Bureaucrat, administrator, widgeteditor
146,870
edits
Changes
no edit summary
| Medicinal= 2
}}
<big>''[[Commicarpus plumbagineus]]'' (Cav.) Standl.</big>
__NOTOC__
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Commicarpus plumbagineus'' (PROTA)}}
:Protologue: Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 18(3): 101 (1916).
:Family: Nyctaginaceae
:Chromosome number: 2''n'' 2n = 40
== Synonyms ==
*''Boerhavia plumbaginea'' Cav. (1793). == Vernacular names ==
== Origin and geographic distribution ==
In northern Nigeria ''Commicarpus plumbagineus'' is sometimes grazed by livestock. In Kenya the plant is used as forage for all livestock, but is said to make the milk taste bitter.
== Botany Description ==
Shrub, with stem base and roots woody; stem procumbent or scandent up to 4(–10) m long, much branched, glabrous or hairy. Leaves opposite, simple; stipules absent; petiole up to 4 cm long; blade ovate, 1.5–12 cm × 0.5–8 cm, base cordate, truncate or rounded, apex acute, apiculate, margins entire or wavy, slightly fleshy. Inflorescence an axillary or terminal irregular umbel, laxly flowered; bracts 1.5–4 mm long, linear-lanceolate, hairy. Flowers bisexual, regular; pedicel 1–5 mm long; perianth trumpet-shaped, 8–15 mm long, distinctly constricted above ovary, lower part surrounding the ovary with viscid glands, especially around the apex, glabrous to shortly hairy, upper part 7–12 mm long, 5–9 mm wide, lobes spreading, white, densely shortly hairy to glabrescent; stamens 3–5, long-exserted, joined at base into a short tube around the ovary; ovary superior but seemingly inferior, ellipsoid, stipitate, glabrous, 1-celled, style 15–18 mm long, long-exserted, slightly curled. Fruit an achene enclosed by the thickened lower part of the perianth (anthocarp), anthocarp cylindrical, fusiform to club-shaped, 7–11 mm × 1–2 mm, glabrous to hairy with numerous viscid glands concentrated towards apex, 1-seeded. ''Commicarpus'' comprises about 25 species and occurs throughout the tropics, but mainly in Africa. In Namibia a root decoction of ''Commicarpus pentandrus'' (Burch.) Heimerl mixed with ''Thesium lineatum'' L.f. is taken orally to treat gonorrhoea. Also in Namibia, a hot water extract of leaves and roots of ''Commicarpus fallacissimus'' (Heimerl) Pohnert is taken orally or as an enema to treat pain moving from the back to the legs.
== Description Other botanical information ==
''Commicarpus'' comprises about 25 species and occurs throughout the tropics, but mainly in Africa.
=== ''Commicarpus pentandrus'' ===
In Namibia a root decoction of ''[[Commicarpus pentandrus]]'' (Burch.) Heimerl mixed with ''Thesium lineatum'' L.f. is taken orally to treat gonorrhoea.
== Other botanical information =''Commicarpus fallacissimus'' = == Growth Also in Namibia, a hot water extract of leaves and development == roots of ''[[Commicarpus fallacissimus]]'' (Heimerl) Pohnert is taken orally or as an enema to treat pain moving from the back to the legs.
== Ecology ==
''Commicarpus plumbagineus'' occurs in forest and grassland, often along water courses on a variety of soils up to 1800 m altitude.
== Genetic resources ==
== Author(s) ==
* A. de Ruijter , PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
== Correct citation of this article ==
de Ruijter, A., 2007. '''Commicarpus plumbagineus''' (Cav.) Standl. [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}}.
[[fr:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:PROTA prov]][[Category:Medicinal plants (PROTA)]]