''Stephania'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Menispermaceae, native to eastern and southern Asia and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. They are

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 vines, growing to around four metres tall, with a large tuber. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are arranged spirally on the stem and are peltate, with the leaf petiole attached near the centre of the leaf. The name ''Stephania'' comes from the Greek, "a crown". This refers to the

anther The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

s being arranged in a crown-like manner. One species, '' S. tetrandra'', is among the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it is called ''han fang ji'' (漢防己, "Chinese ''fang ji''"). Other plants named ''fang ji'' are sometimes substituted for it. Other varieties substituted include ''

Cocculus thunbergii ''Cocculus'' is a genus of 11 species of woody vines and shrubs, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of North America, Asia and Africa. The common name moonseed is also used for the closely related genus ''Menispermum''. Selected spe ...

'', '' C. trulobus'', ''

Aristolochia fangchi ''Aristolochia fangchi'' ( zh, 广防已 guang fang ji), is a species of flowering plant in the family Aristolochiaceae, native to Vietnam and southeast and south-central China. In 1993, a series of end-stage renal disease cases were reported fr ...

'', '' Stephania tetrandria'', and ''

Sinomenium acutum ''Sinomenium'' is a genus of plant in family Menispermaceae first described as a genus in 1910. It contains only one known species, ''Sinomenium acutum'', native to China, northern India, Nepal, Japan, northern Thailand, and also Korea. Fossil r ...

''. Notable among these is ''guang fang ji'' (廣防己, "(GuangDong, GuangXi) fang ji", ''Aristolochia fangchi''. Because of its toxicity, it is used in TCM only with great caution.

Selected species

There are about 45 species in the genus ''Stephania'', native to the Far East and Australasia. Species include: ;Fossil species *'' Stephania palaeosudamericana'' Herrera et al. ;Synonyms *''Stephania erecta'' Craib (syn. '' Stephania pierrei'' Diels)

Toxicity

Stephania-delavayi Menispermaceae flowers

There is evidence that a few species of ''Stephania'' are toxic.
Journal of Ethnopharmacology 132 (2010). p. 380 However, the most commonly available species in the United States, ''

Stephania tetrandra ''Stephania tetrandra'' is a herbaceous perennial vine of the family Menispermaceae native to China and Taiwan. It grows from a short, woody caudex, climbing to a height of around three meters. The leaves are arranged spirally on the stem, and ar ...

'', has not been shown to be toxic. Any confusion regarding the possible toxicity of ''Stephania tetrandra'' was entirely due to an inadvertent shipment of ''

'' sent in its stead to a Belgian clinic in 1993. The errant batch of ''Aristolochia'' was later confirmed via phytochemical analysis.

Chemistry

Chemical investigation of ''Stephania rotunda'' Lour. growing in Vietnam in 2005 led to the isolation and structural elucidation of three new alkaloids, 5-hydroxy-6,7-dimethoxy-3,4-dihydroisoquinolin-1(2''H'')-one, thaicanine 4-''O''-beta-D-glucoside, as well as (−)-thaicanine ''N''-oxide (4-hydroxycorynoxidine), along with 23 known alkaloids.

References

External links

*
Introduction to RotundineFlora of China: ''Stephania'' species listFlora of Nepal: ''Stephania'' species list
{{Taxonbar, from=Q311127 Medicinal plants Menispermaceae genera Dioecious plants Caudiciform plants