''Cnestis polyphylla'', or itch pod, is a liane or scrambling shrub belonging to the family

Connaraceae Connaraceae is a pan-tropical plant family of 19 genera and more than 180 species of largely evergreen trees, woody shrubs and climbers. The family was first described by Robert Brown in 1816 and the name has been conserved. Distribution Connar ...

and occurring south from

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

in East Tropical Africa through

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

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of ...

where it is found in coastal and escarpment forest in

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

and

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

, and further south to the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

. It also grows on the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

islands of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

and

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

. The genus has at least 13 species with many still unresolved. They are distributed mainly in tropical Africa and nearby islands, but extend to SE Asia and China. Immature leaves are red, ranging through bronze, pale green, mid-green to bluish-green when mature. Leaves are

imparipinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

and alternate, with oblong opposite leaflets, having an oblique base and blunt apex, 2.5 – 3 cm long and thinly pubescent below. The small, yellow flowers are crowded in small panicles. Sepals are softly pubescent. The almond-shaped capsule has a hornlike process at its tip, and dehisces by a longitudinal split when mature to reveal large, shiny, blackish-brown seeds with a basal yellowish aril. The capsules are covered inside and out with rigid reddish-brown hairs which penetrate human skin with ease and cause intense itching. All parts of the plant are rich in the potent neurotoxin glabrin, causing convulsions in most animals, and leading to its use as a fish poison. Extracts from the leaves are used for treating skin diseases. The protein

methionine Methionine (symbol Met or M) () is an essential amino acid in humans. As the precursor of other amino acids such as cysteine and taurine, versatile compounds such as SAM-e, and the important antioxidant glutathione, methionine plays a critical ro ...

sulfoximine is common in the family Connaraceae and other toxic compounds have yet to be identified. The roots of some ''Connarus'' species are known to contain the

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. ...

rapanon, embelin and

bergenin Bergenin, alias cuscutin, is trihydroxybenzoic acid glycoside. It is the C-glycoside of 4-O-methyl gallic acid. It possesses an O-demethylated derivative called norbergenin. These are chemical compounds and drugs of Ayurveda, commonly known as P ...

.''"CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants"'' - Umberto Quattrocchi

References

External links

Tropicos image of fruits
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15581646 Connaraceae Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck