Helichrysum cymosum
| Helichrysum cymosum | ||||||||||||
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Helichrysum cymosum |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Helichrysum cymosum | ||||||||||||
| ( L. ) D.Don |
Helichrysum cymosum is a plant from the genus of immortelle ( Helichrysum ) in the family of Compositae (Asteraceae).
description
Helichrysum cymosum grows as a strongly branched, perennial herbaceous plant to subshrub , i.e. a plant that is woody at the base, and reaches heights of 30 to 60 cm. The rod-shaped branches are slightly shimmering gray. The protruding leaves are half-encompassing the stem and slightly sloping down at the base. The leaf blade is linear-elongated or linear, prickly and three-veined, the upper side is woolly hairy, the underside is hairy or hairless and not scaly like a cobweb.
The dense, strongly branched, zymous total inflorescence consists of only weakly thinly stalked cup-shaped partial inflorescences. The flower head is cylindrical, hairless and shiny, the scales overlap like roof tiles. The flower heads contain ten to twelve individual flowers . The flowers are golden-yellow, blunt-pointed, the outer ones are slightly shorter.
distribution
Helichrysum cymosum is widespread in tropical Africa (e.g. Rwenzori ) and southern Africa.
use
Helichrysum cymosum is used in South Africa as a medicinal plant in traditional medicine. It is used there for the treatment of respiratory diseases and wound infections.
An active ingredient isolated from the plant is helihumolone . Studies have shown that both the acetone extract and the essential oil of Helichrysum cymosum have antimicrobial effects. An effect against the malaria pathogen Plasmodium falciparum was also proven.
literature
- William H. Harvey and Otto Wilhelm Sonder: Helichrysum cymosum . In: Systematic Description of the Plants of the Cape Colony, Caffraria & Port Natal , Volume III: Rubiaceae to Campanulaceae , Hodges, Smith and Co., Dublin, 1864-1865. Pages 245-246.
- SF Van Vuuren et al .: The antimicrobial, antimalarial and toxicity profiles of helihumulone, leaf essential oil, and extracts of Helichrysum cymosum (L.) D. Don subsp. cymosum . In: South African Journal of Botany , Volume 72, Issue 2, May 2006. Pages 287-290. Abstract: doi : 10.1016 / j.sajb.2005.07.007
