Cynanchum viminale

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Cynanchum viminale
Sarcostemma viminale.jpg
Cynanchum viminale flowers Maasai Mara.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Genus: Cynanchum
Species:
C. viminale
Binomial name
Cynanchum viminale
(L.) L.
Synonyms [1]
  • Asclepias aphylla Thunb.
  • Cynanchum aphyllum(Schult.) Schltr.
  • Cynanchum aphyllum L.
  • Monostemma aphyllum (Schult.) Turcz.
  • Sarcostemma aphyllum Schult.
  • Sarcostemma viminale(L.) R.Br.
  • Euphorbia viminalis L.

Cynanchum viminale is a leafless succulent plant in the family Apocynaceae. The species is native to West Africa, the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific region. The species' natural range extends from South Africa throughout much of Africa and the Middle East to India, Indochina, Southern China, Indomalaya and into Meganesia. [2] [3] [4] The species is also found on several Indian Oceans islands including Mauritius, Réunion and the Seychelles.

Contents

In keeping with its wide distribution, the species is known by a range of common names, including caustic-creeper, caustic bush, sacred soma, soma, rou shan hu, [2] Rapunzel plant, liane calle and kitupa. [3]

Description

Cynanchum viminale is a leafless succulent plant with cylindrical, green photosynthetic stems. [5] [6] The plant may grow as a shrub or a scandent vine. The stems produce copious amounts of milky exudate when broken. This exudate is caustic in nature and can cause burns if it contacts human skin. The plant produces small white flowers in clusters. Flowers are followed by long pods which produce numerous seeds with silky plumes that aid in wind dispersal. [5] The environmental range of the species is very broad, extending from rainforest margins and monsoon forests [5] to arid deserts. [3] [7]

Toxicity appears to be variable, even locally. The plant is known to cause poisoning and death in livestock. [3] [8] [9]

Taxonomy

The taxonomic status of this species is controversial.

The genus Sarcostemma has been shown to be nested within the genus Cynanchum, [10] and Sarcostemma was put into synonymy with Cynanchum in 2002. Thus, Sarcostemma viminale is correctly known as Cynanchum viminale. However this change has not been accepted by all taxonomists and the name Sarcostemma remains in use by a minority, [3] [11] despite later genetic evidence. [10]

The species has numerous subspecies, though precisely how many remains in dispute, and this is further complicated by the difficulty in definitively distinguishing C. viminale from closely related species. [10] [12] [13]

Uses

As a food

In Kenya, it is considered quality forage; in Somalia and South Africa the stems are eaten by humans, either raw or cooked. [3]

Medicinal

The plant has been used as a traditional medicine to treat a range of conditions, including sores and wounds, smallpox, eye infections, diarrhoea, intestinal and skin parasites and insufficient milk production. [3] [6] [14] The aerial parts, roots and latex of the plant are all used for medicine, and the method of use various from ingestion of plant parts, drinking a decoction of the plant, application of the sap to affected parts, exposure to smoke from the burning plant or placing patients onto bedding made from the plant. [3] [15] Care is usually required because of the poisonous and caustic nature of the sap, however in some locales toxicity is considered low, at least for part of the year. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asclepiadoideae</span> Subfamily of plants

The Asclepiadoideae are a subfamily of plants in the family Apocynaceae. Formerly, they were treated as a separate family under the name Asclepiadaceae, e.g. by APG II, and known as the milkweed family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stapeliinae</span> Subtribe of flowering plants

Stapeliinae is a subtribe of flowering plants within the tribe Ceropegieae of the subfamily Asclepiadoideae of the family Apocynaceae. The subtribe comprises about 35 genera, including both the stem-succulent "stapeliads" and the horticulturally popular genera Brachystelma and Ceropegia. The largest number of genera are native to Africa, but a more limited number of genera are widespread in Arabia and Asia. Historically, a similarly circumscribed taxon was treated as a separate tribe, Stapelieae.

<i>Cynanchum</i> Genus of flowering plants in the dogbane family Apocynaceae

Cynanchum is a genus of about 300 species including some swallowworts, belonging to the family Apocynaceae. The taxon name comes from Greek kynos and anchein, hence the common name for several species is dog-strangling vine. Most species are non-succulent climbers or twiners. There is some evidence of toxicity.

<i>Vincetoxicum rossicum</i> Species of plant

Vincetoxicum rossicum is a flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae. It is a perennial herb native to southern Europe and is a highly invasive plant growing in all of the Eastern United States, in the mid west, and southern Ontario and Quebec in Canada. It has several common names including swallowwort, pale swallowwort, and dog-strangling vine; though it does not actually strangle dogs, it can “strangle” native plants and small trees if it is in dense patches. There has historically been much confusion about the genus it belongs to, with authors placing it within Vincetoxicum and others within Cynanchum, but recent molecular and chemical analyses have shown it to belong in the genus Vincetoxicum.

<i>Sarcostemma</i> Genus of plants

Sarcostemma is a formerly recognized genus of flowering plants in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1810. The name is derived from the Greek words σαρκὸς (sarkos), meaning "flesh," and στέμμα (stemma), meaning "garland". Members of the genus were known generally as climbing milkweeds or caustic bushes. The genus Sarcostemma has been shown to be nested within the genus Cynanchum, and in 2012 Sarcostemma was put into synonymy with Cynanchum.

<i>Cynanchum socotranum</i> Species of plant

Cynanchum socotranum, synonym Sarcostemma socotranum, is a species of plant in the family Apocynaceae. It is endemic to Socotra Island, south of Yemen. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.

<i>Vincetoxicum</i> Genus of plants

Vincetoxicum is a genus of plants in the family Apocynaceae. Although the species in Vincetoxicum have sometimes been included in Cynanchum, chemical and molecular evidence shows that Vincetoxicum is more closely related to Tylophora, now included in Vincetoxicum. The generic name means "poison-beater" in Botanical Latin because of the plants' supposed antidotal effects against snakebite.

<i>Funastrum utahense</i> Species of plant

Funastrum utahense, synonym Cynanchum utahense, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Funastrum of the family Apocynaceae, known by the common names Utah swallow-wort and Utah vine milkweed. This relatively uncommon perennial vine is native to the Mojave Desert from California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona in the United States. This is a small vine with a highly branched, twining stem rarely exceeding a meter in length with which it physically supports itself on other shrubs and trees. It has small narrow leaves a few centimeters long. Its flowers are bright yellow to orange and grow in umbels. The fruit is a grooved follicle several centimeters long.

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

Edithcolea is a monotypic genus with a single species Edithcolea grandis. Once classified in the family Asclepiadaceae, it is now in the subfamily Asclepiadoideae of the dogbane family Apocynaceae. It is native to eastern Africa and to the Arabian Peninsula.

Tweedia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1835. The genus is native to South America. An ornamental plant, Oxypetalum coeruleum, formerly included in this genus is commonly referred to as "tweedia".

  1. Tweedia andina(Phil.) G.H.Rua - Chile
  2. Tweedia aucaensisG.H. Rua - Argentina
  3. Tweedia australis(Malme) C. Ezcurra - Argentina
  4. Tweedia birostrata(Hook. & Arn.) Hook. & Arn. - Chile
  5. Tweedia brunonisHook. & Arn. - Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay
  6. Tweedia echegarayi(Hieron.) Malme - Argentina
  7. Tweedia solanoides(Hook. & Arn.) Chittenden - Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay
<i>Cynanchum daltonii</i> Species of plant

Cynanchum daltonii, synonym Sarcostemma daltonii, is a species of flowering plants of the family Apocynaceae. The species is endemic to Cape Verde. The specific name refers to Joseph Dalton Hooker. The species was named by Joseph Decaisne, as Sarcostemma daltonii, in 1849. Its local name is gestiba. The plant is used in traditional medicine to relieve and treat dental problems.

<i>Cynanchum guehoi</i> Species of plant

Cynanchum guehoi, the Rodrigues cynanchum, is a rare plant from the subfamily Asclepiadoideae within in the family Apocynaceae. It is endemic to the island of Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean.

Leichhardtia mackeeorum, synonym Marsdenia mackeeorum, is a species of vine in the family Apocynaceae. It is endemic to New Caledonia.

Paul Irwin Forster is an Australian botanist. He obtained his doctorate from the University of Queensland in 2004 with his thesis The pursuit of plants : studies on the systematics, ecology and chemistry of the vascular flora of Australia and related regions.

Vincetoxicum lineare is a species of plant in the family Apocynaceae native to Australia. Known as the bush bean, it is an edible species of plant found in arid regions. As Rhyncharrhena linearis, the species was at one time the only species in the monotypic genus Rhyncharrhena.

