Intriguing Plants: Popping Pod, Ruellia tuberosa

Ruellia tuberosa also known by the common or vernacular names of Popping Pod, Cracker plantr, Duppy gun, Minnie Root, Fever Root, Snapdraggon Root and Sheep potato is a plant that might be familiar to many children in the Pacific Island region. As children a common pass time for some was to pick the dried pods then lick them and throw them on an unsuspecting victim. The moisture would cause the dried seed pod to pop, startling the victim and scattering seeds and pod halves in their hair or where ever the pod had been thrown.



Ruellia tuerosa

In the course of looking up some other plants in Whistler's "Wayside Plants of the Islands. A Guide to the Lowland Flora of the Pacific Islands including Hawai’i Samoa Tonga Tahiti Fiji Guam Belau", I came across a photo of Ruellia tuerosa and was surprised to discover after a bit of on-line research that it actually had some uses beyond being the instrument of childish pranks. Unfortunately as it is generally considered a weed I had trouble finding one to photograph.

Ruellia tuerosa

I did see one specimen growing at Tanunamanono along the Cross Island Road/Vailima Road but when I went back armed with my camera I discovered to my dismay that someone had decided that the road verge had to be cleared and it had been caught up in the process.

Ruellia tuerosa

 Fortunately while driving along the Maninoa - Lefaga road a few weeks later, I caught sight of a perfect specimen and was able to take some pictures. In the process though, I discovered that dogs too like to have their photos taken as this chap stopped and then casually posed for a photo.

Ruellia tuerosa

Ruellia tuerosa

Taxonomy

Order: Lamiales - Family: Acanthaceae - Genus: Ruellia - Species: R. tuberosa


Medical Use:

Scientific studies have been done examining its antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory properties.

It has also been used in Ayurvedic medicine as a diuretic, anti-diabetic, antipyretic, antihypertensive, gastroprotective and to treat gonorreah.
Other Uses:

It is also used as a natural dye



Glossary:
Ayurvedic medicine: Traditional medicine of the Indian sub continent
Antinociceptive:
Anti-inflammatory: anything that prevents or reduces  inflammations
Diuretic: a diuretic is anything that promotes the production of urine
Analgesic:
Anti-diabetic: anything that works against diabetes either to reduce the effects
Anti-pyretic: are drugs or herbs that reduce fever. The etymology of the word is Greek anti (against) and pyreticus (pertaining to fever).
Antihypertensive:
Gastroprotective: anything that protects the gastrointestinal tract



Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/

· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/

· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Walking Irises: A case of mistaken identity - Neomarica and Trimezia

Walking Irises: A case of mistaken identity - Neomarica and Trimezia

 

Neomarica caerulea “Regina”

Ok we have had these plants for ages so in many ways it is an old friend. When I was a little boy we had them growing in the garden at Centipede Alley at Moto’otua. When we moved to Alafua they were dug up and transplanted there. I latter dug some up and transplanted them at Moto’otua and then to Vailele where they disappeared while I was away. I assumed they died out due to the place being on the coast but according to various sources they are drought and salt tolerant so maybe it was something else.  In any case it was not till around 2008 that I stumbled across a couple plants being sold under the Banyan trees on Beach Road in Apia and made arrangements to buy one after work.

Neomarica caerulea “Regina”

I planted that single plant at Malifa and as it grew and sent up offsets. I waited patiently until they were sufficiently big, then dug the whole clump up and divided it and replanted the individual plants. When I moved to Alafua I took some with me and planted them there again as the ones that had been left behind had disappeared.


Neomarica caerulea “Regina”

We always referred to this plant as a Blue Iris although later on I began to doubt the accuracy of this name. At Malifa there were some plants that looked like they were closely related to this since they resembled each other except for a number of differences.

Yellow Walking Iris flower

First of all the flowers were much smaller and yellow speckled with brown. Also they had many more flowers on long thin flower stalks. Indeed the whole presentation of the flowers was entirely different as you can see.

Blue and Yellow Walking irises (not to scale)

On top of that they had this bizarre tendency to grow little plantlets out of the flowers. These would grow and the weight of the growing plantlets would make the stalk bow down until it touched the ground and the plantlets took root. They also multiplied by sending up offshoots.

