''Lonchocarpus'' is a
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 ...
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
in the legume
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
(
). The
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
are called lancepods due to their fruit resembling an ornate
lance
A lance is a spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier ( lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unlike si ...
tip or a few
bead
A bead is a small, decorative object that is formed in a variety of shapes and sizes of a material such as stone, bone, shell, glass, plastic, wood, or pearl and with a small hole for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under ...
s on a string.
''Cubé'' resin is produced from the roots of ''
L. urucu'' and namely '
L. utilis'' (''cubé''). It contains enough of the toxic
rotenoid
Rotenoids are naturally occurring substances containing a cis-fused tetrahydrochromeno ,4-bhromene nucleus. Many have insecticidal activity, such as the prototypical member of the family, rotenone. Rotenoids are related to the isoflavones.
Natur ...
s
rotenone
Rotenone is an odorless, colorless, crystalline isoflavone used as a broad-spectrum insecticide, piscicide, and pesticide. It occurs naturally in the seeds and stems of several plants, such as the jicama vine plant, and the roots of several member ...
and
deguelin
Deguelin is a derivative of rotenone. Both are compounds classified as rotenoids of the flavonoid family and are naturally occurring insecticides. They can be produced by extraction from several plant species belonging to three genera of the leg ...
to be used as an
insecticide
Insecticides are substances used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and by consumers. Insecticides are claimed to b ...
and
piscicide
A piscicide is a chemical substance which is poisonous to fish. The primary use for piscicides is to eliminate a dominant species of fish in a body of water, as the first step in attempting to populate the body of water with a different fish. They ...
. As these are naturally occurring compounds, they were formerly used in
organic farming
Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and re ...
. Since it is highly unselective and kills useful, as well as pest, animals, it is considered harmful to the environment today. Also,
chronic exposure to rotenone and deguelin seems to increase the risk of
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
even in
mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
s, for which these compounds are less
acute
Acute may refer to:
Science and technology
* Acute angle
** Acute triangle
** Acute, a leaf shape in the glossary of leaf morphology
* Acute (medicine), a disease that it is of short duration and of recent onset.
** Acute toxicity, the adverse eff ...
ly toxic than for fish and insects. On the other hand, deguelin might be useful in
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
therapy if it can be applied directly into
tumor
A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...
s, and ''Lonchocarpus'' root is used to a probably insignificant extent by indigenous peoples as an aid in fishing, e.g. by the
Nukak
The Nukak people (also Nukak- Makú) live between the Guaviare and Inírida rivers, in the depths of the tropical humid forest, on the fringe of the Amazon basin, in Guaviare Department, Republic of Colombia. They are nomadic hunter-gatherers ...
who call it ''nuún''.
The bark of ''
L. violaceus'' (''balché'' tree) is traditionally used by the
Yukatek Maya
Yucatec Maya (; referred to by its speakers simply as Maya or as , is one of the 32 Mayan languages of the Mayan language family. Yucatec Maya is spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula and northern Belize. There is also a significant diasporic commu ...
version of the mildly intoxicating
mead
Mead () is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content ranges from about 3.5% ABV to more than 20%. The defining character ...
, ''
balché
''Balché'' is a mildly intoxicating beverage that was commonly consumed by the ancient Maya in what is now Mexico and upper Central America. Today, it is still common among the Yucatec Maya. The drink is made from the bark of a leguminous tree, ...
'', which was held in the highest esteem in antiquity and considered sacred to the god of intoxication. It is still drunk today and was, after the
Spanish conquest of Yucatán
The Spanish conquest of Yucatán was the campaign undertaken by the Spanish ''conquistadores'' against the Late Postclassic Maya states and polities in the Yucatán Peninsula, a vast limestone plain covering south-eastern Mexico, northern Gu ...
, considered a
less harmful alternative to the
alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The c ...
s imported by the Europeans. It is not quite clear if roots were also used to produce ''balché'', and to what extent toxic isoflavones are also present in ''L. violaceus''. The potency of ''balché'' may be increased by using honey produced from ''L. violaceus'' nectar gathered by the Maya's traditional
stingless bee
Stingless bees, sometimes called stingless honey bees or simply meliponines, are a large group of bees (about 550 described species), comprising the tribe Meliponini (or subtribe Meliponina according to other authors). They belong in the family A ...
s.
Some insects have
evolved the ability to deal with ''Lonchocarpus'' toxins and feed on these plants. They include a possible new
taxon
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
in the
two-barred flasher
''Astraptes fulgerator'', the two-barred flasher, is a spread-wing skipper butterfly in the genus '' Astraptes'' which may constitute a possible cryptic species complex. It ranges all over the Americas, from the southern United States to north ...
