''Tellima grandiflora'', the bigflower tellima or fringecups, is a

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 ...

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 family

Saxifragaceae Saxifragaceae is a family of herbaceous perennial flowering plants, within the core eudicot order Saxifragales. The taxonomy of the family has been greatly revised and the scope much reduced in the era of molecular phylogenetic analysis. The f ...

. It is the only species in the genus ''Tellima''.

Description

It has rounded stalked leaves mostly growing from the base emerging from a rootstock and bluntly toothed reaching heights of 30 cm.Parnell, J. and Curtis, T. 2012. ''Webb's An Irish Flora''. Cork University Press. It is evergreen in mild winters. Flowers are borne in spring and early summer, on spikes, terminal racemes, up to 60 cm high. The green calyx is 6–8 mm long; the five flower petals are greenish-white to purple, pinnately divided and spreading. The petals are deeply fringed. It has 10 stamens and 2 styles.

Distribution

The plant is a native of moist forests in western North America, from

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

and

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

. It can be a garden escape and become

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

in some other areas, ''e.g.''

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. Although it is secure in the western portions of its range, ''Tellima grandiflora'' is listed as vulnerable in Idaho and Montana, and as critically imperiled in Alberta. Tellima grandiflora 4967f

Uses

It is widely grown in gardens. Different strains have been developed. It seeds itself freely in suitable climates. This plant, crushed and made into an

infusion Infusion is the process of extracting chemical compounds or flavors from plant material in a solvent such as water, oil or alcohol, by allowing the material to remain suspended in the solvent over time (a process often called steeping). An inf ...

, was used by the Skagit to aid people in sicknesses such as

loss of appetite Anorexia is a medical term for a loss of appetite. While the term in non-scientific publications is often used interchangeably with anorexia nervosa, many possible causes exist for a loss of appetite, some of which may be harmless, while others i ...

Ellagitannin The ellagitannins are a diverse class of hydrolyzable tannins, a type of polyphenol formed primarily from the oxidative linkage of galloyl groups in 1,2,3,4,6-pentagalloyl glucose. Ellagitannins differ from gallotannins, in that their galloyl group ...

s are chemical compounds that have potential

antiviral Antiviral drugs are a class of medication used for treating viral infections. Most antivirals target specific viruses, while a broad-spectrum antiviral is effective against a wide range of viruses. Unlike most antibiotics, antiviral drugs do no ...

activity.

Tellimagrandin II Tellimagrandin II is the first of the ellagitannins formed from 1,2,3,4,6-pentagalloyl-glucose. It can be found in '' Geum japonicum'' and ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (clove).Purification and Characterization of Eugeniin as an Anti-herpesvirus Compoun ...

, the first of the ellagitannins, formed from pentagalloyl glucose, is

laccase Laccases () are multicopper oxidases found in plants, fungi, and bacteria. Laccases oxidize a variety of phenolic substrates, performing one-electron oxidations, leading to crosslinking. For example, laccases play a role in the formation of lign ...

-catalyzed dimerised to

cornusiin E Cornusiin E is a dimeric derivative of tellimagrandin II Tellimagrandin II is the first of the ellagitannins formed from 1,2,3,4,6-pentagalloyl-glucose. It can be found in '' Geum japonicum'' and ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (clove).Purification and C ...

in ''T. grandiflora''.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q13390019 Saxifragaceae Monotypic Saxifragales genera Saxifragaceae genera