Caralluma

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Caralluma
Caralluma acutangula inflorescence
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Subfamily: Asclepiadoideae
Tribe:
Ceropegieae
Genus: Caralluma
R.Br.
Species

See text

Synonyms[1]

Sarcocodon N.E.Br.
Spathulopetalum Chiov.

Caralluma socotrana, Kenya

Caralluma is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, consisting of about 120 species.

In 1795 William Roxburgh published the name Stapelia adscendens for a plant found in India. He commented that the name for the plant in the Telugu language was Car-allum and that the succulent branches are edible raw, though bitter and salty.[2] The name Caralluma was coined by Robert Brown for a new genus in an article published in 1811. At the time he only described one species in the genus, the plant that he renamed Caralluma adscendens.[3]

In 1996 Helmut Genaust published the suggestion that it was sensible to conclude that the generic name is derived from the

Arabic phrase qahr al-luhum, meaning "wound in the flesh" or "abscess," referring to the floral odour. Genaust was unaware that the genus Caralluma existed east of Palestine. He specifically ruled out its existence in India, where it was first described and named. Genaust presumed that the name would have first been applied to Caralluma europaea in North Africa.[4] In Italy it is present only on the island of Lampedusa in Sicily
.

Most of the species occur in Africa, including several taxa valued by people for their medicinal properties.

Selected species

Formerly placed here

  • G.D.Rowley
    )

References

  1. ^ "Genus: Caralluma R. Br". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2004-04-15. Archived from the original on 2012-10-09. Retrieved 2010-11-03.
  2. ^ Roxburgh, William (1795). Plants of the Coast of Coromandel Volume I. Vol. v.1. George Nicol, Pall-Mall, London. pp. 28–29. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  3. ^ Brown, Robert (1811). "On the Asclepiadeæ". Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society. I: 12–78. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  4. ISBN 3764323906
    .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Caralluma.
Wikispecies has information related to Caralluma.


Stub icon

This Apocynaceae article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Caralluma&oldid=1180107770"