Sebastiania pavoniana

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Sebastiania pavoniana
Mexican Jumping-bean (4697560519).gif
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Sebastiania
Species:
S. pavoniana
Binomial name
Sebastiania pavoniana
(Müll.Arg.) Müll.Arg., 1866 [1]
Range of Sebastiania pavoniana.png
Range of Sebastiania pavoniana
Synonyms [2] [3]

Sebastiania pavoniana is a species of tree in the spurge family [4] [5] native to Mexico [1] [6] [4] [7] and northwest Costa Rica. [3] It is the 'bean' part of the Mexican jumping bean, despite not being a legume like true beans. [5] The 'jumping' is provided by the larva of the jumping bean moth ( Cydia saltitans ). [8] [6]

Contents

Name

The term 'Mexican jumping bean' usually refers to the seeds that have been attacked by moth larvae, but the entire plant is also called a 'Mexican jumping bean.' [5] [4] [9] It was difficult to determine the species of plant responsible for the novelty item at first, as the C. saltitans larva leaves the seed sterile. [8] In addition, a related plant Sapium biloculare (syn. Pleradenophora bilocularis ) also has jumping seeds [6] and is also commonly called 'Mexican jumping bean.' [9] [10] [11] However S. pavoniana is the species most commonly sold as curios. [11]

In Spanish, it is called semillas brincadores ('jumper seeds'), [6] or simply brincador ('jumper'). [4] [5] Other Spanish names include palo de flecha ('arrow wood') and yerba de flecha ('arrow herb'), but it is not used to create or poison arrows. [12] In Mayan it is called túbucti. [4] The Aztecs call it mincapatli (or miccapatli [12] ) which means "herb of death," [13] but the name is understood as 'seeds against death' and not as causing death. [12] The Yaqui named the seeds echimu-chechepete (seeds that jump). [13] [12] The seeds are called wurmiger Kaffee in German. [12]

Johannes Müller Argoviensis when he originally described the species first placed it in Gymnanthes sect. Stenogussonia, [1] but the species was later transferred to Sebastiania .

The specific epithet pavoniana might derive from the Latin pavon ('peafowl'). [14] However neither the flowers nor fruit are peacock blue or any other shade of blue, but more of a greenish yellow. The seeds do have a spot that might abstractly resemble the eyespot on a peacock's tail feathers. The most likely etymology honors José Antonio Pavón Jiménez, from whose collection the species was originally described. [1] [7]

Description

S. pavoniana is a slender tree or large shrub that grows up to 10–12 metres (33–39 ft) tall. [5] The trunk diameter at breast height is 6.7–10.1 centimetres (2.6–4.0 in). [15] Initially it can resemble Excoecaria indica , but the female calyx is eglandulose (lacking glands) inside. [1]

The branches have subterete twigs with leaves that are up to 8 cm long by 31⁄2 cm wide, but often smaller. [1] The leaves are membranous, [7] fuscous, and glabrous. [1] The leaf shape is oblong-ovate [7] to oblong-subelliptical. [1] The base is obtuse, with the apex shortly cuspidate-acuminate. [1] [7] Margins are bluntly crenate-serrate. [1] [7] Petioles are short, [7] about 8 mm long. [1]

Spines are shorter than the leaves, about 3-51⁄2 cm long. [1]

Bracts are broadly ovate, subtruncate, and lacerate-denticulate. [1] [7]

The plant is monoecious, and thus has both male flowers and female flowers on the same individuals. [15] Female flowers have a calyx with sessile laciniae. [1] [7] The ovary is appressed, broadly ovate, apiculate, and denticulate. [1] [7] The style column is very short. [1] [7] Sepals of male flowers are subulate and entire. [1] Male flowers have short pedicels with younger ones subsessile. [1]

S. pavoniana has cryptic fruit [16] with hard capsules. [1] Each fruit has three sections. [8]

Distribution

S. pavoniana is native to northwest Costa Rica [3] in Guanacaste Province, [15] and Mexico, [4] [1] [7] [3] [6] including the states of Baja California Sur, [5] Puebla, [5] [1] Sonora, [5] Jalisco, [5] and Veracruz. [1] [5] Specimens have also been found in Belize. [17] It is one of the most common trees of the Tropical dry broadleaf forest, [5] [18] [4] especially in late-succession forests as it is shade-tolerant. [15] It can be found growing at 275–925 metres (902–3,035 ft) in elevation. [5] It typically grows in arroyos or other riparian zones. [18]

Ecology

S. pavoniana flowers in both March [5] and June through August. [5] [18] The pollination syndrome is entomophily (insect-pollinated). [15]

Fruiting occurs mainly from the start of the summer wet season in July. [5] White-headed capuchins (Cebus capucinus) eat the fruit of S. pavoniana, [16] as does Cydia saltitans. [19] Occasionally military macaws (Ara militaris) will also eat the fruit. [20]

The leaf phenology is late-drought deciduous. [18]

The ello sphinx ( Erinnyis ello ) also feeds on S. pavoniana, and in turn can be parasitized by the braconid wasp Microplitis figueresi . [21]

