Bell tree (plant)
| Schellenbaum | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bell tree ( Thevetia peruviana ) (orange variety ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Thevetia peruviana | ||||||||||||
| (Pers.) K.Schum. |
The bell tree ( Thevetia peruviana , Syn .: Cascabela peruviana (Pers.) Raf. ) Is a species of plant that belonged to the genus Thevetia in the family of dog poison plants ( Apocynaceae ), but is now also included in the genus Cascabela . It is originally from Peru . However, it is cultivated as an ornamental plant in the tropics and subtropics around the world and is now wild or naturalized in many places. The Indians once made rattles and bells from the hard fruit peels, which is where the German name comes from. The German common name is Tropical Oleander , Caribbean Oleander or Yellow Bell Tree . In Anglo-American countries it is also known as the "Lucky Nut".
description
Vegetative characteristics
The bell tree is a heavily branched, evergreen and densely leafy shrub or tree that reaches heights of 4 to about 6 meters. The plant contains white milky sap . The chocolate-brown bark has clear lenticels . The lower branches hang over and the young branches have greenish-gray bark . The alternate leaves are stalked 3 mm long. The approximately leathery leaf blade is narrowly elongated or narrowly lanceolate with a pointed upper end with a length of 10 to 15 cm and a width of 0.5 to 1.2 cm. The top of the leaf is glossy, medium to dark green and the underside of the leaf is light green.
Generative characteristics
The flowering period extends from May to December. The flowers, standing on 2.5 to 5 cm long peduncles, are located individually or in clusters at the branch end. The strongly fragrant flowers are radial symmetry and five-fold with a double flower envelope and have a diameter of 4.5 to 5.5 cm. The five green sepals are narrow triangular with a pointed upper end. The five 6 to 7 cm long petals are funnel-shaped fused with a corolla tube, which is 4 to 5 cm shorter than the oblique obovate corolla lobes. Because of its dark yellow petals, this species is sometimes referred to as yellow oleander, there are also forms or varieties with orange (e.g. Thevetia peruviana 'Orange' ) and whitish petals. In the corolla tube there are throat scales that are connected to one another by long white hair.
The compressed-looking, triangular, spherical, fleshy stone fruit with a diameter of 2.5 to 4 cm is initially green, turns black when ripe and in most cases contains two seeds. The light gray seeds have lenticels and are about 2 cm long and about 3.5 cm in diameter.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 20.
Systematics
This species was named Cerbera peruviana Pers in 1805 . by Christian Hendrik Persoon in Synopsis Plantarum , 1, p 267 first published . It was placed in the genus Thevetia in 1895 by Karl Moritz Schumann in Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler and Karl Anton Eugen Prantl : The Natural Plant Families , 4 (2), p. 159 . A homonym is Thevetia peruviana (Pers.) Merr. but not until 1914 in Elmer Drew Merrill : Philippine Journal of Science , 9 (2), p. 130. Other synonyms for Thevetia peruviana (pers.) K.Schum. are Cascabela peruviana (Pers.) Raf. , Cascabela thevetia (L.) Lippold , Cerbera thevetia L. , Thevetia linearis A.DC. , Thevetia neriifolia Juss. ex A.DC. , Thevetia neriifolia Juss. ex Steud. , Thevetia thevetia (L.) Millsp.
Toxicity
The milk juice from Thevetia peruviana contains the glycosides thevetin , neriifolin and all other parts of the plant are highly toxic. As little as 8–10 seeds of the plant can be fatal to humans.
Great care must be taken when using and harvesting, as not only the seeds but almost all parts of the plant are highly poisonous. The milk-like juice that may leak out can cause irritation even with mere skin contact. In Brazil, the wood was used for fishing, whereby the fish were stunned by the poison released. In India the powder is used as a pesticide.
Use in pharmacology
The dried seeds (Thevetiae semen) are used as a medicinal drug.
Active substances are: heart Effective cardenolide - glycosides , including Thevetin A , from which, after splitting off the sugar Peruvsid ; furthermore triterpenes and flavonoids .
Like other cardiac glycosides, e.g. B. those from the thimble , the Peruvsid, which was temporarily in the trade as a ready-made preparation, can be used for heart failure and old age heart . It is well absorbed after ingestion, the effect occurs quickly, it shows a relatively low accumulation. In Central Europe, however, it is currently not used because of the risk of poisoning.
Other uses
The flowers of the bell tree are often used for Hindu flower offerings (see also puja ).
More types
Of the total of nine Thevetia species, Thevetia thevetioides is also of popular medical importance as a cardiac stimulant and analgesic .
swell
- Bingtao Li, Antony JM Leeuwenberg, David J. Middleton: Apocynaceae. In: Flora of China. Volume 16, 1995, p. 164. ( Thevetia peruviana. - online.)
- Lutz Roth, Max Daunderer, Kurt Kormann: Poisonous plants plant poisons. 6th edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86820-009-6 .
- Ingrid and Peter Schönfelder: The new handbook of medicinal plants. Franckh-Kosmos Verlagsgesellschaft, 2011, ISBN 978-3-440-09387-0 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Thevetia peruviana at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
