Pseudowintera

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Pseudowintera
Pseudowinteracolorata.jpg
Pseudowintera colorata
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Canellales
Family: Winteraceae
Genus: Pseudowintera
Dandy
Species

Pseudowintera is a genus of woody evergreen flowering trees and shrubs, part of family Winteraceae. The species of Pseudowintera are native to New Zealand. Winteraceae are magnoliids, associated with the humid Antarctic flora of the southern hemisphere. Horopito can be chewed for a hot, peppery taste. [2]

Contents

Cultivation

Horopito spreads naturally through regrowth on cleared land but may often be found in domestic gardens as a decorative plant. Planting for commercial purposes has begun in recent years. [4]

Pharmaceutical use

Horopito contains a substance called sesquiterpene dialdehyde polygodiali, otherwise known as polygodial that has a number of biological properties including antifungal, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antiallergic and insecticide effects. Polygodial has been tested as a very effective inhibitor of Candida albicans. [5] [6] Horopito was used traditionally by Maori for a variety of medicinal purposes including treatment of: fungal skin infection, stomach pain, diarrhoea and as an analgesic. Early European settlers to New Zealand also used horopito for medicinal purposes.

Culinary use

Horopito leaves are used in cooking in a variety of ways. Horopito is now being used as a seasoning in modern New Zealand cuisine. Typically the leaves are dried and then ground to form a powder. The powder may be used wherever black pepper is used and applied directly to meats, mixed with oils, used to make condiments (e.g. with mustard), in vinegars, biscuits and even ice-cream.[ citation needed ]

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

Winteraceae is a primitive family of tropical trees and shrubs including 93 species in five genera. It is of particular interest because it is such a primitive angiosperm family, distantly related to Magnoliaceae, though it has a much more southern distribution. Plants in this family grow mostly in the southern hemisphere, and have been found in tropical to temperate climate regions of Malesia, Oceania, eastern Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar and the Neotropics, with most of the genera concentrated in Australasia and Malesia. The five genera, Takhtajania, Tasmannia, Drimys, Pseudowintera, and Zygogynum s.l. all have distinct geographic extant populations. Takhtajania includes a single species, T. perrieri, endemic only to Madagascar, Tasmannia has the largest distribution of genera in Winteraceae with species across the Philippines, Borneo, New Guinea, Eastern Australia, and Tasmannia, Drimys is found in the Neotropical realm, from southern Mexico to the subarctic forests of southern South America, Pseudowintera is found only in New Zealand, and Zygogynum has species in New Guinea and New Caledonia.

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Pseudowintera traversii, sometimes called Travers horopito, is a species of woody shrub in the family Winteraceae. The specific epithet traversii is in honor of naturalist Henry H. Travers (1844–1928), son of William Thomas Locke Travers.

P. traversii may refer to a two different species of shrub. The specific epithet traversii refers to someone with the surname 'Travers,' in these cases it's New Zealand naturalist Henry H. Travers (1844–1928).

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Dracophyllum traversii, commonly known as mountain neinei, grass tree, and pineapple tree is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae. It is a deciduous tree endemic to New Zealand. It reaches a height of 0.2–13 m (0.66–42.65 ft) and has leaves which form tufts at the end of its branches. It has a lifespan of between 500 and 600 years.

<i>Dracophyllum elegantissimum</i> Species of flowering plant

Dracophyllum elegantissimum, commonly known as grass tree or slender dragon tree, is a flowering plant in the family Ericaceae. Endemic to New Zealand, it is found in the north of the South Island, in north-west Nelson.

References

  1. Heenan, P. B.; de Lange, P. J. (2006). "Pseudowintera insperata (Winteraceae), an overlooked and rare new species from northern New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Botany. 44 (1): 89–98. Bibcode:2006NZJB...44...89H. doi:10.1080/0028825X.2006.9513008. ISSN   1175-8643. S2CID   84044658.
  2. "The Encyclopedia of New Zealand: Pepper trees: horopito and kawakawa".
  3. Gemmill, Chrissen; Clarkson, Bruce; Green, Allan; Beard, Catherine; Burns, Bruce; Holzapfel, Avi; Hicks, Brendan (1 March 2006). "Winteraceae". BIOL226C Flora of New Zealand. Hamilton, New Zealand: University of Waikato. Retrieved 6 February 2018. Pseudowintera traversii (Travers horopito) Compactly branched shrub up to 2m tall. Leaves are 2-2.5cm long, ovate-oblong, very thick and coriaceous, dull green above, bluish-green below. Flowers solitary or in pairs. Found only in N.W. Nelson growing on montane forest margins and scrub. Foliage of Pseudowintera traversii, note that the leaves are small and the branching is quite dense
  4. "Kaituna Farm". Archived from the original on 2012-11-09. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
  5. McCallion, R. F., A. L. Cole, J. R. L. Walker, J. W. Blunt, and M. H. G. Munro. 1982. Antibiotic compounds from New Zealand plants, II: polygodial, an anti-Candida agent from Pseudowintera colorata. Planta Med. 44:134-138
  6. Lee, S.H., Lee, J.R., Lunde, Kubo, I., In vitro antifungal susceptibilities of Candida albicans and other fungal pathogens to polygodial, a sesquiterpene dialdehyde. , 1999, Planta Medica 65, pp 204-208