Use by humans

Besides the seeds selling as novelty items, the Yaqui grate the unpeeled (and unparasitized) seeds turning them into flour which is baked into a loaves for feast days. [13] [12] The chuculi-buahuame, [12] or 'bread of hunger,' as it's called, is thought to provide a boost of energy. [13] An American entrepreneur in Havana once tried to sell the flour mixed with chicle to make an energizing gum, but was stopped over concern for accidentally introducing the moth to the island of Cuba. [12]

It is not known if this is a true pharmacological effect or a placebo effect, hoping that the observed jumping vigor of the seeds is transferred. [13] If a true biological effect is taking place, it would be similar to chewing coca leaves or drinking very strong coffee. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

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

Sapium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is widespread across most of Latin America and the West Indies. Many Old World species were formerly included in the genus, but recent authors have redistributed all the Old World species into other genera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexican jumping bean</span> Seed pods inhabited by a moth larva

Mexican jumping beans are seed pods that have been inhabited by the larva of a small moth and are native to Mexico. The pod is usually tan to brown. They are from the shrub Sebastiania pavoniana, often also referred to as "jumping bean". However, they are not related to actual beans, but rather to spurges. The beans are considered non-toxic but are not generally eaten. In the spring, when the shrub is flowering, moths lay their eggs on the shrub's hanging seedpods. When the eggs hatch, tiny larvae bore into the immature green pods and begin to devour the seeds. The pods ripen, fall to the ground and separate into three smaller segments, and those segments are called Mexican jumping beans. As the tiny larvae inside curl up and uncurl, they hit the capsule's wall with their heads – and the bean jumps. They move more as temperatures rise, the larva eats away the inside of the bean and attaches itself to the inside of the bean with silk-like thread.

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

Phyllanthus is the largest genus in the plant family Phyllanthaceae. Estimates of the number of species in this genus vary widely, from 750 to 1200. Phyllanthus has a remarkable diversity of growth forms including annual and perennial herbs, shrubs, climbers, floating aquatics, and pachycaulous succulents. Some have flattened leaflike stems called cladodes. It has a wide variety of floral morphologies and chromosome numbers and has one of the widest range of pollen types of any seed plant genus.

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

Acalypha is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole genus of the subtribe Acalyphinae. It is one of the largest euphorb genera, with approximately 450 to 462 species. The genus name Acalypha is from the Ancient Greek ἀκαλύφη (akalúphē) ("nettle"), an alternative form of ἀκαλήφη (akalḗphē), and was inspired by the nettle-like leaves. General common names include copperleaf and three-seeded mercury. Native North American species are generally inconspicuous most of the year until the fall when their stems and foliage turn a distinctive coppery-red.

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

Sebastiania is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae first described in 1821. It is native to North and South America from Arizona and the West Indies south to Uruguay.

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

Omphalea is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1759. It is native to tropical parts of the Americas, the West Indies, Asia, Australia, and Africa.

<i>Excoecaria</i> Genus of plants

Excoecaria is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae, formally described by Linnaeus in 1759. The genus is native to the Old World Tropics.

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

Stillingia is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae, first described for modern science as a genus in 1767. The genus is native to Latin America, the southern United States, and various islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Toothleaf is a common name for plants in this genus.

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

Gymnanthes is a genus of flowering plants in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, first described as a genus in 1788. It is found primarily in the warmer parts of the Western Hemisphere, but with some species in central Africa and southwestern Southeast Asia.

<i>Spirostachys africana</i> Species of tree

Spirostachys africana is a medium-sized deciduous tree with a straight, clear trunk, occurring in the warmer parts of Southern Africa. Its wood is known as tamboti, tambotie, tambootie or tambuti.

<i>Cydia saltitans</i> Species of moth

Cydia saltitans or jumping bean moth is a moth from Mexico that is most widely known as its larva, where it inhabits the carpels of seeds from several related shrubby trees, mainly Sebastiania pavoniana or Sapium biloculare. These seeds are commonly known as Mexican jumping beans.

<i>Sapium glandulosum</i> Species of tree

Sapium glandulosum is a species of tree in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to the Neotropics from Mexico and the Caribbean south to Argentina, and it has been cultivated elsewhere. It is the most common Sapium species. Its common names include gumtree, milktree, leche de olivo, and olivo macho.

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

Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as Euphorbia paralias, are herbs, but some, especially in the tropics, are shrubs or trees, such as Hevea brasiliensis. Some, such as Euphorbia canariensis, are succulent and resemble cacti because of convergent evolution. This family has a cosmopolitan global distribution. The greatest diversity of species is in the tropics; however, the Euphorbiaceae also have many species in nontropical areas of all continents except Antarctica.

<i>Glochidion ferdinandi</i> Species of tree

Glochidion ferdinandi, with common names that include cheese tree, is a species of small to medium–sized trees, constituting part of the plant family Phyllanthaceae. They grow naturally across eastern Australia, from south–eastern New South Wales northwards to northern and inland Queensland, in rainforests and humid eucalypt forests. Frugivorous birds such as pigeons, figbirds and parrots consume its fruit. The tree roots and branches are toxic to dogs, causing liver failure and death.

