Bushman's beautiful poison
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Bushman's beautiful poison ( Acokanthera oppositifolia ) |
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| Acokanthera oppositifolia | ||||||||||||
| ( Lam. ) Codd |
Bushman's beautiful poison ( Acokanthera oppositifolia (Lam.) Codd , Syn . : Acokanthera venenata (Burm.f.) G.Don ) is a species of plant within the family of the dog poison plants (Apocynaceae). It occurs in Arabia and the tropical east and South Africa .
description
Vegetative characteristics
Buschmanns Schöngift grows as an evergreen shrub or small tree that can reach heights of up to 5 meters. The opposite arranged (see also epithet oppositifolia ) leaves have a leathery, simple, elliptical and bright green leaf blade.
Generative characteristics
The flowers , which give off a sweet smell, stand together in dense inflorescences . The hermaphrodite flowers are radially symmetrical and five-fold. The five petals are white to light pink in color. The fleshy, plum-like fruits are red-violet when ripe.
Chromosome number
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 22.
distribution
Acokanthera oppositifolia is found predominantly in Central Africa and parts of East and South Africa. It occurs from Kenya to southern Africa.
Active ingredients
The active ingredients contained in Acokanthera oppositifolia paralyze (in high concentration) the heart enzyme sodium-potassium pump and are extremely toxic. Several cardenolides such as acovenoside A, B and C as well as acolongifloroside A and glucoavenocoside B are responsible for the poisonous effect.
use
Acokanthera oppositifolia and its related species are traditionally used as arrow poison in Africa . Acokanthera oppositifolia , formerly also Acokanthera ouabaio , contains ouabain (German strophanthin), the active ingredient of the East African arrow poison. To extract the poison, the leaves, roots and the wood of the plants were boiled and mixed with euphorbia latex or acacia gum, applied to the arrowheads. In a human being, an injury caused by an arrow prepared in this way leads to death in 15-20 minutes. The wood of Acokanthera oppositifolia contains 1.1% of the effective cardenolides, which were also used as poison for the execution of divine judgments.
In traditional medicine , the plant extracts from Acokanthera oppositifolia are also used for abdominal pain, headaches and snakebites. Pure ouabain (g-strophanthin) can be used (in very low doses) for the treatment of acute myocardial failure.
The maned rat , large rodents , uses the plant poison of Acokanthera oppositifolia by chewing its leaves and rubbing their own spiky hair with the resulting pulp. This offers protection against attackers. The mane rat itself is immune to the toxic effects.
Symptoms
Depending on the concentration of the Acokanthera oppositifolia plant extract , death from heart failure can occur within a few minutes. Nausea, salivation, gagging, gastrointestinal complaints, severe diarrhea and exhaustion occur. Furthermore, symptoms related to the heart and respiration such as arrhythmias , arterial hypertension , coma and cardiac arrest occur, which are characteristic of poisoning with cardiac glycosides .
literature
- Michael Wink, Ben-Erik van Wyk & Coralie Wink: Handbook of poisonous and psychoactive plants , Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Stuttgart, 2008. ISBN 978-3-8047-2425-9
- Borrowed poison: Rat treats enemies with deadly bioweapons at Spiegel-Online .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Acokanthera oppositifolia. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved September 23, 2019.
- ↑ Acokanthera oppositifolia at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
