''Cecropia obtusifolia'' is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

in the family

Urticaceae The Urticaceae are a family, the nettle family, of flowering plants. The family name comes from the genus ''Urtica''. The Urticaceae include a number of well-known and useful plants, including nettles in the genus ''Urtica'', ramie (''Boehmeri ...

. It is found in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. Common Names include trumpet tree, pop-a-gun, tree-of-laziness, and snakewood tree. In Central America it is known as Guarumo. Though impressive silhouetted against the sky, it is an invasive species in the islands of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. ''Cecropia obtusifolia'' is used in traditional Amerindian medicine. Many other species of the genus ''Cecropia'' share the folk reputation of curing heart failure, cough, asthma and bronchitis. ''Cecropia obtusifolia'' has

vasorelaxant Vasodilation is the widening of blood vessels. It results from relaxation of smooth muscle cells within the vessel walls, in particular in the large veins, large arteries, and smaller arterioles. The process is the opposite of vasoconstriction, ...

activity due possibly to inhibition of

angiotensin Angiotensin is a peptide hormone that causes vasoconstriction and an increase in blood pressure. It is part of the renin–angiotensin system, which regulates blood pressure. Angiotensin also stimulates the release of aldosterone from the adrena ...

.Guerrero EI. Moran-Pinzon JA. Ortiz LG. Olmedo D. del Olmo E. Lopez-Perez JL. San Feliciano A. Gupta MP."Vasoactive effects of different fractions from two Panamanians plants used in Amerindian traditional medicine."

Journal of Ethnopharmacology The ''Journal of Ethnopharmacology'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal covering the traditional medicinal use of plants and other substances. It is the official journal of the International Society for Ethnopharmacology. The journal is included i ...

. 131(2):497-501, 2010 Sep 15.

References

obtusifolia Least concern plants Myrmecophytes Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Urticaceae-stub