Ximenia
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Ximenia americana , illustration |
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| Plum. ex L. |
Ximenia is a genus of plants that is usually placed in the Olacaceae family . The genus includes ten species and is pantropical .
description
Vegetative characteristics
The Ximenia species are shrubs or small trees up to 12 meters high . The branches are often thorny at their ends or there are thorns in the leaf axils . The helically arranged, stalked leaves are often densely packed on short shoots . The simple and undivided, pinnate, entire leaf blades are blunt to truncated at the front, but usually have a short pointed tip. Stipules are missing.
The wood of Ximenia americana is hard and quite heavy. The bulk density is 838–930 kg / m 3 with 12% wood moisture . The heartwood is reddish-yellow and quite sharply set off against the lighter sapwood . The grain is straight to irregular, with a fine surface structure and a fairly strong gloss. The wood can have a mild, pleasant odor.
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Generative characteristics
The inflorescences are in the leaf axils, often at the ends of the short shoots. They can also sit on thorns, which are then to be interpreted as converted short shoots. It is up to 15 mm long stalked, little flowered, sometimes umbel-like cymes or sessile tufts, in some species, for example Ximenia horrida and Ximenia perrieri , also single flowers. Two to four bracts are or are missing near the base of the pedicels .
The radial symmetry flowers are mostly hermaphroditic , but functionally unisexual in several species. The small, broad cup-shaped calyx ends in mostly four, rarely three or five calyx teeth. It remains after the anthesis , but does not or hardly enlarge until the fruit is ripe. There are usually four, more rarely five, free , linear to elongated petals that are ragged in the bud . These are bald or downy-haired on the outside and bearded densely shaggy on the inside. When fully opened, its front half is bent back. After flowering, the petals fall off. The stamens are not fused with each other or with the petals. Most species have eight or ten stamens, depending on the number of petals, with one half in front of the petals and the other half in between in front of the sepals. Ximenia horrida has only four, rarely five stamens, which are arranged in front of the petals. The elongated-linear to almost egg-shaped anthers are basifix, i.e. attached to the thread-like stamen at their base. They have a thick connective and open lengthways. Functionally female flowers do not release pollen . A discus is missing. The bottle-shaped ovary is on top and mostly four-fan, rarely three-fan, almost to the tip. The columnar stylus is slender and has a small, head-shaped scar . In functionally male flowers, the ovary is generally smaller and slightly different in shape. In addition, the stylus is sometimes very short or even absent. At the tip of the central-angular placenta , in each ovary compartment there is a single pendent, anatropic , bitegmic or unitegmic ovule due to intergrowth of different degrees . The ovules are missing in functionally male flowers.
The fruits are egg-shaped drupes with a relatively thin, fleshy mesocarp and a crusty to woody endocarp. Only one seed develops in each fruit . This contains abundant oily endosperm and a very small embryo .
Chromosomes
With regard to the number of chromosomes , only Ximenia americana has been investigated so far . Two different numbers were found for this species. It therefore has a diploid chromosome set of 2n = 24 or 2n = 26.
distribution and habitat
The distribution area of the genus Ximenia is pantropical, that is, it is found in almost all tropical and subtropical regions. On the American double continent, the Ximenia species grow between Baja California Sur , Florida and northern Argentina , in Africa the distribution area extends from Senegal and Sudan to the northern regions of South Africa. In addition, the genus Ximenia occurs in tropical Asia and northeastern Australia. In the Pacific region there are deposits, for example, on the Fiji Islands and in the Tuamotu Archipelago . The pantropical species Ximenia americana , which inhabits almost the entire area of the genus, has the largest distribution area. Ximenia caffra occurs in eastern and southern Africa, the other eight species colonize relatively small areas on the islands of Cuba , Hispaniola and Madagascar as well as in Mexico , Brazil and Paraguay .
The Ximenia species thrive within the tropics preferentially in regions with dry forests and savannas .
Parasitism
Ximenia americana is a facultative, non-host - specific semi-parasite that can use haustoria to tap the roots of other plants in order to remove water and nutrients from them. Auto-parasitism and haustoria clinging to non-living objects are also known.
Systematics
The genus Ximenia was 1753 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in his work Species Plantarum erected . Here and also in his earlier work Hortus Cliffortianus, he adopted an older generic name that the French botanist and religious Charles Plumier had coined in his work Nova Plantarum Americanarum Genera . As Lektotypus 1920 Ximenia americana selected, the only previously described by Plumier and as "Ximenia aculeata flore villoso, fructu luteo" type named. The second species of the genus Linnaeus has also made Ximenia aegyptiaca describes a type now known as Balanites aegyptiaca in a completely different kinship is placed. Heymassoli Aubl. , Pimecaria Raf. , Rottboelia Scop. and Ximeniopsis Alain are synonyms of Ximenia . The generic name Ximenia honors the Spanish monk Francisco Ximénez , who in 1615 published the first comprehensive natural history treatise to be published in America in his four-volume work Quatro libros de la Naturaleza .
