''Guilandina bonduc'', commonly known as grey nicker, nicker bean,PlantNet: Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney: ''Caesalpinia bonduc''
Accessed 15 March 2018. fever nut or knicker nut, is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the senna tribe,

Caesalpinieae The tribe Caesalpinieae is one of the subdivisions of the plant family Fabaceae: subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Genera Caesalpinieae once included many more genera, but modern molecular phylogenetics indicated that these should be transferred to ot ...

, that has a

pantropical A pantropical ("all tropics") distribution is one which covers Tropics, tropical regions of both hemispheres. Examples of species include caecilians, modern sirenians and the plant genera ''Acacia'' and ''Bacopa''. ''Neotropical'' is a zoogeogra ...

distribution. It is a

liana A liana is a long- stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a ta ...

that reaches a length of or more and scrambles over other vegetation. The stems are covered in curved spines. Its grey seeds, known as nickernuts, are buoyant and durable enough to be dispersed by ocean currents. Cayos_pict088

Description

''Guilandina bonduc'' grows as a climber, up to long or as a large sprawling shrub or small shrubby tree. The stems are irregularly covered with curved prickles. The leaves are large and bi-pinnate, up to long with scattered prickles on the rachises and blades. There are four to eleven pairs of pinnae, long with five to ten pairs of pinnules. The pinnules are long, elliptic, oblong or ovate with acute tips and entire margins. The inflorescence is an axillary raceme, often branched, covered with short hairs and up to long. The jointed pedicels are up to long. The sepals are shorter than the petals which are around long; the petals are yellow, sometimes with a spot of orange near the base of the keel. The flowers are followed by large, flattish, spiny green pods which later turn brown, some , containing one or usually two, glossy, rounded, grey seeds.

Distribution and habitat

''Guilandina bonduc'' has a

distribution. It typically grows near the coast, in scrub, on sand dunes and on the upper shore. It also occurs inland, in lowland secondary forest and disturbed areas near villages; this may be the result of the seed being accidentally dropped after being transported for medical purposes or for use as counters in board games. The seeds are buoyant and retain their viability in both fresh and sea water, enabling them to disperse to new coastal locations. When washed up on the shore, they are sometimes known as sea pearls.

Uses

Nodules on the plant's roots contain

symbiotic Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...

bacteria that fixes nitrogen. This is used as a nutrient by the vine and also benefits other plants growing in close proximity. This plant has been used in

traditional medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...

. The seeds have tonic and antipyretic properties and the bark and leaves have been used to lower fevers. An oil extracted from the seeds has been used in cosmetics and for treating discharges from the ear.

References

External links

* * * {{Taxonbar, from1=Q21874434, from2=Q1020695 Caesalpinieae Plants described in 1832 Pantropical flora Flora of Nepal