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''Dorstenia contrajerva'' <small>L.</small> subsp. ''tenuiloba'' <small>[[Sidney Fay Blake|S.F.Blake]]
''Dorstenia contrajerva'' <small>L.</small> subsp. ''tenuiloba'' <small>[[Sidney Fay Blake|S.F.Blake]]
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'''''Dorstenia contrajerva''''' or Snakewort is a species of [[herb]] in the Mulberry or [[Moraceae]] plant family. It is native to Northern South America and Central America. The species name "contrajerva" is the Latinized form of the plant's Spanish name, "contrahierba," a name for plants used for treating poisoning and snakebite, for which its rootstocks are used in folk medicine as [[contrayerva]].<ref>Standley, Paul Carpenter & Steyermark, Julian A, ''Flora of Guatemala'', Chicago, 1946: 28–29.</ref> It is commonly cultivated in Indonesia (Java) and Malaysia (Malacca), and locally in Africa and South America.
'''''Dorstenia contrajerva''''' or Snakewort is a species of [[herb]] in the Mulberry or [[Moraceae]] plant family. It is native to Northern South America and Central America. The species name "contrajerva" is the Latinized form of the plant's Spanish name, "contrahierba," a name for plants used for treating poisoning and snakebite, and for which its rootstocks are used in folk medicine (as [[contrayerva]]).<ref>Standley, Paul Carpenter & Steyermark, Julian A, ''Flora of Guatemala'', Chicago, 1946: 28–29.</ref> It is commonly cultivated in Indonesia (Java) and Malaysia (Malacca), and locally in Africa and South America.
It was first described by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in 1753.<ref>Linnaeus, Carl. ''[https://books.google.lk/books?id=wIoUAAAAQAAJ&lpg=PA682&ots=mWmjupaY7e&dq=Carl%20Linnaeus%20Dorstenia&pg=PA683#v=onepage&q=Carl%20Linnaeus%20Dorstenia&f=false Species plantarum]'', Tomus I, Pars II, 1753: 683.</ref>
It was first described by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in 1753.<ref>Linnaeus, Carl. ''[https://books.google.lk/books?id=wIoUAAAAQAAJ&lpg=PA682&ots=mWmjupaY7e&dq=Carl%20Linnaeus%20Dorstenia&pg=PA683#v=onepage&q=Carl%20Linnaeus%20Dorstenia&f=false Species plantarum]'', Tomus I, Pars II, 1753: 683.</ref>


==Description==
==Description==
''Dorstenia contrajerva'' is a small evergreen perennial plant with a creeping rhizome and a rosette of leaves with long stems. Leaves are variably shaped, up to 20cm long on stems up to 25cm long. When damaged the plant exudes a white latex. Tiny male and female flowers are distributed intermixed on a flat discoid inflorescence. The fruits are small and contained in a quadrangular container. The tiny seeds are explosively expelled.
''Dorstenia contrajerva'' is a small evergreen perennial plant with a creeping rhizome and a rosette of leaves with long stems. Leaves are variably shaped, up to 20cm long on stems up to 25cm long. When damaged the plant exudes a white latex. Tiny male and female flowers are distributed intermixed on a flat discoid inflorescence. The fruits are small and contained in a quadrangular container. The tiny seeds are explosively expelled.

