Culcasia scandens is an African climbing plant, often epiphytic, with slender, wiry stems, up to 5 m long clinging to tree trunks by means of clasping roots, and growing on forest and stream margins and in savanna. It is native to countries of western tropical Africa from Senegal east and south to Angola.
Stems are verrucose or warty and somewhat rubbery. The 1-3 inflorescences are terminal, and peduncles 2.5–6 cm; the spathe is green, mucronate, 2–3.5 cm; the spadix is pale yellow to orange, constricted near the base, often exserted, stipe of about 4 mm; ovary is unilocular and uni-ovulate; fruiting spadix terminating in the male portion; berries red, roughly spherical, 10-12 x 8 mm.
The sap, leaves and bark, and infusions, decoctions and pulp prepared from these, are used to treat a variety of ailments and conditions - as analgesic for earache, toothache, tonsillitis and stomach complaints. It is also used as an anti-emetic, for various skin conditions, taken during pregnancy as an anti-abortifacient, and for venereal diseases. The sap is a skin-irritant, rich in alkaloids and leading to its use as a fish poison and as veterinary medicine for goat ailments. Some African tribes mix maize seeds with powdered Culcasia roots and seeds and claim that better crops result, probably due to Culcasia's insecticidal and repellent properties. Leaves are fragrant and a source of coumarin, a perfume ingredient. Extracts from this plant showed no antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Cladosporiumresinae. Analysis of the extracts revealed homologous very-long-chain 1,3-alkanediols, homologous series of C31, C33 and C35 alkanols, protoquercitol, methyl -D-fructopyranoside, palmitic acid, stearic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid and their methyl esters.[2][3]
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H-Ramulus florifer, spatha una remota J-Spadix K-Androeceum a latere visum L-Idem supra visum M-Stamen,transversaliter sectum N-Pistillum longitudinalter sectum O-Stigma
culcasia, scandens, african, climbing, plant, often, epiphytic, with, slender, wiry, stems, long, clinging, tree, trunks, means, clasping, roots, growing, forest, stream, margins, savanna, native, countries, western, tropical, africa, from, senegal, east, sout. Culcasia scandens is an African climbing plant often epiphytic with slender wiry stems up to 5 m long clinging to tree trunks by means of clasping roots and growing on forest and stream margins and in savanna It is native to countries of western tropical Africa from Senegal east and south to Angola Culcasia scandens Culcasia scandens Scientific classification Kingdom Plantae Clade Tracheophytes Clade Angiosperms Clade Monocots Order Alismatales Family Araceae Genus Culcasia Species C scandens Binomial name Culcasia scandensP Beauv 1 Synonyms 1 Caladium scandens P Beauv Willd Culcasia gracilis N E Br Culcasia lancifolia N E Br Culcasia saxatilis A Chev Denhamia scandens P Beauv Schott Stems are verrucose or warty and somewhat rubbery The 1 3 inflorescences are terminal and peduncles 2 5 6 cm the spathe is green mucronate 2 3 5 cm the spadix is pale yellow to orange constricted near the base often exserted stipe of about 4 mm ovary is unilocular and uni ovulate fruiting spadix terminating in the male portion berries red roughly spherical 10 12 x 8 mm The sap leaves and bark and infusions decoctions and pulp prepared from these are used to treat a variety of ailments and conditions as analgesic for earache toothache tonsillitis and stomach complaints It is also used as an anti emetic for various skin conditions taken during pregnancy as an anti abortifacient and for venereal diseases The sap is a skin irritant rich in alkaloids and leading to its use as a fish poison and as veterinary medicine for goat ailments Some African tribes mix maize seeds with powdered Culcasia roots and seeds and claim that better crops result probably due to Culcasia s insecticidal and repellent properties Leaves are fragrant and a source of coumarin a perfume ingredient Extracts from this plant showed no antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli Bacillus subtilis Pseudomonas aeruginosa Candida albicans Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Cladosporium resinae Analysis of the extracts revealed homologous very long chain 1 3 alkanediols homologous series of C31 C33 and C35 alkanols protoquercitol methyl D fructopyranoside palmitic acid stearic acid linoleic acid linolenic acid and their methyl esters 2 3 Gallery edit nbsp H Ramulus florifer spatha una remota J SpadixK Androeceum a latere visum L Idem supra visumM Stamen transversaliter sectum N Pistillum longitudinalter sectum O Stigma nbsp References edit a b Culcasia scandens World Checklist of Selected Plant Families WCSP Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Retrieved 2017 08 01 Culcasia scandens P Beauv family ARACEAE a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Culcasia scandens Useful Tropical Plants tropical theferns info Retrieved 2017 08 01 External links editImage of fruit Image of flower Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Culcasia scandens amp oldid 1117743562, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