The Blue ones on the other hand at most had three flowers per stalk and sometimes these flowers developed seed pods although I have never successfully grew any seeds out of them ...  yet.

Neomarica caerulea "Regina"

The other difference compared to the Yellow flowered plant is that the Blue one had much larger and sturdier leaves and a slightly different centre rib structure. Other than these differences the flowers apart from size and colour were remarkably similar which to me indicated that they were related being at least of the same genus.

Leaf of Neomarica caerulea "Regina" showing centre rib

The close resemblance of the flowers and the tendency of the yellow one to grow plantlets led me to the Neomaricas otherwise known as “Apostle Plants” or “Walking Irises”.

The name “Walking Iris“ refers to the tendency of the plant to grow plantlets and “walk” across a lawn while the “Apostle Plant” reference alludes to the belief that they always have twelve flowers per stalk which I can confirm is NOT true.

Yellow Walking iris Flower and plantlets forming on flower stalk

The whole “Walking” thing is what still confused me because the Blue ones that I have and the Blue ones that I have seen on line do NOT “walk” at all. Interestingly one site (LINK) addresses this very issue noting that:

 “Although it is considered a walking iris, we have only seen it walk under extreme stress.”

 

That statement is extremely interesting and could perhaps point to a reason for the tendency for these plants to “walk” because when you think about it developing plantlets that will “walk” could be a way of the plant to try to ensure that it continues by growing in a location that is hopefully more favourable to the continuation of itself than if it just sent up another offset. The “walking” plantlet would end up taking root some distance away from the mother plant which in some cases might make a world of difference to its survival. But that is just my theory.

But getting back to identifying the Blue flowered plants, the closest that I have found that matches the Blue Irises I have is Neomarica caerulea “Regina”.

There are a number of other varieties which I assume are cultivars of Neomarica caerulea. However, Neomarica caerulea “Regina” is the one that I think is the one that we have had all these years.

The Yellow one I have tentatively identified as Neomarica longifolia which some identify as being synonymous with Trimezia martinicensis and given the common name of Yellow Walking iris. Trimezia is a genus which belongs to the same family as Neomarica – which is Iridaceae.

PHOTO of Blue Iris

As it is I picked up another variety from Tului Peters at Samoan Nursery up at Aleisa a few months ago. It is a smaller plant than even the yellow one and if I remember correctly it has white flowers. But has not yet flowered and seems to be growing very slowly. Actually the plant is rather small, being about 12 inches / 30cm in height. I am assuming that this is its full size because one of the two plants I obtained had a plantlet which you would only get from a plant that had flowered unless this is yet another variety that manages to “Walk” without having flowered first which I find  very unlikely since from what I have read, flowering is part of the process.

PHOTO of small Neomarica

Maybe it is a Neomarica northiana given how it is supposed to be white.  I guess we will have to wait and see what it flowers look like.

As for the identity of the Yellow Iris that are still uncertain. I did some research on the whole Neomarica longifolia versus Trimezia martinicensis issue and found some interesting information.

First of all due to the close resemblance between plants of Noemarica and Trimezia they are often confused and misplaced in the wrong genus or treated as synonymous.

However, according to information from the Kew Royal Botanical Gardens citing Chukr & Giulietti (2001), there are distinctive vegetative characteristics that distinguish the genrea which are more accurate than looking at the flowers alone.

These are summarised as follows:

With regards to the Underground system Trimezia ALWAYS has a corm while Neomarica has a rhizome in 90% of the species and a corm in only 10%.

For the leaf bases (cataphylls) Trimezia has it’s cataphylls arranged in a spiral while Neomarica has it’s cataphylls arranged in a plane with the base of one clasping the one above

Leaf base of neomarcia caerulea

For the leaves Trimezia has flattened or circular leaves while Neomarica has leaves that are sword-shaped folded lengthwise

For the flowering stems (scape) Trimezia has circular in cross section and never leaf like while Neomarica has a flattened and leaf like flowering stem.

