Smilax officinalis
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Smilax officinalis is a type of plant from the genus stinging winds or sarsaparillen ( Smilax ) within the family of stinging winds ( Smilacaceae ). It is common in northwestern South and Central America .
description
The twisting stems of this climbing plant, which are many meters long, are prickly , square and bare, with paired tendrils on the petioles.
The bare and alternate, simple, stalked leaves are initially moderately thin and then leathery. The entire blade is egg-shaped to eilanzettlich, with a heart-shaped to arrow-shaped base and usually pointed to pointed or pointed tip . The leaf stalks with leaf sheath are flattened and the blade extends through hand-shaped 5 to 7 approximately equal main nerves. The side veins form a fine-meshed network through multiple branches, the fields of which are trapezoidal in shape.
Axillary and umbellate inflorescences with a scale-leaved cover are formed. The unisexual and whitish flowers are long-stalked with a simple flower cover . The tepals are in two slightly different circles. The male flowers are slightly larger, the female flowers have staminodes.
Small, red to orange and fleshy, smooth berries are formed.
Taxonomy
The type specimen of this species was collected by Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland on the Río Magdalena in Colombia . The first description of Smilax officinalis was in 1815 by Karl Sigismund Kunth .
Some other authors named other Smilax species used in folk medicine as " Smilax officinalis ". So are the homonyms Smilax officinalis Griseb. a synonym for Smilax papyracea Duhamel , Smilax officinalis Poepp. ex A.DC. for Smilax procera Griseb. and Smilax officinalis Herb.Lucaean. ex Kunth for Smilax salutaris Kunth .
use
The roots of Smilax officinalis were traditionally used in regional folk medicine.
Smilax officinalis was also introduced to Jamaica from South America and supplies part of the sturgeon roots used as the basic homeopathic substance “Jamaica sarsaparilla”.
literature
- Lilian Ferrufino: Taxonomic revision of the genus Smilax (Smilacaceae) in Central America and the Caribbean Islands. In: Willdenowia. 40 (2), 2010, pp. 227-280, doi: 10.3372 / wi.40.40208 , online at researchgate.net.
Web links
- Smilax officinalis at Useful Tropical Plants.
Individual evidence
- ^ Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius , August Wilhelm Eichler , Ignatz Urban : Flora Brasiliensis. Volume III, Part I, Issue 4-5, Column 5-6, from April 1, 1842 Smilax officinalis .
- ↑ Smilax officinalis at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis.
- ↑ Search for Smilax officinalis in the International Plant Names Index
- ↑ King's American Dispensatory, 1898 : Sarsaparilla (USP) in: Henriette Kress: Henriette's Herbal Homepage .