<i>Eupackardia</i> Genus of moths

Eupackardia is a monotypic moth genus in the family Saturniidae erected by Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell in 1912. Its only species, Eupackardia calleta, the calleta silkmoth, was described by John O. Westwood in 1853. It is found in Mexico, Guatemala, as well as in the states such as; Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.

<i>Sclerocroton integerrimus</i> Species of tree

Sclerocroton integerrimus, the duiker berry, is a tree in the family Euphorbiaceae, from Southern Africa.

Emporia melanobasis is a species of snout moth in the genus Emporia. It was described by Boris Balinsky in 1991, and is known from South Africa.

<i>Actephila excelsa</i> Species of plant in the Phyllanthaceae family

Actephila excelsa is a species of shrub in the family Phyllanthaceae. It is native to an area in Tropical Asia and Zhōngguó/China, from Sulawesi to India and Guangxi. It is a highly variable species and leaf forms vary across adjacent ecozones. The plant is used in building houses and as a vegetable. Grey-shanked douc langurs eat the leaves.

Stillingia salpingadenia is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to northeast Argentina, Bolivia, west-central Brazil, and Paraguay.

<i>Phyllanthus fluitans</i> Plant in the family Phyllanthaceae

Phyllanthus fluitans, also known as the red root floater, floating spurge, or apple duckweed is a species of free floating aquatic plant and herbaceous perennial in the family Phyllanthaceae. This species is one of the only three non-terrestrial species in the genus Phyllanthus, with the other species being P. leonardianus and P. felicis. The generic name comes from Ancient Greek meaning leaf or a leaf flower, and the specific name comes from Latin meaning floating or float. It was described in March 1863 by George Bentham and Johannes Müller Argoviensis.

References

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  2. ↑ "Sebastiania pavoniana (Müll.Arg.) Müll.Arg". The Plant List. 1.1. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
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  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Pereira, Jayme Regallo (March 1945). Gomes da Cruz, Jayme P. (ed.). "Contribuição para o estudo das plantas alucinatórias particularmente a maconha (Cannabis sativa L.)" [Contribution Toward the Study of hallucination Producing Plants, Particularly of Maconha, Cannabis sativa, Known as Marihuana in the United States]. Revista da Flora Medicinal (in Portuguese). 12 (3): 108–111. ISSN   0370-484X. OCLC   802456693.
  14. ↑ Griffith, Chuck (2005). "Dictionary of Botanical Epithets". Dictionary of Botanical Epithets. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018. pavonius pavonia pavonium peacock like, blue or having an eye pavo pavon noun/m a peacock
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  16. 1 2 Melin, Amanda D.; Fedigan, Linda Marie; Hiramatsu, Chihiro; Kawamura, Shoji (22 September 2007). "Polymorphic color vision in white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus): Is there foraging niche divergence among phenotypes?" (PDF). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 62 (5): 663. doi:10.1007/s00265-007-0490-3. ISSN   1432-0762. OCLC   437741616. S2CID   13839857 . Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  17. ↑ Dwyer, John D.; Spellman, David L. (April 1981). "A List of the Dicotyledoneae of Belize". Rhodora. 83 (834): 161–236. ISSN   0035-4902. JSTOR   23311007. OCLC   19880140. S. pavoniana Standl. D 12402, 12572
  18. 1 2 3 4 Borchert, Rolf; Meyer, Stefanie A.; Felger, Richard S.; Porter-Bolland, Luciana (September 2004). "Environmental control of flowering periodicity in Costa Rican and Mexican tropical dry forests" (PDF). Global Ecology and Biogeography. 13 (5): 424. doi:10.1111/j.1466-822X.2004.00111.x. ISSN   1466-822X. OCLC   5153614267. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  19. ↑ Baker, Ed; Kitching, Ian J.; Beccaloni, George W.; Whitaker, Amoret; Dupont, Steen; Smith, Vincent S.; Noyes, John S. (2016-12-13). "Sebastiania pavoniana". HOSTS (Data Set). Natural History Museum. doi:10.5519/0060767 . Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  20. ↑ Puebla-Olivares, Fernando; Salcedo-Hernández, Janitce Elizabeth; Figueroa-Esquivel, Elsa Margarita (2018). "El habillo ( Hura polyandra ) en la dieta de la guacamaya verde (Ara militaris)" [The possum wood ( Hura polyandra ) in the diet of the Military Macaw (Ara militaris)](PDF). Huitzil, Revista Mexicana de Ornitología (in Spanish). 19 (2): 166. doi: 10.28947/hrmo.2018.19.2.323 . ISSN   1870-7459. OCLC   7586687537 . Retrieved 26 July 2018.
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  22. ↑ Humphreys, Kim; Darling, D. Christopher (21 August 2013). "Not looking where you are leaping: a novel method of oriented travel in the caterpillar Calindoea trifascialis (Moore) (Lepidoptera: Thyrididae)". Biology Letters. 9 (5): 20130397. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2013.0397. ISSN   1744-957X. OCLC   5145587411. PMC   3971676 . PMID   23966594.
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