Flowering stem of Yellow Walking iris



Flowering stem of Blue Walking iris

Taking this information into account I think that the yellow irises that I have are actually a Trimezia. I indicate the genus only because I discovered that there are two species of Trimazia that match the description of the ones I have; T. martinicensis and T.  steyermarkii

So now I need to figure out if it is Trimezia martinicensis or Trimezia steyermarkii.

... to be continued

Taxonomy

• Family: Iridaceae – Genus Neomarica – Species: Neomarica caerulea
• Family: Iridaceae – Genus Neomarica – Species: Neomarica longifolia
• Family: Iridaceae – Genus Neomarica – Species: Neomarica northiana
• Family: Iridaceae – Genus Trimezeia – Species: Trimezia martinicensis
• Family: Iridaceae – Genus Trimezeia – Species: Trimezia steyermarkii,

Medical use
No information found

Glossary: PLEASE NOTE I will be updating the post to include the glossary as soon as I have completed it

Cataphylls:
Corm:
Rhizome:
Scape:
Offsets:

References PLEASE NOTE I will be adding all the references and links to the on line source as soon as possible

Agristarts Entry on Iris Neomarica caerulea “Regina” LINK

Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden Entry on Neomarica caerulea LINK

Kew Botanical Gardens LINK
Wikipedia Entry on: Iridaceae
Wikipedia Entry on: Neomarica
Wikipedia Entry on: Trimezia



Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Intriguing Plants – Weeds and Flowers

Intriguing Plants – Weeds and Flowers

Our front and back lawn at Alafua is a jungle with some rather obnoxious grasses which at the same time have their own beauty.

PHOTO of Kyllinga polyphylla

Kyllinga polyphylla or Navua sedge belongs to Cyperaceae (Sedge Family) and is native to tropical Africa. It spreads via underground rhizhomes and is considered a pest in cattle pastures because cattle do not eat them and they displace other grasses that cattle do eat.

PHOTO of Kyllinga polyphylla

Their subglobous flower-heads do look interesting, especially with the leaf-like bracts radiating out and could possibly be used in flower arrangements by the more daring. However, in a lawn they are tedious to eradicate since you basically need to dig the rhizomes out (unless you are into herbicide which I am not all that fond of). Alternatively you could go for the long slow death of covering the affected spots with something like black plastic, old roofing iron or anything that  will ensure that the spot gets no sunlight and the plants die out.

PHOTO of Kyllinga polyphylla with Spathoglottis plicata

Trust me digging them out is the fastest and surest method barring herbicides of course but without the hassle of dealing with herbicides and the potential problems / dangers of handling, using let alone storing them not to mention having to get a permit to buy, store and use them. (See below for additional information on this). And on top of that there are the potential rather unpleasant side effects of using pesticides like paraquat. I have included a few links below to recent medical studies on this for those who may be interested in reading more.

PHOTO of Kyllinga polyphylla

At the moment we have a huge problem with this grass at Alafua as the back lawn is 75-80% covered in it while a large section of the front lawn 45-50% is also covered with it.

I dug a whole bunch of them out of the bed of Zepheranthes rosea (Pink Rain lilies) a while ago. Now I am trying to decide how to deal with them. As interesting as the flowers do look especially with macro photography they really ruin the lawn turning it into a thick jungle ... which admittedly the kittens absolutely love prowling and prancing and bounding through like a bunch of psychotic miniature Sabre toothed tigers high on cat nip.

Maybe I can arrange for an area to be kept for them to practice their stalking and hunting skills in.

PHOTO of Kyllinga nemoralis

Here is Kyllinga nemoralis a close relative to Kyllinga polyphylla as you can see. It is known as kili’o’opu in Hawaii and mo’u’upo’o in Tahiti. I have not found any other common names.

PHOTO of Cyperus rotondus

Text  Cyperus rotondus also belonging to Cyperaceae (or Sedge Family). It is known as nut sedge (English); kili’o’opu (Hawaiian); mumuta (Samoan) and pakopako (Tongan). I cannot see anyone including it in a flower arrangement even though the flowers do look interesting in a Macro photograph.

PHOTO of Oxalis corniculata

I posted a macro photo of this before in which I referred to it as clover whereas in fact it is actually Oxalis corniculata or wood sorrel (English); ‘ihi’ai (Hawaiian); kihikihi (Tongan). It belongs to Family Oxalidaceae (Wood-sorrel Family).