Plants acaulescent or nearly so. The stems, if any, are very short and covered with persistent petiole bases. Leaves are often very numerous and crowded. Stipules persistent; petiole 8-25 cm. Leaf blade long-petiolate, oblong-ovate, deltate-ovate, or orbiculate, entire or deeply pinnately or almost palmately lobed, 6-20 × 7-22 cm, sparsely scabrous or pubescent. The lobes acute to acuminate, narrow or broad. Inflorescences: receptacle flat, curved, or undulate, quadrangular or irregularly lobed, accrescent in age and 2-5 cm. wide, scaberulous beneath. On long slender peduncle, 7-25 cm. Drupes somewhat globose. Seeds yellowish. 2 n = 30.<ref>[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=220004344 Flora of North America]. Retrieved 14.10.2017.</ref><ref>Standley, Paul Carpenter & Steyermark, Julian A, ''Flora of Guatemala'', Chicago, 1946: 28.</ref>
Plants acaulescent or nearly so. The stems, if any, are very short and covered with persistent petiole bases. Leaves are often very numerous and crowded. Stipules persistent; petiole 8-25 cm. Leaf blade long-petiolate, oblong-ovate, deltate-ovate, or orbiculate, entire or deeply pinnately or almost palmately lobed, 6-20 × 7-22 cm, sparsely scabrous or pubescent. The lobes acute to acuminate, narrow or broad. Inflorescences: receptacle flat, curved, or undulate, quadrangular or irregularly lobed, accrescent in age and 2-5 cm. wide, scaberulous beneath. On long slender peduncle, 7-25 cm. Drupes somewhat globose. Seeds yellowish. 2 n = 30.<ref>[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=220004344 Flora of North America]. Retrieved 14.10.2017.</ref><ref>Standley, Paul Carpenter & Steyermark, Julian A, ''Flora of Guatemala'', Chicago, 1946: 28.</ref>
==Distribution==
==Distribution==
''Dorstenia contrajerva'' is native to [[Mexico]], [[Central America]], the [[Caribbean]] and northern [[South America]].<ref name = Berg2001>{{cite journal | last = Berg | first = Cornelis C. | year = 2001 | title = Moreae, Artocarpeae, and ''Dorstenia'' (Moraceae), with Introductions to the Family and ''Ficus'' and with Additions and Corrections to Flora Neotropica Monograph 7 | journal = Flora Neotropica | volume = 83 |pages = 1–346 }}</ref> It is commonly cultivated in Indonesia (Java) and Malaysia (Malacca), and locally in Africa and South America.<ref>[http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants]. Retrieved 14.10.2017.</ref> In North America ''Dorstenia contrajerva'' has been introduced to Florida and is a weed in greenhouses and nurseries. It is sometimes cultivated as a house plant.<ref>[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=220004344 Flora of North America]. Retrieved 14.10.2017.</ref>
''Dorstenia contrajerva'' is native to [[Mexico]], [[Central America]], the [[Caribbean]] and northern [[South America]].<ref name = Berg2001>{{cite journal | last = Berg | first = Cornelis C. | year = 2001 | title = Moreae, Artocarpeae, and ''Dorstenia'' (Moraceae), with Introductions to the Family and ''Ficus'' and with Additions and Corrections to Flora Neotropica Monograph 7 | journal = Flora Neotropica | volume = 83 |pages = 1–346 }}</ref> It is commonly cultivated in Indonesia (Java) and Malaysia (Malacca), and locally in Africa and South America.<ref>[http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants]. Retrieved 14.10.2017.</ref> In North America ''Dorstenia contrajerva'' has been introduced to Florida and is a weed in greenhouses and nurseries. It is sometimes cultivated as a house plant.<ref>[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=220004344 Flora of North America]. Retrieved 14.10.2017.</ref>
[[File: Flore médicale des Antilles, ou, Traité des plantes usuelles (Pl. 207) (8182110630).jpg|thumb|right|''Dorstenia contrajerva'']]


==Habitat==
==Habitat==
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Image: Dorstenia contrajerva 04.jpg
Image: Dorstenia contrajerva 04.jpg
Image: Dorstenia contrajerva kz3.jpg
Image: Dorstenia contrajerva kz3.jpg
Image:Flore médicale des Antilles, ou, Traité des plantes usuelles (Pl. 207) (8182110630).jpg
Image: Flora medica, oder, Abbildung der wichtigsten officinellen Pflanzen (Pl. 148) (6032003689).jpg
Image: Album de la flora médico-farmacéutica é industrial, indígena y exótica (Pl. 60) (8157649369).jpg
Image: Naturalis Biodiversity Center - L.2096828 - Anoniem - Dorstenia contrajerva - Artwork.jpeg
Image: Naturalis Biodiversity Center - L.2096828 - Anoniem - Dorstenia contrajerva - Artwork.jpeg
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Revision as of 16:56, 14 October 2017

Dorstenia contrajerva
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Rosids
Order:
Rosales
Family:
Moraceae
Tribe:
Dorstenieae
Genus:
Dorstenia
Species:
D. contrajerva
Binomial name
Dorstenia contrajerva
Synonyms

Dorstenia contrajerva L. var. houstonii L.
Dorstenia houstonii (L.) L.
Dorstenia quadrangularis Stokes
Dorstenia alexiteria L.
Dorstenia quadrangularis Stokes var. sinuata Stokes
Dorstenia quadrangularis Stokes var. pinnatifida Stokes
Dorstenia palmata Willd. ex Schult.
Dorstenia maculata Lem.
Dorstenia contrajerva L. subsp. tenuiloba S.F.Blake

Dorstenia contrajerva or Snakewort is a species of herb in the Mulberry or Moraceae plant family. It is native to Northern South America and Central America. The species name "contrajerva" is the Latinized form of the plant's Spanish name, "contrahierba," a name for plants used for treating poisoning and snakebite, and for which its rootstocks are used in folk medicine (as contrayerva).[1] It is commonly cultivated in Indonesia (Java) and Malaysia (Malacca), and locally in Africa and South America. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.[2]

Description

Dorstenia contrajerva is a small evergreen perennial plant with a creeping rhizome and a rosette of leaves with long stems. Leaves are variably shaped, up to 20cm long on stems up to 25cm long. When damaged the plant exudes a white latex. Tiny male and female flowers are distributed intermixed on a flat discoid inflorescence. The fruits are small and contained in a quadrangular container. The tiny seeds are explosively expelled.

