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Cynanchum Ellipticum
''Cynanchum ellipticum'' is a South African climbing plant of the family Apocynaceae, with slender stems and branches, exuding milky, bitter latex that is non-irritant. It occurs in coastal scrub from Cape Town as far north as Mozambique and further inland up to 1300 m, and may be found on flats or moderate slopes, in sand or between rocks, in indigenous forests and along forest margins and thickets, frequently occurring in disturbed habitats. This sprawling twiner has opposite semi-succulent leaves 20–40 mm long, 10–20 mm wide, elliptic to oblong, broadly elliptic with a prominent tip (apiculate) and a ring-like thickening where the petioles join the stem. Helicoid cymes of tiny, white or cream flowers grow from the axils of the leaves, having a tubular corolla and being sweetly scented. The horn-shaped fruits or follicles contain club-shaped plumed seeds. The order Apocynales is renowned for the cardiac glycoside metabolites present in the roots, stems, leaves a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Henry Harvey
William Henry Harvey, FRS FLS (5 February 1811 – 15 May 1866) was an Irish botanist and phycologist who specialised in algae. Biography Harvey was born at Summerville near Limerick, Ireland, in 1811, the youngest of 11 children. His father Joseph Massey Harvey, was a Quaker and prominent merchant. William started his education at Ballitore School in County Kildare and by the age of 15 had already established algae as his over-riding interest.Papenfuss, G.F. 1976. pp.21–46. Landmarks in Pacific North American Marine Phycology. ''in'' Abbott, I.A. and Hollenberg, G.J. 1976. ''Marine Algae of California''. Stanford University Press, California. After leaving school he joined the family business. Harvey was an authority on algae and bryophytes ( mosses), and author of ''A Manual of the British Algae'' (1841), ''Phycologia Britannica'' (4 vols., 1846–51), ''Nereis Boreali-Americana.'' (3 parts 1852–85) and '' Phycologia Australica'' (5 vol., 1858–63). He spent several y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apocynaceae
Apocynaceae (from ''Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison Members of the family are native to the European, Asian, African, Australian, and American tropics or subtropics, with some temperate members. The former family Asclepiadaceae (now known as Asclepiadoideae) is considered a subfamily of Apocynaceae and contains 348 genera. A list of Apocynaceae genera may be found here. Many species are tall trees found in tropical forests, but some grow in tropical dry (xeric) environments. Also perennial herbs from temperate zones occur. Many of these plants have milky latex, and many species are poisonous if ingested, the family being rich in genera containing alkaloids and cardiac glycosides, those containing the latter often finding use as arrow poisons. Some genera of Apocynaceae, such as '' Adenium'', bleed clea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest (after Johannesburg). Colloquially named the ''Mother City'', it is the largest city of the Western Cape province, and is managed by the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. The other two capitals are Pretoria, the executive capital, located in Gauteng, where the Presidency is based, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital in the Free State, where the Supreme Court of Appeal is located. Cape Town is ranked as a Beta world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. The city is known for its harbour, for its natural setting in the Cape Floristic Region, and for landmarks such as Table Mountain and Cape Point. Cape Town is home to 66% of the Western Cape's population. In 2014, Cape Town was named the best place ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Africa to the southwest. The sovereign state is separated from the Comoros, Mayotte and Madagascar by the Mozambique Channel to the east. The capital and largest city is Maputo. Notably Northern Mozambique lies within the monsoon trade winds of the Indian Ocean and is frequentely affected by disruptive weather. Between the 7th and 11th centuries, a series of Swahili port towns developed on that area, which contributed to the development of a distinct Swahili culture and language. In the late medieval period, these towns were frequented by traders from Somalia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, and India. The voyage of Vasco da Gama in 1498 marked the arrival of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyme (botany)
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed on the axis of a plant. The modifications can involve the length and the nature of the internodes and the phyllotaxis, as well as variations in the proportions, compressions, swellings, adnations, connations and reduction of main and secondary axes. One can also define an inflorescence as the reproductive portion of a plant that bears a cluster of flowers in a specific pattern. The stem holding the whole inflorescence is called a peduncle. The major axis (incorrectly referred to as the main stem) above the peduncle bearing the flowers or secondary branches is called the rachis. The stalk of each flower in the inflorescence is called a pedicel. A flower that is not part of an inflorescence is called a solitary flower and its stalk is al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Follicle (fruit)
In botany, a follicle is a dry unilocular fruit formed from one carpel, containing two or more seeds. It is usually defined as dehiscing by a suture in order to release seeds, for example in ''Consolida'' (some of the larkspurs), peony and milkweed (''Asclepias''). Some difficult cases exist however, so that the term indehiscent follicle is sometimes used, for example with the genus ''Filipendula'', which has indehiscent fruits that could be considered intermediate between a (dehiscent) follicle and an (indehiscent) achene. An aggregate fruit that consists of follicles may be called a follicetum. Examples include hellebore, aconite, ''Delphinium'', ''Aquilegia'' or the family Crassulaceae, where several follicles occur in a whorl on a shortened receptacle, or ''Magnolia'', which has many follicles arranged in a spiral on an elongated receptacle. The follicles of some species dehisce by the ventral suture (as in ''Banksia''), or by the dorsal suture (as in ''Magnolia'').Kapil, R. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cardiac Glycoside