Funastrum angustifolium is a plant species. Commonly known as the Gulf coast swallow-wort, it is a perennial dicot that grows in the southern United States as far west as Texas. It is in the Cynanchum genus and Apocynaceae family. A flowering vine, it produces white blossoms with greenish and yellow parts. A member of the milkweed family, it is a plant host for monarch butterflies and produces wind dispersed seed pods.

Vincetoxicum forsteri is a species of plant in the dogbane family Apocynaceaethat is endemic to Australia. It was first described by Paul Irwin Forster in 1992 as Tylophora linearis.

<i>Ruehssia</i> Genus of plants

Ruehssia is a genus of plants in the family Apocynaceae. It is also in the Asclepiadoideae subfamily and Marsdenieae tribe.

Cynanchum violator is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae, native to wet tropical areas of Táchira state, Venezuela. A scrambling subshrub, it is so named because it possesses a number of character traits often used to delimitate sections and even genera in related taxa.

<i>Ceropegia ampliata</i> Species of plant

Ceropegia ampliata is a flowering plant in the dogbane family Apocynaceae, native to eastern and southern Africa, including Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, Eswatini, Botswana, and Madagascar. Common names include bushman's pipe, condom plant, and horny wonder.

References

  1. ↑ "Cynanchum viminale (L.) L. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  2. 1 2 "Cynanchum viminale". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Schmelzer, G. H.; Gurib-Fakim, A.; Arroo, R. R. J.; Bosch, C. H.; de Ruijter, A.; Simmonds, M. S. J. 2008 “Plant Resources of Tropical Africa, Volume 11: Medicinal Plants 1” Backhuys Publishers, Wageningen, Netherlands.
  4. ↑ Robert Pokras; Lucila Calimag & James Factor (1991). "New geographic data on the leafless species of the genus Sarcostemma (Asclepiadaceae)". Israel Journal of Botany . 40 (4): 331–338. doi:10.1080/0021213X.1991.10677211 (inactive 31 January 2024).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link)
  5. 1 2 3 F.A. Zich; B.P.M Hyland; T. Whiffen; R.A. Kerrigan (2020). "Cynanchum viminale subsp. brunonianum". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants, Edition 8. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Customary Medicinal Knowledgebase". Macquarie University. Archived from the original on 2011-02-24. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  7. ↑ Cunningham, G. M., W.E. Mulham, P.L. Milthorpe and J.H. Leigh. 2011. “Plants of Western New South Wales” CSIRO Publishing Collingwood.
  8. ↑ Botha, C.J.; Venter, Elna (2002). "Sarcostemma viminale". UPSpace. hdl:2263/8507.
  9. ↑ Kellerman, T. S.; Coetzer, J. A. W.; Naudé, T. W. and Botha, C. J. 2005 Plant poisonings and mycotoxicoses of livestock in Southern Africa – 2nd edition. Oxford University Press, Cape Town. ISBN   0 19 576134 0
  10. 1 2 3 Ulrich Meve & Sigrid Liede-Schumann (2012). "Taxonomic dissolution of Sarcostemma (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae)". Kew Bulletin . 67 (4): 751–758. doi:10.1007/s12225-012-9384-2. S2CID   13307759.
  11. ↑ D. J. Goyder (2008). "Nomenclatural changes resulting from the transfer of tropical African Sarcostemma to Cynanchum (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae)". Kew Bulletin . 63 (3): 471–472. doi:10.1007/s12225-008-9051-9. S2CID   23092665.
  12. ↑ Sigrid Liede-Schumann; Stefan Dötterl; Margit Gebauer; Ulrich Meve (8 July 2012). "A RAPD study of the Sarcostemma group of Cynanchum (Apocynaceae-Asclepiadoideae-Asclepiadeae)". Organisms Diversity and Evolution. 13 (1): 15–31. doi:10.1007/S13127-012-0099-X. ISSN   1439-6092. Wikidata   Q56807237.
  13. ↑ Sigrid Liede; Ulrich Meve (May 1993). "Towards an understanding of the Sarcostemma viminale (Asclepiadaceae) complex". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society . 112 (1): 1–15. doi:10.1111/J.1095-8339.1993.TB00303.X. ISSN   0024-4074. Wikidata   Q43304083.
  14. ↑ Webb, L. J. 1969 “The Use of Plant Medicines and Poisons by Australian Aborigines” Mankind 7:2
  15. ↑ Latz, P.J. 1995 "Bushfires and Bushtucker: Aboriginal plant use in central Australia" 1995, Oxford Press
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