical use

Plants from this genus have been used to treat several human clinical disorders. It has been demonstrated that Nectandra plants have potential for analgesic, anti-inflammatory, febrifuge, energetic, and hypotensive activities. Nectandra has also been investigated as a possible antitumoral agent, and the presence of neolignans suggests its potential use as a source of chemotherapeutics. Crude extracts of Nectandra contain alkaloids and lignans, berberine and sipirine.

Some authors have postulated that tannins play important roles as antioxidant compounds in scavenging free radicals. It is reported that an extract of N. salicifolia has potent relaxant activity on vascular smooth muscle. Researchers around the entire world agree that extensive pre-clinical studies on herbal medicine are important and urgent, especially high-quality clinical and pre-clinical trials. [3]

In pre-Columbian Peru the seeds, called amala in Spanish, were used as a muscle relaxant. In sites of the Sican culture, collections of the seeds have been associated with human sacrifice, and used to incapacitate victims prior to being killed. [6] [7] [8]

Selected species

Nectandra contains approximately 120 species, [1] including the following:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauraceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant family that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide. They are dicotyledons, and occur mainly in warm temperate and tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and South America. Many are aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs, but some, such as Sassafras, are deciduous, or include both deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs, especially in tropical and temperate climates. The genus Cassytha is unique in the Lauraceae in that its members are parasitic vines. Most laurels are highly poisonous.

<i>Persea</i> Genus of flowering plants in the laurel family Lauraceae

Persea is a genus of about 150 species of evergreen trees belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The best-known member of the genus is the avocado, P. americana, widely cultivated in subtropical regions for its large, edible fruit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurel forest</span> Type of subtropical forest

Laurel forest, also called laurisilva or laurissilva, is a type of subtropical forest found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable, mild temperatures. The forest is characterized by broadleaf tree species with evergreen, glossy and elongated leaves, known as "laurophyll" or "lauroid". Plants from the laurel family (Lauraceae) may or may not be present, depending on the location.

<i>Ocotea</i> Genus of trees

Ocotea is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. Many are evergreen trees with lauroid leaves.

Kuloa usambarensis is a species of tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to eastern Africa in Kenya, Tanga Region of Tanzania, and locally in Uganda, where it occurs at 1600–2600 m elevation in high rainfall Afromontane cloud forest. Common names include East African camphorwood, mkulo (Tanzania), mwiha (Uganda), muwong, muzaiti, and maasi.

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

Aiouea is a genus of shrubs and trees in the family Lauraceae. It is native to tropical forests and montane forests of North and South America. The name is a curiosity because it consists entirely of vowels.

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

Aniba is an American neotropical flowering plant genus in the family Lauraceae. They are present in low and mountain cloud forest in Caribbean islands, Central America, and northern to central South America.

<i>Mezilaurus</i> Genus of trees

Mezilaurus is a genus of plant in the family Lauraceae. It is a neotropical genus consisting of 18-27 species, mostly hardwood evergreen trees, occurring from Costa Rica to the southeast of Brazil. Thirteen species have been identified in Brazil, distributed mostly in the Amazon region. In Rio de Janeiro state only M. navalium (Allemão) Taub. ex Mez has been recorded. Some species have been reported within the Cerrado and in semideciduous forest surrounding the Pantanal Matogrossense. The name Mezilaurus refers to its similar appearance to the genus Laurus.

Nectandra psammophila is a species of plant in the family Lauraceae.

<i>Ocotea foetens</i> Species of tree

Ocotea foetens, commonly called til or stinkwood is a species of tree in the family Lauraceae. It is evergreen and grows up to 40 m tall. It is a common constituent of the laurisilva forests of Madeira and the Canary Islands. Leaf fossils of this species are known from the Mio-Pleistocene of Madeira Island.

<i>Ocotea odorifera</i> Species of tree

Ocotea odorifera is a species of plant in the family Lauraceae. It is an evergreen tree in the genus Ocotea.

<i>Persea indica</i> Species of tree

Persea indica is a large, evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae), native to humid uplands on Madeira and the Canary Islands in the North Atlantic. It belongs to the genus Persea, a group of evergreen trees including the avocado. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Pleurothyrium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lauraceae. It includes 48 species, which are native to Central America and northern South America. Many of the species were first described in a 1993 revision of the genus.

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

Endlicheria is a neotropical plant genus consisting of approximately 60 species, occurring mostly in northern South America and the Amazon region. Most species are medium-sized trees, sometime up to 40 metres in height, but a few species are shrubs. DNA molecular data shows that it is closely related to Rhodostemonodaphne and Ocotea.

Rhodostemonodaphne is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lauraceae. It is a neotropical genus consisting of approximately 41 species occurring in Central America and northern South America. This genus has many species that are valued for timber. The classification of the genus is unclear since the species in the genus fall into a well-supported but unresolved clade that also includes species with unisexual flowers currently placed in the genera Endlicheria and part of Ocotea.

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

Damburneya is a genus of evergreen trees and shrubs in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to tropical regions of North America and South America, with the center of diversity in Central America.

References

  1. 1 2 Henk van der Werff. "Nectandra Rottbøll". Flora of North America. www.efloras.org. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  2. 1 2 USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Nectandra". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  3. 1 2 Ramos Farías Moreno, Silvana; Arnobio, Adriano; Carvalho, Jorge José De; Nascimento, Lucia; Oliveira Timoteo, Margareth; Olej, Beni; Kazan Rocha, Emely; Pereira, Mario; Bernardo-Filho, Mario; Querino De Araújo Caldas, Luiz (2007). "The ingestion of a Nectandra membranacea extract changes the bioavailability of technetium-99m radiobiocomplex in rat organs". Biological Research. 40 (2): 131–135. doi:10.4067/S0716-97602007000200004 (inactive 31 January 2024). PMID   18064350.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link)
  4. ↑ "Manual dendrológico de las principales especies de interés comercial actual y potencial de la zona del Alto Huallaga" (PDF). cnf.org.pe (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  5. ↑ Phytochemistry of Nectandra umbrosa Berries, Cloudforest Food of the Resplendent Quetzal avocadosource.com
  6. ↑ The Cursed Valley of the Pyramids, Season 1, Episode 2 of Lost Cities of the Ancients. Directed by Aidan Laverty. BBC.IMDB
  7. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-06-21. Retrieved 2015-06-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ↑ "Amala seed -The Entheogen Network".
  9. ↑ de Kok, R. (2021). "Nectandra turbacensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2021: e.T143822730A143953306. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T143822730A143953306.en . Retrieved 17 November 2021.
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