Thonningia sanguinea
| Thonningia sanguinea | ||||||||||||
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Thonningia sanguinea on the Cameroon Mountain , Cameroon |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Thonningia | ||||||||||||
| Vahl | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Thonningia sanguinea | ||||||||||||
| Vahl |
Thonningia sanguinea is the only species of the genus Thonningia from the family of Balanophoraceae . The parasitic plant species is native to West Africa and tropical Africa and has numerous magical-religious and traditional medicinal uses.
description
Thonningia sanguinea is a diocesan or, rarely, monocular plant. It is an obligatory parasite on trees and other woody plants. The rhizomes, which are round in cross-section, grow horizontally from the irregularly shaped tubers .
The inflorescences are composed of flower heads enclosed in calyxes , which grow stalked to sessile and unbranched from the eyes of the bulbs, existing stalks are densely covered with scales arranged like roof tiles. The inflorescences are up to 7 centimeters high, the calyxes red or pink, the flowers themselves creamy white. The base of the flower of male flowers is flat to slightly convex, the female cone contrast to hemispherical. Male flower heads have fewer flowers in lower density than female flower heads. The bloom cladding sheets are arranged in a spiral shape and of unequal length, the stamens are fused to a synandrium (structure that is formed by the coalescence of all stamens). The female flower cover is cylindrical and irregularly two- to four-lobed. The stylus is long, the ovary inferior and single chamber.
The fruits are achenes that stand in a hemispherical fruit cluster and each carry a seed.
distribution
It is distributed in West Africa from Sierra Leone to western Cameroon and through much of the rest of tropical Africa to Angola and Zambia . It is found in forests, thickets and the adjoining savannah on many different hosts at altitudes from 230 to 1676 meters. In plantations, it occurs as a pest on plants such as Hevea species, oil palms or cocoa .
Systematics
The species was first described by Martin Vahl in 1810 , the genus name honors the Danish botanist Peter Thonning , the epithet sanguinea refers to the blood-red color of the calyx.
use
The flowers are used in arrow poisons or as medicine. The roots are used as a spice or medicinally.
proof
- ↑ a b c d e H.M. Burkill, 1985: The useful plants of west tropical Africa in Aluka ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c B.L. Stannard: Balanophoraceae , Flora Zambesiaca, Volume 9, Part 3, 2006, entry on the genus online
- ↑ a b B.L. Stannard: Balanophoraceae , Flora Zambesiaca, Volume 9, Part 3, 2006, entry on Art Online