Cardiac glycosides are a class of organic compounds that increase the output force of the heart and decrease its rate of contractions by inhibiting the cellular sodium-potassium ATPase pump. Their beneficial medical uses are as treatments for congestive heart failure and cardiac arrhythmias; however, their relative toxicity prevents them from being widely used. Most commonly found as secondary metabolites in several plants such as foxglove plants, these compounds nevertheless have a diverse range of biochemical effects regarding cardiac cell function and have also been suggested for use in cancer treatment. Classification General structure The general structure of a cardiac glycoside consists of a steroid molecule attached to a sugar (glycoside) and an R group. The steroid nucleus consists of four fused rings to which other functional groups such as methyl, hydroxyl, and aldehyde groups can be attached to influence the overall molecule's biological activity. Cardiac glycosi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metabolite
In biochemistry, a metabolite is an intermediate or end product of metabolism. The term is usually used for small molecules. Metabolites have various functions, including fuel, structure, signaling, stimulatory and inhibitory effects on enzymes, catalytic activity of their own (usually as a cofactor to an enzyme), defense, and interactions with other organisms (e.g. pigments, odorants, and pheromones). A primary metabolite is directly involved in normal "growth", development, and reproduction. Ethylene exemplifies a primary metabolite produced large-scale by industrial microbiology. A secondary metabolite is not directly involved in those processes, but usually has an important ecological function. Examples include antibiotics and pigments such as resins and terpenes etc. Some antibiotics use primary metabolites as precursors, such as actinomycin, which is created from the primary metabolite tryptophan. Some sugars are metabolites, such as fructose or glucose, which are both p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pregnane
Pregnane, also known as 17β-ethylandrostane or as 10β,13β-dimethyl-17β-ethylgonane, is a C21 steroid and, indirectly, a parent of progesterone. It is a parent hydrocarbon for two series of steroids stemming from 5α-pregnane (originally allopregnane) and 5β-pregnane (17β-ethyletiocholane). It has a gonane core. 5β-Pregnane is the parent of pregnanediones, pregnanolones, and pregnanediols, and is found largely in urine as a metabolic product of 5β-pregnane compounds. Pregnanes Pregnanes are steroid derivatives with carbons present at positions 1 through 21. Most biologically significant pregnane derivatives fall into one of two groups: pregnenes and pregnadienes. Another class is pregnatrienes. Pregnenes Pregnenes have a double bond. Examples include: * Cortisone * Hydrocortisone * Progesterone Pregnadienes Pregnadienes have two double bonds. Examples include: * Cyproterone acetate * Danazol * Fluocinonide See also * 5β-Pregnane * Pregnanedione * Pregna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glycosides
In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. These can be activated by enzyme hydrolysis, which causes the sugar part to be broken off, making the chemical available for use. Many such plant glycosides are used as medications. Several species of ''Heliconius'' butterfly are capable of incorporating these plant compounds as a form of chemical defense against predators. In animals and humans, poisons are often bound to sugar molecules as part of their elimination from the body. In formal terms, a glycoside is any molecule in which a sugar group is bonded through its anomeric carbon to another group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides can be linked by an O- (an ''O-glycoside''), N- (a ''glycosylamine''), S-(a ''thioglycoside''), or C- (a '' C-glycoside'') glycosidic bond. According to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cotyledon
A cotyledon (; ; ; , gen. (), ) is a significant part of the embryo within the seed of a plant, and is defined as "the embryonic leaf in seed-bearing plants, one or more of which are the first to appear from a germinating seed." The number of cotyledons present is one characteristic used by botanists to classify the flowering plants (angiosperms). Species with one cotyledon are called monocotyledonous ("monocots"). Plants with two embryonic leaves are termed dicotyledonous ("dicots"). In the case of dicot seedlings whose cotyledons are photosynthetic, the cotyledons are functionally similar to leaves. However, true leaves and cotyledons are developmentally distinct. Cotyledons are formed during embryogenesis, along with the root and shoot meristems, and are therefore present in the seed prior to germination. True leaves, however, are formed post-embryonically (i.e. after germination) from the shoot apical meristem, which is responsible for generating subsequent aerial por ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tylecodon
''Tylecodon'' is a genus of succulent plants in the family Crassulaceae, native to southern Africa. Until the late 1970s all these plants were included in the genus ''Cotyledon'', but in 1978 Helmut Toelken of the Botanical Research Institute, Pretoria, split them off into a genus of their own. Description and taxonomy The grounds for splitting ''Cotyledon'' to create the new genus included certain features of the flowers, but more conspicuously, the leaves of ''Tylecodon'' are deciduous in summer and they are borne in a spiral arrangement, rather than the opposite, decussate arrangement of ''Cotyledon'' leaves. The species are very varied, ranging from dwarf succulents such as '' Tylecodon reticulatus'' to '' Tylecodon paniculatus'', which may exceed two metres in height. The new name ''Tylecodon'' was apparently chosen as a syllabic anagram of the earlier name ''Cotyledon''. Pharmacology and toxicology ''Tylecodon'' species are poisonous. Some of them are sufficient ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