Plants acaulescent or nearly so. The stems, if any, are very short and covered with persistent petiole bases. Leaves are often very numerous and crowded. Stipules persistent; petiole 8-25 cm. Leaf blade long-petiolate, oblong-ovate, deltate-ovate, or orbiculate, entire or deeply pinnately or almost palmately lobed, 6-20 × 7-22 cm, sparsely scabrous or pubescent. The lobes acute to acuminate, narrow or broad. Inflorescences: receptacle flat, curved, or undulate, quadrangular or irregularly lobed, accrescent in age and 2-5 cm. wide, scaberulous beneath. On long slender peduncle, 7-25 cm. Drupes somewhat globose. Seeds yellowish. 2 n = 30.[3][4]

Distribution

Dorstenia contrajerva is native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America.[5] It is commonly cultivated in Indonesia (Java) and Malaysia (Malacca), and locally in Africa and South America.[6] In North America Dorstenia contrajerva has been introduced to Florida and is a weed in greenhouses and nurseries. It is sometimes cultivated as a house plant.[7]

Dorstenia contrajerva

Habitat

It grows in disturbed vegetation in mangroves, savannahs, thickets, and tropical forests.[8].

Uses

The aromatic roots this herb is used in herbal medicine as contrayerva, a gentle stimulant and tonic and diaphoretic given in mild fevers, typhoid, dysentery and diarrhea.[9][10] In folk medicine it is used to treat bites of poisonous animals.

Its use as an antidote to snake bites was mentioned in the Cyclopedia of 1728. The sixteenth century Spanish naturalist and physician Francisco Hernández de Toledo describes it as a medicine against rashes, boils, tumours, and other ailments[11]. In North America powder made from the rootstocks and leaves is mixed with tobacco for improving the taste of cigarettes.[12]

Chemistry

The cardenolide syriogenin was identified in the root. In the leaves and stems alkaloids were detected.[13].

Vernacular names

  • English: snakewort, tusilla
  • French: herbe aux serpents, racine de charchis
  • German: bezoarwurz, schlangenwurz
  • Spanish: contra de cobra, contrahierba, barbudilla (Mexico), hierba de sapo, higuerilla (Argentina), mano de leon (Venezuela)[14][15]

Pictures

References

  1. ^ Standley, Paul Carpenter & Steyermark, Julian A, Flora of Guatemala, Chicago, 1946: 28–29.
  2. ^ Linnaeus, Carl. Species plantarum, Tomus I, Pars II, 1753: 683.
  3. ^ Flora of North America. Retrieved 14.10.2017.
  4. ^ Standley, Paul Carpenter & Steyermark, Julian A, Flora of Guatemala, Chicago, 1946: 28.
  5. ^ Berg, Cornelis C. (2001). "Moreae, Artocarpeae, and Dorstenia (Moraceae), with Introductions to the Family and Ficus and with Additions and Corrections to Flora Neotropica Monograph 7". Flora Neotropica. 83: 1–346.
  6. ^ Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants. Retrieved 14.10.2017.
  7. ^ Flora of North America. Retrieved 14.10.2017.
  8. ^ Atlas de las Plantas de la Medicina Tradicional Mexicana, “Contrayerba Dorstenia contrajerva L. Moraceae”. Retrieved 14.10.2017.
  9. ^ Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Porter, Noah, ed. (1913). Webster's Dictionary. Springfield, Massachusetts: C. & G. Merriam Co. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ^ Grieve, M. “Contrayerva”, A Modern Herbal. Retrieved on 14.10.2017.
  11. ^ Atlas de las Plantas de la Medicina Tradicional Mexicana, “Contrayerba Dorstenia contrajerva L. Moraceae”. Retrieved 14.10.2017.
  12. ^ Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants. Retrieved 14.10.2017.
  13. ^ Atlas de las Plantas de la Medicina Tradicional Mexicana, “Contrayerba Dorstenia contrajerva L. Moraceae”. Retrieved 14.10.2017.
  14. ^ Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants. Retrieved 14.10.2017.
  15. ^ Flora of North America. Retrieved 14.10.2017.
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