An interesting fact about this plant is that according to Whistler (1994) it is used in traditional Polynesian medicine to treat infants however he does not specify what aliments it is used for. I assume he covers that in his book on traditional medicines (which I do not have).

PHOTO of Oxalis corniculata
Interestingly the species in the Oxalis Genus are often refered to as “False Shamrocks” so my mistaking it for clover is not that grave an error since apparently many people do that too. Still I a kind of disappointed that it is NOT clover.

PHOTO of purple variety (To Be Added)

Here is another plant which I also thought was a type of clover and now think might be a species in the Oxalis genus. I am not sure if it might be Oxalis corniculata or not. I have a feeling that it is not. It is not shown in Whistler’s “Wayside Plants of the Islands” which I found surprising since it is pretty authoritative. Maybe it is one he missed or a new introduction since he compiled it.

PHOTO of vineta

This little beauty is no doubt familiar to those who grew up in the islands and used to collect and eat the tiny bitter fruit we called vineta / vigeka (perhaps from vinegar due to the bitter vinegar taste?). Yes we used to eat all sorts of weird things as children. From picking certain hibiscus flowers and sucking the nectar out to driving the adults mad by picking the half ripe mangos and then eating them with salt or salt and curry powder. I still do not understand why THEY did not just do the same since I still occasionally will eat a mango like that.

In any case the flowers although miniscule look quite enchanting with the aid of Macro photography.

PHOTO of vineta

I have not yet tracked down what it's binomial (scientific) name is or what it's other vernacular names are.

Taxonomy

Family Cyperaceae

Genus Kyllinga

Kyllinga polyphylla or Navua sedge belongs to Cyperaceae (Sedge Family)

Kyllinga nemoralis a

Genus Cyperus
Cyperus rotondus also

Family Oxalidaceae

Oxalis corniculata wood sorrel Family Oxalidaceae

 Paraquat (dipyridylium)

Yes you need a permit to buy herbicides here in Samoa. I’m not sure if this applies to all of herbicides and pesticides of just the herbicides like Paraquat. The primary reason for this is to restrict access to paraquat by potential suicide vicitims.

Death by Paraquat poisoning was for a long time one of the most common methods of suicide in Samoa. The Health department tried for many years to have to banned but due to its widespread use and efficacy as a weed killer this was resisted. In fact efforts to ban or restrict access and use was on an international level due to its use as a suicide agent among developing nations.

There were several reasons for this. First of all it is highly toxic (1 teaspoon being leathal), 2. There is no antidote 3. It is easily available and 4. It is relatively cheap. One of the worst things about paraquat poisoning is that it is a slow and horribly painful death. It was also a common method used to poison dogs by thieves targeting neighbourhoods.

Eventually government decided to control its use. Now to be able to buy paraquat (if I recall correctly) you need a permit which also requires you to have a safe place in which to keep it locked up. Inspections are made to verify that you are actually keeping it locked up and I think that there are even penalties if anyone uses paraquat in your control to commit suicide.

According to statistics gathered so far the regulations have had an impact in reducing suicides overall. However, it is still the primary cause of death by suicide and after an initial drop.

However, perhaps people may start to reconsider using paraquat once they hear about several studies over the last few years which show a clear link between paraquat and Parkinson's disease. The worst part of this being that it is not just users who have a higher (3x) chance of getting Parkinsons but anyone who has lived or worked in areas where paraquat has been used.

Here are some additional resources on this topic for those interested.

http://www.pan-germany.org/download/fact_paraquat2.pdf

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110214115442.htm

 

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Additional information:

As I said I will be posting the photographs of the statues on another blog which will cover “A blog about art, sculpture, food, history, culture, literature among other things. Basically this blog will be a catch all for other topics that I cannot logically cover in my existing blogs:

·         Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters)

·         The Blood of  Souls (language, translation and etymology)

·         Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general)

References

Whistler, W. Arthur, “Wayside Plants of the Islands. A Guide to the Lowland Flora of the Pacific Islands including Hawai’i Samoa Tonga Tahiti Fiji Guam Belau”, Isle Botanica, Honolulu, 1995.

ISBN 0-9645426-0-9