Clubfruit
| Clubfruit | ||||||||||||
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Karaka ( Corynocarpus laevigatus ), illustration |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the family | ||||||||||||
| Corynocarpaceae | ||||||||||||
| Engl. | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Corynocarpus | ||||||||||||
| JR Forest. & G.Forst. |
The club fruits ( Corynocarpus ) are the only genus of the family club fruit plants (Corynocarpaceae) within the order of the pumpkin-like (Cucurbitales). Club fruit is the direct translation of the botanical name Corynocarpus ( Greek : korýne for club and cárpus for fruit). They are native to the Malay Archipelago and Oceania .
description
They are evergreen trees or bushes . The whole plant with the exception of the pulp is very poisonous. The alternate or spiral leaves are stalked, simple, leathery and have entire margins. Stipules are present or absent.
They have umbelliferous or racemose inflorescences . Unlike most taxa of the order of the pumpkin-like (Cucurbitales), the flowers are not sexually separated. The hermaphrodite, radial symmetry , small flowers are five-fold. There are five free sepals and five petals each. There are two circles with five stamens each , which are not fused with each other but with the base of the petals and only the inner circle of the stamens is fertile . The two carpels are a top permanent ovary grown.
They form stone fruits , each containing only one seed.
The ingredients include flavonoids ( kaempferol ) and bitter glucosides .
Systematics and distribution
The distribution area are tropical warm temperate areas of the southwest Pacific region. The Corynocarpus species are native to New Guinea , Vanuatu , New Caledonia , Queensland (in Australia) and New Zealand . In Hawaii , Corynocarpus laevigatus is an invasive plant .
The genus mane Corynocarpus was created in 1775 by Johann Reinhold Forster and Johann Georg Adam Forster Characteres Generum Plantarum Edn. 1st: 31, t. 16 first published. Type species of the genus is Corynocarpus laevigatus J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. The family name was first published by Adolf Engler in Engler & Prantl, 1897.
The affiliation of species to the genus Corynocarpus has long been undisputed. But the position of the genus in the flowering plant system has often been discussed and this genus has already been put close to very many families (Anacardiaceae, Berberidaceae, Celastraceae, Cunoniaceae, Escalloniaceae, Malpighiaceae, Melastomataceae, Myrsinaceae, Rosaceae, Theopragulaceae, Saxiferceae). The genus was considered to be very isolated for most of the time and this was done by Takhtajan in 1997 who placed Corynocarpales in its own monogeneric order. Currently, Corynocarpus alone forms the Corynocarpaceae family and this is part of an enlarged order Cucurbitales.
In the genus Corynocarpus or the family of the Corynocarpaceae there are only five species and two subspecies (or six species):
- Corynocarpus cribbianus (FMBailey) LSSm : It is native to New Guinea and northern and northeastern Queensland .
- Corynocarpus dissimilis Hemsl. : It only occurs in New Caledonia.
- Karaka ( Corynocarpus laevigatus J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. ): It thrives in New Zealand, in the lowlands and coastal areas of the North Island, in the northern part of the South Island on the Raoul Island and the Chatham Islands .
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Corynocarpus rupestris Guymer : With two subspecies occur in separate areas of Australia:
- Corynocarpus rupestris subsp. arborescens Guymer : It is only found in southeastern Queensland .
- Corynocarpus rupestris Guymer subsp. rupestris : It occurs only in northeastern New South Wales .
- Corynocarpus similis Hemsl. : It occurs on Vanuatu .
The family relationships determined by molecular genetic data are also reflected in the current distribution of the species.
| Corynocarpaceae |
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Chromosome numbers : Corynocarpus cribbianus , Corynocarpus dissimilis , Corynocarpus laevigatus and Corynocarpus similis are diploid (2n = 46). Corynocarpus rupestris is tetraploid (2n = 92).
use
The Karaka fruit, called "kopia" by the Māori , can be eaten. The pulp can be eaten raw and should taste like overripe apricots. The kernel, "Karaka nut", of the seed is very poisonous, but it is processed by the Māori in several steps (must be cooked) and can then be used as flour for baking bread. The seed contains 11% protein and 58% carbohydrates. The leaves of this type are used in folk medicine to heal wounds.
The white wood is used as good firewood and has no further use today, but in the past the Māori used it to build canoes . An insecticide is obtained from this species.
literature
- Description of the family of Corynocarpaceae in APWebsite. (Section description and systematics)
- Description of the Corynocarpaceae family at DELTA by L. Watson & Murray J. Dallwitz. (Section description)
- GJ Harden: Description in the Flora of New South Wales Online . (Section description)
- Steven J. Wagstaff & MI Dawson: Classification, origin, and patterns of diversification of Corynocarpus (Corynocarpaceae) inferred from DNA sequences , In: Systematic Botany , 25, 2000. pp. 134-149. doi : 10.2307 / 2666679 (section distribution and systematics)
- ML Matthews & PK Endress: Comparative floral structure and systematics in Cucurbitales (Corynocarpaceae, Coriariaceae, Tetramelaceae, Datiscaceae, Begoniaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Anisophylleaceae). , Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 145, 2004, pp. 129-185.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Entry in the Australian Plant Name Index (APNI).
- ↑ a b c d e f Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Corynocarpus. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved September 18, 2018.
- ^ Murray I. Dawson : Chromosome numbers in Corynocarpus (Corynocarpaceae) . In: New Zealand Journal of Botany . Volume 35, Issue 2 , 1997, pp. 255-258 (English, online [accessed April 23, 2019] Abstact).
- ↑ Entry in Plants for a Future .
- ↑ On the use of the caraka tree ( Corynocarpus laevigatus ). ( Memento from February 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive )