Thapsia | |
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Thapsia garganica | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Apiales |
Family: | Apiaceae |
Subfamily: | Apioideae |
Tribe: | Scandiceae |
Subtribe: | Daucinae |
Genus: | Thapsia L. |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Thapsia, commonly known as the deadly carrots, [2] is a small genus of poisonous plants in the family Apiaceae. Their center of diversity is around the western Mediterranean, extending into the Atlantic coasts of Portugal and Morocco. Some species are used in traditional medicine. [3]
Species of Thapsia are herbaceous perennials, growing 50 to 200 cm high. The inflorescences are large, regularly distributed umbels. The seeds have four wings, and are the main characteristic of the genus, which is distributed in the Mediterranean, on the Iberian peninsula, and North Africa.
The generic name Thapsia is derived from the Ancient Greek name θαψία (thapsía) for the members of the genus. The Greeks believe it to have originated from ancient Thapsos in Sicily. [4] It has a long history of being used in ancient traditional medicine. Algerians used it as a pain-reliever though they recognized that the plant was deadly to camels. The Greek colony of Cyrene exported a medicinal plant known as silphion , used as a purgative and emetic. Although its exact identity remains contentious today, some historians believe that the plant may have been Thapsia garganica. [5]
The chemical compound thapsigargin has been isolated from Thapsia garganica. A synthetic prodrug of thapsigargin called "G-202" is in preliminary clinical trials for cancer treatment. [6] The active constituent kills tumor cells by destroying their calcium balance. A biotech company called GenSpera, Inc. in San Antonio, TX is studying methods of delivering thapsigargin directly to cancer cells, avoiding damage to other cells in the body of the patient. [7]
This same chemical compound thapsigargin is now being looked at as an antiviral to use against SARS-coV-2, the coronavirus virus that causes COVID-19. It has not yet reached the clinical trial stage. [8]
About 21 species of Thapsia are currently recognized. It is, however, a complex genus, and some authors may recognize different numbers of species. [4] [9]
Mentha is a genus of plants in the family Lamiaceae. The exact distinction between species is unclear; it is estimated that 13 to 24 species exist. Hybridization occurs naturally where some species' ranges overlap. Many hybrids and cultivars are known.
Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as well as their dangers, such as toxicity or infection.
Silphium is an unidentified plant that was used in classical antiquity as a seasoning, perfume, aphrodisiac, and medicine. It also was used as a contraceptive by ancient Greeks and Romans. It was the essential item of trade from the ancient North African city of Cyrene, and was so critical to the Cyrenian economy that most of their coins bore a picture of the plant. The valuable product was the plant's resin.
Oenanthe, known as water dropworts, oenanthes, water parsleys, and water celeries, are a genus of plants in the family Apiaceae. Most of the species grow in damp ground, such as in marshes or in water.
Erigeron is a large genus of plants in the family Asteraceae. It is closely related to the genus Aster and the true daisies in the genus Bellis. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution in dry, mountainous areas and grassland, with the highest diversity in North America.
Conium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae. As of December 2020, Plants of the World Online accepts six species.
Cicuta virosa, the cowbane or northern water hemlock, is a poisonous species of Cicuta, native to northern and central Europe, northern Asia and northwestern North America.
Thapsigargin is a non-competitive inhibitor of the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase (SERCA). Structurally, thapsigargin is classified as a guaianolide, and is extracted from a plant, Thapsia garganica. It is a tumor promoter in mammalian cells.
Coriaria is the sole genus in the family Coriariaceae, which was described by Linnaeus in 1753. It includes 14 species of small trees, shrubs and subshrubs, with a widespread but disjunct distribution across warm temperate regions of the world, occurring as far apart as the Mediterranean region, southern and eastern Asia, New Zealand, the Pacific Ocean islands, and Central and South America.
Arum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to Europe, northern Africa, and western and central Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region. Frequently called arum lilies, they are not closely related to the true lilies Lilium. Plants in closely related Zantedeschia are also called "arum lilies".
Ampelodesmos is a genus of Mediterranean plants in the grass family, which is known by the common names stramma, Mauritania grass, rope grass, and dis(s) grass. It is classified in its own tribe Ampelodesmeae within the grass subfamily Pooideae.
Inspyr Therapeutics, Inc. is a development-stage pharmaceutical company based in San Antonio, Texas. The company is focused on therapeutics that deliver a cancer-destroying drug directly to the tumor or its supporting environment, the tumor vasculature.
Thapsia villosa, commonly known as the villous deadly carrot, is a species of poisonous herbaceous plants in the genus Thapsia. It grows to about 70 to 190 cm in height. It has pinnate hairy leaves with sheath-like petioles. The flowers are yellow in color and borne on compound umbels. They develop into fruits with four wings characteristic of the genus. It is native to southwestern Europe and northwestern Africa surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The plant was used extensively for traditional medicine since around the 3rd century BC.
Selinum is a Eurasiatic genus of flowering plants in the parsley family Apiaceae.
Trisetaria is a genus of plants in the grass family, native to Asia and to the Mediterranean region.
Glandora is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae, native to the western and central Mediterranean region; Morocco, Algeria, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece. It was split from Lithodora in 2008.
Kundmannia is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Apiaceae.
Zosima is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Apiaceae.
Thapsia gummifera is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to the western Mediterranean; Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. As its synonym Margotia gummifera it has been proposed as a candidate for the extinct plant known in antiquity as silphium.
Hermas is a genus of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to Cape Provinces of South Africa.