Pseudowintera colorata

Last updated

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

Pseudowintera colorata, also known as mountain horopito or pepper tree, is a species of woody evergreen flowering trees and shrubs, part of family Winteraceae. [1] The species is endemic to New Zealand. All Winteraceae are magnoliids, associated with the humid Antarctic flora of the southern hemisphere.

Contents

Description

Pseudowintera colorata, or mountain horopito, is an evergreen shrub or small tree (1–2.5 m) commonly called pepperwood because its leaves have a hot taste. It is also known as the New Zealand pepper tree, winter's bark, or red horopito. It is so named because early taxonomists recognized the similarity between horopito and the South American Drimys winteri that provided the herbal remedy "winter's bark." They are both members of the family Winteraceae, which are mainly found on the landmasses that once made up the great southern continent of Gondwana - South America, Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea. Its yellowish-green leaves are blotched with red, with new leaves in the spring being bright red. It is distributed within lowland forests up to higher montane forests from 36° 30' South as far southward as Stewart Island/Rakiura. A characteristic plant association for P. colorata is within the Westland podocarp forests, where alliant understory plants such as Rumohra adiantiformis , Ascarina lucida , Neopanax colensoi , Raukaua edgerleyi , and Blechnum discolor are found. [2]

The reproductive parts of the family Winteraceae are primitive, reflecting their origin among the first flowering plants. It is unusual in that its flowers come directly off the older stems rather than from among the leaves. It is a very slow-growing plant that lacks the specialist water-conducting tubes found in nearly all other flowering plants. [3]

The evergreen horopito plant is continually exposed to attack by various insects and parasites and its occurrence in high rainfall areas makes it particularly susceptible to attack by fungi. This has led to efficient built-in defence mechanisms. Consequently, horopito has a rich source of secondary metabolites that have an interesting range of biologically active properties. [4]

Uses

Pseudowintera colorata is grown as a spice, as an ornamental, and as a traditional medicinal plant.

Traditional medicine

Horopito has long been used by the indigenous Māori population of New Zealand both internally and externally for many purposes. As far back as 1848, Horopito is documented in the treatment of skin diseases such as ringworm, or venereal diseases. "The leaves and tender branches of this shrub are bruised and steeped in water, and the lotion used for ringworm; or the bruised leaves are used as a poultice for chaffing of the skin, or to heal wounds, bruises or cuts". [5] Infection due to Candida albicans (Māori – Haha, Haka) is documented as once being a major cause of death of Maori babies, due to their being fed an "unsatisfactory diet." [6] The juice of Horopito leaves was placed straight in the mouth, or leaves of Horopito were steeped in water to extract the juice and this decoction was to treat what we now understand as candidiasis (oral thrush).

Early European settlers to New Zealand also used horopito for medicinal purposes. For internal use, leaves were either chewed or prepared as tea. "The leaves and bark are aromatic and pungent; the former is occasionally used by settlers suffering from diarrhoeic complaints." [7] A decoction of the leaves was taken for stomach ache and was known as "Māori Painkiller" and "Bushman's Painkiller." [8] There are accounts of the bark being used in the 19th century as a substitute for quinine: "The stimulating tonic and astringent properties of which are little inferior to winter's bark." [9] A French nun, Mother Aubert, went to live among the Māori at the end of the 19th century, and the native plant remedies she later created became commercially available and widely used throughout the colony of New Zealand. Horopito was one of the two ingredients in her patent medicine, Karana. In a letter to the French Consul dated 2 December 1890, she described it as "superior to Quinquina [quinine] in the treatment of chronic stomach sickness. It has been very useful to me in cases of anaemia of debility, of continuous diarrhoea etc,., etc and in recovery from temperatures". [10]

Activity of chemical constituents

The main biologically active chemical component isolated from the leaves of P. colorata is polygodial. The chewed horopito leaf has a characteristically sharp, hot peppery taste. This is primarily due to polygonal which causes pungency on the tongue in concentrations as low as 0.1 μg. [11]

An ex vivo study used a horopito and aniseed mixture (Kolorex) to inhibit the growth of C. albicans in the oral cavity. This research concluded that the antifungal action of Kolorex was constant against all species tested (including C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata, C. guilermonii, C. parapsilosis and C. krusei) with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 1:20 (diluted with sterilised distilled water) of Kolorex. [12]

