Aztec sweet herb

Aztec sweet herb
	Aztec sweet herb ( Lippia dulcis )
Systematics
	Asterids
	Euasterids I
Order :	Mint family (Lamiales)
Family :	Verbena plants (Verbenaceae)
Genre :	Sweet herbs ( phyla )
Type :	Aztec sweet herb
Scientific name
	Phyla scaberrima
	( Juss. Ex Pers. ) Moldenke

The Aztec Süßkraut ( Phyla scaberrima , Syn .: Lippia dulcis ) is a plant of the genus Süßkräuter ( Phyla ) within the family of iron herb plants (Verbenaceae). It is widespread in the Neotropic ( Aztec tzonpelic xihuitl , Spanish-speaking Orozul ).

description

Inflorescences

Branch with leaves and inflorescences

Vegetative characteristics

The strong smelling Aztec sweet herb is a perennial herbaceous plant that sometimes becomes woody at its base. The lying to prostrate or upright shoot axes can initially be tiny hairy, but bald quickly.

The oppositely arranged, simple leaves are divided into a petiole and a leaf blade. The petiole is up to 1.5 inches long. The roughly notched or sawn to serrated on the edge, rough, bristly on the top and finely bristled, somewhat glandular leaf blade on the underside, with a length of 3 to 7 centimeters and a width of 1.5 to 4 centimeters, is usually egg-shaped with a pointed upper end.

Generative characteristics

The axillary inflorescence stem is 2.5 to 5 inches long. The cephalic, egg-shaped to cylindrical inflorescence is 0.4 to 0.9 centimeters long and 0.4 to 0.6 centimeters wide and enlarges to a length of up to 2 centimeters and a diameter of up to 0.6 centimeters until the fruit is ripe. Of the green bracts , the lower ones with a length of 3 to 4 millimeters and a width of 1.25 to 3 millimeters are ovate or lanceolate and the upper ones with a length of about 3 millimeters and a width of 1.25 to 2 millimeters. egg-shaped, spatulate, rarely rhombic; they are prickly.

The small zygomorphic flowers are four-fold with a double flower envelope . The four small sepals are 1 to 1.25 millimeters long and have short hairs. The four white petals are about 3 millimeters long. There are four didynamic stamens . The two-chamber ovary is above. The stylus ends in a two-lobed scar .

The dry, small split fruits are surrounded by the durable calyx and, when ripe, disintegrate into two stone fruits , each containing a seed.

ingredients

The leaves of this sweetener plant contain the natural sweetener hernandulcin , whose sweetening power is many times stronger than sugar . In contrast to the sweet herb Stevia rebaudiana , the flowers and leaves lose their sweetness when dried.

The camphor content prevents long-term use as a sugar substitute. In Central America (Mexico) it is traditionally used to treat colds, coughs, bronchitis and colic. In addition, their extracts have anti-inflammatory effects .

distribution

There are sites from Mexico over the Caribbean islands to northern Argentina . This distribution is influenced by the historical cultivation.

Taxonomy

The first description of Basionyms Zapania scaberrima was made in 1806 by Christian Hendrik Persoon , citing Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu in Synopsis plantarum , 2, S. 140. The renaming to phyla scaberrima done in 1936 by Harold Norman Moldenke in Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 41: 64. The widespread synonym Lippia dulcis was based on a specimen cultivated in George Staunton's garden , the seeds of which were sent from Cuba by Antonius de la Osa , in 1826 by Ludolf Christian Treviranus in Nova Acta Physico-medica Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae Naturae Curiosorum Exhibentia Ephemerides sive Observationes Historias et Experimenta , 13, 1, pp. 187-188 first described. Other synonyms are Lippia asperifolia Rchb. , Lippia mexicana Grieve and Phyla dulcis (Trevir.) Moldenke .

literature

PN Ravindran: The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Spices. Vol. 2, CABI, 2017, ISBN 978-1-78639-115-5 , pp. 629 ff.

Web links

Commons : Aztec Sweet Cabbage ( Lippia dulcis ) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Eva Marbach: Medicinal herbs: Aztec sweet herbs
Lippia dulcis at Tropicos.org. In: Flora Mesoamericana . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
Lippia dulcis at Tropicos.org. In: Panama Checklist . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
Phyla dulcis in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved February 22, 2016.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Lippia dulcis at Tropicos.org. In: Flora de Nicaragua . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
↑ JA Miller: A simple sweet from an Aztec herb - hernandulcin . In: Science News . January 26, 1985 ( findarticles.com ).
^ S. Pérez et al .: Anti-inflammatory activity of Lippia dulcis . In: Journal of Ethnopharmacology . tape 102 , no. 1 , 2005, p. 1-4 , doi : 10.1016 / j.jep.2005.06.047 .
↑ Treviranus scanned in at biodiversitylibrary.org in 1826 .

[FloraNicaragua-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Lippia dulcis at Tropicos.org. In: Flora de Nicaragua . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis

[Miller1985-2] JA Miller: A simple sweet from an Aztec herb - hernandulcin . In: Science News . January 26, 1985 ( findarticles.com ).

[Pérez2005-3] S. Pérez et al .: Anti-inflammatory activity of Lippia dulcis . In: Journal of Ethnopharmacology . tape 102 , no. 1 , 2005, p. 1-4 , doi : 10.1016 / j.jep.2005.06.047 .

[Treviranus1826-4] Treviranus scanned in at biodiversitylibrary.org in 1826 .