The genus Ximenia belongs to the tribe Ximenieae in the subfamily Ximenioideae forms within the family Olacaceae . In addition to Ximenia , three other genera belong to this tribe: Curupira , Douradoa and Malania .
The genus Ximenia includes ten species.
| Scientific name | distribution | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Ximenia americana L. | pantropical | 3 varieties |
| Ximenia caffra Sond. | eastern and southern Africa, Madagascar | 2 varieties |
| Ximenia coriacea Engl. | eastern Brazil ( Bahia , Minas Gerais ) | |
| Ximenia glauca ( DeFilipps ) Bentouil | NW Mexico (Baja California Sur) | |
| Ximenia horrida Urb. & Ekman | Hispaniola | |
| Ximenia intermedia ( Chodat & Hassl. ) DeFilipps | Brazil, Paraguay | |
| Ximenia parviflora Benth. | Mexico | |
| Ximenia perrieri Cavaco & Keraudren | South Madagascar | |
| Ximenia pubescens Standl. | Mexico ( Sinaloa to Oaxaca ) | |
| Ximenia roigii León | Cuba |
use
The wood of Ximenia americana is used to a small extent as a substitute for sandalwood because of its pleasant smell and its color . However, it rarely reaches dimensions that are sufficient for the production of furniture. The wood is easy to work with and has a strong natural sheen. The shelf life is quite high. The wood is also used to make charcoal .
The medical applicability of the species Ximenia americana was examined by biologists from the Ahamadu Bello University in Nigeria, among others. It was confirmed that extracts of the bark have a soothing effect on the Nagana disease. A cancer-fighting effect of the ingredients of this plant was documented in 2005 in studies at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg on 17 types of tumors in vivo and in vitro.
swell
- JG Garcia: 48. Olacaceae. In: AW Exell, A. Fernandes, H. Wild (eds.): Flora Zambesiaca. Volume 2, part 1. Crown Agents for Oversea Governments and Administrations, London 1963, pp. 328-336. Ximenia - online
- HO Sleumer: Olacaceae. (= Flora Neotropica Monographs. 38). The New York Botanical Garden, New York 1984, ISBN 0-89327-254-X .
- Qiu Huaxing, MG Gilbert: Olacaceae. In: Flora of China. Vol. 5: Ulmaceae through Basellaceae. Science Press, Beijing, Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, 2003, ISBN 1-930723-27-X , pp. 200-204. Ximenia - online
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b L. Van den Oever, BJH Ter Welle, J. Koek-Noorman: Wood and timber. In: ARA Görts-Van Rijn (Ed.): Flora of the Guianas. Series A: Phanerogams. Fascicle 14: 102. Olacaceae, 103. Opiliaceae, 107. Balanophoraceae. Koeltz Scientific Books, Königstein 1993, ISBN 3-87429-343-2 , pp. 44-64.
- ^ Ximenia americana at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, accessed April 4, 2014.
- ^ A b Ximenia in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
- ^ AC Smith: Family 158. Olacaceae. In: Flora Vitiensis Nova. A new flora of Fiji. Vol. 3. Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Hawaii 1985, pp. 729-734. Ximenia online
- ↑ C. Linnaeus: Species Plantarum. Tomus II. Stockholm 1753, p. 1193. (online)
- ↑ a b C. Plumier: Nova Plantarum Americanarum Genera. Paris 1703, p. 6. (online)
- ↑ ER Farr, G. Zijlstra (Ed.): Ximenia. In: Index Nominum Genericorum (Plantarum). Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, 1996, accessed April 4, 2014 .
- ^ HO Sleumer: Olacaceae. The New York Botanical Garden, New York 1984, pp. 88-99.
- ↑ B. Bentouil, J.-M. Hubac, J. Jérémie: Notes taxonomiques a propos du genre Ximenia L. (Olacaceae). In: Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Ser. 4, 16, Section B, Adansonia 2-4, 1995, pp. 313-319. (on-line)
- ^ HO Sleumer: Olacaceae. The New York Botanical Garden, New York 1984, p. 95.
- ^ JM Dalziel: The useful plants of West Tropical Africa . The Crown Agents for the Colonies, London 1937, pp. 295f.
- ↑ VA Maikai, JA Nok, AO Adaudi, CBI Alawa: In vitro antitrypanosomal activity of aqueous and methanolic crude extracts of stem bark of Ximenia americana on Trypanosoma congolense. In: Journal of Medicinal Plants Research. 2, 2008, pp. 55-58. (Abstract)
- ↑ C. Voss, E. Eyol, MR Berger: Identification of potent anticancer activity in Ximenia americana aqueous extracts used by African traditional medicine. In: Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology . Volume 211, 2006, pp. 177-187. doi: 10.1016 / j.taap.2005.05.016
Web links
- Ximenia americana. In: U. Brunken, M. Schmidt, S. Dressler, T. Janssen, A. Thombiano, G. Zizka: West African plants - A Photo Guide. Senckenberg Research Institute, Frankfurt am Main 2008.