Another study concluded that a mixture of horopito (containing polygonal) and aniseed (containing anethole) protects the gut of mice from colonization and dissemination of Candida albicans. After mice were inoculated with C. Albicans and treated with Kolorex, testing of intestinal samples showed that Kolorex treated mice had a much-reduced concentration of C. Albicans per gram of tissue. The data suggested that the horopito and aniseed product might exert an early competitive effect against colonisation. [13]

Related Research Articles

<i>Dacrydium cupressinum</i> Species of evergreen tree

Dacrydium cupressinum, commonly known as rimu, is a large evergreen coniferous tree endemic to the forests of New Zealand. It is a member of the southern conifer group, the podocarps.

<i>Leptospermum scoparium</i> Species of flowering plant

Leptospermum scoparium, commonly called mānuka, mānuka myrtle, New Zealand teatree, broom tea-tree, or just tea tree, is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, native to New Zealand and south-east Australia. Its nectar produces Mānuka honey.

<i>Cordyline australis</i> Species of tree

Cordyline australis, commonly known as the cabbage tree, or by its Māori name of tī or tī kōuka, is a widely branched monocot tree endemic to New Zealand.

<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.

<i>Pseudowintera</i> Genus of trees

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.

<i>Aristotelia serrata</i> Species of plant

Aristotelia serrata, commonly known as wineberry or in the Māori language makomako or just mako, is a small tree in the family Elaeocarpaceae, in the genus Aristotelia, found in the North Island, South Island and Stewart Island of New Zealand. It is a small deciduous fast-growing tree or shrub. The tree can reach up to 10m tall, with a trunk diameter up to 30 cm. The bark is pale brown, smooth and patterned with flat lenticels. Branches are long, slender and spreading, branchlets have a reddish-brown colour when pubescent.

<i>Urtica ferox</i> Species of plant

Urtica ferox, commonly known as tree nettle and, in Māori, ongaonga, taraonga, taraongaonga, оr okaoka, is a species of nettle endemic to New Zealand. Unlike the other species in the genus Urtica found in New Zealand, all of which are herbaceous, ongaonga is a large woody shrub that can grow to a height of 3 m (9.8 ft), with the base of the stem reaching 12 cm (4.7 in) in thickness. It has large spines that can result in a painful sting that lasts several days.

<i>Tasmannia lanceolata</i> Species of shrub

Tasmannia lanceolata, commonly known as pepper tree, native pepper, mountain pepper or mountain pepperbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Winteraceae, and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a dioecious bushy shrub to small tree with lance-shaped or narrowly ellipic leaves, male and female flowers on separate plants, the flowers with 3 to 9 petals, and the fruit a deep maroon to glossy black berry.

<i>Syzygium anisatum</i> Species of tree

Syzygium anisatum, with common names ringwood and aniseed tree, is a rare Australian rainforest tree with an aromatic leaf that has an essential oil profile comparable to true aniseed.

<i>Drimys winteri</i> Species of tree from South America

Drimys winteri, also known as Winter's bark, foye and canelo, is a slender species of tree in the family Winteraceae, growing up to 20 m (66 ft) tall. It is native to the Magellanic and Valdivian temperate forests of Chile and Argentina, where it is a dominant tree in the coastal evergreen forests. It is found below 1,200 m (3,900 ft) between latitude 32° south and Cape Horn at latitude 56°. In its southernmost natural range it can tolerate temperatures down to −20 °C (−4 °F). The plant is renowned for its phenotypic plasticity being able to grow in different sites from "extreme arid zones to wetlands along Chile". The tree does also grow in places with various types and degrees of competition from other plants.

<i>Pterophylla racemosa</i> Species of tree

Pterophylla racemosa, known as the kāmahi, is an evergreen tree native to New Zealand. It is part of the Pterophylla genus which mostly includes sub-tropical species, but the kāmahi is found in a variety of New Zealand climates from coastal areas to high-elevation inland areas.

<i>Litsea calicaris</i> Species of tree

Litsea calicaris, the mangeao, is an evergreen tree endemic to the North Island of New Zealand, occurring in lowland forest from near North Cape south to about 38°S. It belongs to the Laurel family, Lauraceae.

<i>Rumohra adiantiformis</i> Species of fern

Rumohra adiantiformis, the leather fern or leatherleaf fern, is a species of fern in the wood fern family Dryopteridaceae. It has a wide distribution, mainly in the tropical Southern Hemisphere.

