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<big>''[[Tournefortia acuminata]]'' DC.</big>
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Tournefortia acuminata'' (PROTA)}}
:Protologue: Prodr. 9: 520 (1845).
== Vernacular names ==
*Bois de Laurent-Martin (Fr).
== Origin and geographic distribution ==
The presence of alkaloids has been confirmed by general tests on ''Tournefortia acuminata'' but otherwise nothing is known of its chemistry. Laboratory tests with leaf extracts of ''Tournefortia acuminata'' did not confirm the diuretic properties claimed in folk medicine. Leaf extracts of ''Tournefortia argentea'' L.f. have been proven efficient in counteracting poisoning by ciguatoxins (produced by the dinoflagellate ''Gambierdiscus toxicus'' and transferred by fish): they counteract the neurocellular effects and have beneficial action on the gastro-intestinal disturbances. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids have been isolated from twigs of ''Tournefortia argentea''. Several phenolic compounds, including salicylic acid and tournefolin A–C, have been isolated from the stems of ''Tournefortia sarmentosa'' Lam., a species from tropical Asia that is widely used medicinally.
== Botany Description ==
Shrub or small tree; stem with minute, closely appressed brown or golden hairs or glabrous. Leaves alternate, simple and entire; blade obovate to elliptical, 12–17 cm × 3.5–7 cm, acute at base and at apex, with 10–15 pairs of veins. Inflorescence a terminal, dichotomously branched, scorpioid cyme. Flowers bisexual, regular, 5-merous, sessile; calyx 1.5–2 mm long, sparsely hairy; corolla white, tube 3.5–7 mm long, lobes c. 4 mm wide. Fruit a small, white, globose drupe c. 6 mm in diameter, splitting into two 2-seeded parts.
== Other botanical information ==
''Tournefortia'' and related genera are in need of revision. ''Tournefortia'' comprises about 100 species, most of them native in America and with about 15 species in the Old World, 2 in mainland Africa and 4 endemic to the Indian Ocean islands.
=== ''Tournefortia argentea'' ===The widespread ''[[Tournefortia argentea]]'' L.f. (synonym: ''Argusia argentea'' (L.f.) Heine), ‘octopus tree’, ‘veloutier blanc’ or ‘bois tabac’, occurs on coastal beaches from Kenya to Mozambique, the Indian Ocean islands and through Asia to Australia. The leaves are used as a poison antidote in Vietnam and New Caledonia; they are eaten raw as a vegetable and smoked like tobacco.
== Ecology ==
== Author(s) ==
* C.H. Bosch , PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
== Correct citation of this article ==
Bosch, C.H., 2006. '''Tournefortia acuminata''' A.DC. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. In: Schmelzer, G.H. & Gurib-Fakim, A. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. <http://www.prota4u.org/search.asp>. Accessed {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}.
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[[Category:PROTA prov]][[Category:Medicinal plants (PROTA)]]