''Petiveria'' is a genus 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 ...
s in the
pigeonberry Pigeonberry or pigeon berry is a common name for several flowering plants and may refer to:
* ''Amelanchier alnifolia'', native to North America
* ''Duranta erecta''
* ''Phytolacca americana'', native to North America
* ''Rivina humilis
''Rivina ...
family,
Petiveriaceae
Petiveriaceae is a family of flowering plants formerly included as subfamily Rivinoideae in Phytolaccaceae. The family comprises nine genera, with about 20 known species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a ta ...
. The sole species it contains, ''Petiveria alliacea'', is native to
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
and the lower
Rio Grande Valley
The Lower Rio Grande Valley ( es, Valle del Río Grande), commonly known as the Rio Grande Valley or locally as the Valley or RGV, is a region spanning the border of Texas and Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth. The ...
of
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
in the United States,
Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and tropical South America.
Introduced populations occur in Benin and Nigeria.
It is a deeply rooted
herbaceous
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition of t ...
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
growing up to in height and has small greenish piccate
flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...
s. The roots and leaves have a strong acrid,
garlic
Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...
-like odor which taints the milk and meat of animals that graze on it.
Common names
It is known by a wide number of common names including: ''guinea henweed'', ''guiné'' () in Brazil, ''anamu'' in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Brazil, ''apacin'' in Guatemala, ''mucura'' in Peru, and ''guine'' in many other parts of Latin America, ''feuilles ave'', ''herbe aux poules'', ''petevere a odeur ail'', and, in Trinidad, as ''mapurite'' (pronounced ''Ma-po-reete'') and ''gully root'', and in Jamaica as ''guinea hen weed'' and many others.
Description
''Petiveria alliacea'' is a herbaceous shrub. Leaves are simple, alternate, pinnate in the first order and netted the second order. It has determinate inflorescences. Although the plant is capable of reproducing throughout the year, reproductive activity peaks during a portion of the year that is dependent on geography. For example, in Mexico this period is from September to October, while in Central America it is from July to January.
Range and habitat
This plant is native to the United States (southernmost Florida and Texas), the West Indies, Mexico, Central America and South America. In southern Florida it has been reported in disturbed areas, maritime, mesic, prairie and
tropical hardwood
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred ...
hammocks
A hammock (from Spanish , borrowed from Taíno and Arawak ) is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two or more points, used for swinging, sleeping, or resting. It normally consists of one or more cloth panels, or a wov ...
and
shell mound
A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...
.
In Mexico, ''P. alliacea'' is widely present in corn, coffee and apple plantations.
Uses
''Petiveria alliacea'' is used as a bat and
insect repellent
An insect repellent (also commonly called "bug spray") is a substance applied to skin, clothing, or other surfaces to discourage insects (and arthropods in general) from landing or climbing on that surface. Insect repellents help prevent and cont ...
.
Phytochemistry
''Petiveria alliacea'' has been found to contain a large number of biologically active chemicals including
benzaldehyde
Benzaldehyde (C6H5CHO) is an organic compound consisting of a benzene ring with a formyl substituent. It is the simplest aromatic aldehyde and one of the most industrially useful.
It is a colorless liquid with a characteristic almond-like odor. ...
,
benzoic acid
Benzoic acid is a white (or colorless) solid organic compound with the formula , whose structure consists of a benzene ring () with a carboxyl () substituent. It is the simplest aromatic carboxylic acid. The name is derived from gum benzoin, wh ...
, benzyl 2-hydroxyethyl trisulphide,
coumarin
Coumarin () or 2''H''-chromen-2-one is an aromatic organic chemical compound with formula . Its molecule can be described as a benzene molecule with two adjacent hydrogen atoms replaced by a lactone-like chain , forming a second six-membered h ...
, isoarborinol, isoarborinol acetate, isoarborinol cinnamate,
isothiocyanates
In organic chemistry, isothiocyanate is the functional group , formed by substituting the oxygen in the isocyanate group with a sulfur. Many natural isothiocyanates from plants are produced by enzymatic conversion of metabolites called glucosin ...
,
polyphenol
Polyphenols () are a large family of naturally occurring organic compounds characterized by multiples of phenol units. They are abundant in plants and structurally diverse. Polyphenols include flavonoids, tannic acid, and ellagitannin, some of ...
s, senfol,
tannin
Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.
The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'', ...
s, and trithiolaniacine.
The plant's roots have also been shown to contain cysteine sulfoxide derivatives that are analogous to, but different from, those found in such plants as garlic and
onion
An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...
. For example, ''P. alliacea'' contains ''S''-phenylmethyl-L-cysteine sulfoxides (petiveriins A and B) and ''S''-(2-hydroxyethyl)-L-cysteines (6-hydroxyethiins A and B). These compounds serve as the precursors of several
thiosulfinate
In organosulfur chemistry, thiosulfinate is a functional group consisting of the linkage R-S(O)-S-R (R are organic substituents). Thiolsulfinates are also named as alkanethiosulfinic (or arenethiosulfinic) acid esters. They are the first member o ...
s such as ''S''-(2-hydroxyethyl) 2-hydroxyethane)thiosulfinate, ''S''-(2-hydroxylethyl) phenylmethanethiosulfinate, ''S''-benzyl 2-hydroxyethane)thiosulfinate and ''S''-benzyl phenylmethanethiosulfinate (petivericin). All four of these thiosulfinates have been found to exhibit antimicrobial activity. Petiveriin also serves as precursor to phenylmethanethial ''S''-oxide, a
lachrymatory agent
Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ad ...
structurally similar to
syn-propanethial-S-oxide
''syn''-Propanethial ''S''-oxide (or (''Z'')-propanethial ''S''-oxide), a member of a class of organosulfur compounds known as thiocarbonyl ''S''-oxides (formerly " sulfines"), is a volatile liquid that acts as a lachrymatory agent (triggers tear ...
from onion,
but whose formation requires novel cysteine sulfoxide lyase and lachrymatory factor synthase enzymes differing from those found in onion.
Domestic animals that consume ''P. alliacea'' can pass the garlic-like odor characteristic of the plant to their meat, eggs and milk. In addition, nitrates in the plant can cause
toxicosis in cattle.
References
External links
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q2913546, from2=Q311518
Petiveriaceae
Monotypic Caryophyllales genera