(''Astraptes fulgerator'')
cryptic species complex
In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...
which seems to have acquired this ability only quite recently and is found at least on ''
L. costaricensis'' and ''
L. oliganthus''.
[Hébert ''et al.'' (2004), Brower ''et al.'' (2006)]
Species
Selected species include:
* ''
Lonchocarpus calcaratus''
* ''
Lonchocarpus capassa
''Philenoptera violacea'' known also as apple leaf or rain tree, af, Appelblaar, st, Mphata, ts, Mohata, zu, Isihomohomo, IsiNdebele: Ichithamuzi, Idungamuzi, Iphanda) is a plant species in the legume family ( Fabaceae).
Habitat
It is foun ...
''
Rolfe
* ''
Lonchocarpus chiricanus
''Lonchocarpus chiricanus'' is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found only in Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country s ...
''
* ''
Lonchocarpus kanurii''
* ''
Lonchocarpus laxiflorus
''Lonchocarpus laxiflorus'' is a species of legume in the family Fabaceae. The tree grows to 4–8 meters in height, has grey or yellowish bark and compound leaves. New leaves are accompanied by purple flowers on multi-branched panicles. The frui ...
''
* ''
Lonchocarpus minimiflorus
''Lonchocarpus minimiflorus'' is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.
References
Lonchocarpus, minimiflorus
Flora of Mexico
Flora of Central Americ ...
''
* ''
Lonchocarpus molinae
''Lonchocarpus molinae'' is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found only in Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guat ...
''
* ''
Lonchocarpus phaseolifolius''
* ''
Lonchocarpus phlebophyllus
''Lonchocarpus phlebophyllus'' is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, b ...
''
* ''
Lonchocarpus pluvialis
''Lonchocarpus pluvialis'', commonly known as ''cuquí'' in the eastern Bolivian departments of Santa Cruz and the Beni to which it is endemic, is a species of lancepod that typically grows to a height of 10 to 15 meters and is known for attra ...
–'' ''cuquí''
* ''
Lonchocarpus retiferus''
* ''
Lonchocarpus sanctuarii''
* ''
Lonchocarpus santarosanus'' – ''chapelno blanco''
* ''
Lonchocarpus trifolius
''Lonchocarpus trifolius'' is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found only in Honduras.
References
Lonchocarpus, trifolius
Endemic flora of Honduras
Critically endangered flora of North America
Taxonomy articles created by ...
''
* ''
Lonchocarpus urucu
''Lonchocarpus urucu'', or barbasco, is plant in the family Fabaceae. It is native to the tropical forests of Peru, as well as of Brazil and Guyana, growing from above sea level. It was also recorded in Venezuela.
Cubé resin, the root extract f ...
'' – ''barbasco''
* ''
Lonchocarpus utilis
''Deguelia utilis'', syn. ''Lonchocarpus utilis'' (cubé, (common) lancepod or barbasco) is plant species in the family Fabaceae. It is native to the tropical forests of Peru, as well as of Brazil and Guyana, growing from above sea level.
Cu ...
'' – ''cubé'', common lancepod
* ''
Lonchocarpus violaceus
''Lonchocarpus violaceus'' is a species of evergreen tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to the Caribbean and northern South America. It has been introduced to Florida. Its names include lilac tree, greenheart, Spanish ash, and lancepod.
A ...
''
(Jacq.) Kunth
* ''
Lonchocarpus yoroensis''
Footnotes
References
* (2006): Problems with DNA barcodes for species delimitation: ‘ten species’ of ''Astraptes fulgerator'' reassessed (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae). ''Systematics and Biodiversity'' 4(2): 127–132.
PDF fulltext* (2004): Rotenone, deguelin, their metabolites, and the rat model of Parkinson's disease. ''
Chemical Research in Toxicology
''Chemical Research in Toxicology'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal, published since 1988 by the American Chemical Society. It is currently abstracted and indexed in Chemical Abstracts Service, Scopus, EBSCOhost, PubMed, CABI, Science Citati ...
'' 17(11): 1540-1548.
(HTML abstract)
* (2004): Ten species in one: DNA barcoding reveals cryptic species in the semitropical skipper butterfly ''Astraptes fulgerator''. ''
PNAS
''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America'' (often abbreviated ''PNAS'' or ''PNAS USA'') is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It is the official journal of the National Academy of Scien ...
'' 101(41): 14812-14817.
PDF fulltextSupporting Appendices
* (1997): Cancer Chemopreventive Activity Mediated by Deguelin, a Naturally Occurring Rotenoid. ''Cancer Research
Cancer research is research into cancer to identify causes and develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure.
Cancer research ranges from epidemiology, molecular bioscience to the performance of clinical trials to evaluate and ...
'' 57(16): 3424-3428. PDF fulltext
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1756340
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Fabaceae genera