<i>Coprosma propinqua</i> Species of plant

Coprosma propinqua is a New Zealand plant of the genus Coprosma in the family Rubiaceae. It is a widely-distributed small leaved divaricating shrub found throughout New Zealand.

<i>Pennantia corymbosa</i> Species of tree

Pennantia corymbosa, commonly known as kaikomako, is a small dioecious forest tree of New Zealand.

<i>Pseudowintera axillaris</i> Species of shrub

The Pseudowintera axillaris is a shrub like tree, endemic to New Zealand. They are members of the Winterace family and are known for their peppery taste, and glossy green leaves.

<i>Hoheria angustifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Hoheria angustifolia, the narrow-leaved lacebark or narrow-leaved houhere, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae, endemic to New Zealand. It is an evergreen tree or shrub with a weeping habit and grows to 10 m (33 ft) tall. Known as Houhere or Houhi in Māori, the bark of the tree was occasionally used for traditional textiles, similar to the traditional use of Hoheria populnea.

<i>Clausena anisata</i> Species of flowering plant

Clausena anisata (Willd.) Hook.f. ex Benth. is a deciduous shrub or small tree, belonging to the Rutaceae or Citrus family, and widespread in the Afrotropical realm or Sub-Saharan Africa, but absent from the drier regions. It is also found in tropical and South-East Asia, growing in India and Sri Lanka and extending as far as Queensland in north-eastern Australia and some Pacific islands. It is cultivated in Malaysia and Indonesia. As with other plants useful to mankind its large range of medicinal properties has led to a global distribution and its growth wherever the climate is suitable. It grows in higher-rainfall regions in savanna, thickets, riverine forest, disturbed areas and secondary forest, up to an altitude of 3000 m. The leaves, which are foetid when bruised, give rise to the common name 'Horsewood' or the more descriptive Afrikaans common name 'Perdepis', meaning 'horse urine'.

<i>Pseudowintera traversii</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

References

  1. ↑ Eagle, Audrey (2008). Eagle's complete trees and shrubs of New Zealand volume one. Wellington: Te Papa Press. p. 46. ISBN   9780909010089.
  2. ↑ C. Michael Hogan. 2009
  3. ↑ Webb C, Johnson P, Sykes B. (1990). Flowering Plants of New Zealand. Christchurch, New Zealand: DSIR Botany, p. 104.
  4. ↑ Jansen, B. & Groot, Æ., (2004). Occurrence, biological activity and synthesis of drimane sesquiterpenoids. Natural Product Reports - Royal Society of Chemistry, London, 21(4), 449-477.
  5. ↑ Riley, M. (1994) Māori Healing and Herbal: New Zealand Ethnobotanical Sourcebook. Paraparaumu, New Zealand: Viking Sevenseas, p146
  6. ↑ Pomare M. (1903) Report Appendix Journal. Wellington, New Zealand: House of Representatives, H 31:73.
  7. ↑ Kirk T. (1889) The Forest Flora of NZ Govt Printer Wellington
  8. ↑ Featon E. H. (1889) Art Album of NZ Vol 1 Trubner & Co London
  9. ↑ Neil J. F. (1889) The NZ Family Herb Doctor. Mills, Dick, Dunedin
  10. ↑ Aubert, M (no date) Ms Papers, Home of Compassion, Wellington.
  11. ↑ Jonassohn, M., 1996. Sesquiterpenoid unsaturated dialdehydes. Structural properties that affect reactivity and bioactivity. PhD Thesis, Lund (Sweden).
  12. ↑ Nakajima, J; Papaah, P; Yoshizawa, M; Marotta, F; Nakajima, T; Mihara, S; Minelli, E (2007). "Effect of a novel phyto-compound on mucosal candidiasis: Further evidence from an ex vivo study". Journal of Digestive Diseases. 8 (1): 48–51. doi:10.1111/j.1443-9573.2007.00283.x. PMID   17261135. S2CID   23515668.
  13. ↑ Naito Y, Wu C C, Seal M G, Gelosa F, Yoshioka M, Safran P, Marotta F. (2001) Protective Effect of a Polygodial/Anethole-Containing Natural Product against C. Albicans Gastrointestinal Colonization and Dissemination. International Medical Journal, vol 8, No 1, pp3-9
Bibliography
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.