Comments
provided by eFloras
Cultivated for medicine.
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- Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
Description
provided by eFloras
Shrubs 1-2 m tall, few stemmed. Young stems and inflorescences pubescent. Petiole ca. 1 cm; leaf blade narrowly lanceolate, 5-l0 × 0.6-1.5 cm, adaxially sparsely pubescent, abaxially hairy along midvein, both ends tapering or acute. Peduncle 2-4.5 cm, short hairy. Pedicel 1.5-2.5 cm. Sepals lanceolate. Corolla white, 1.4-2 cm in diam.; lobes ovate, 8-10 mm, reflexed, margin densely bearded. Corona lobes white, inner margin of hoodlike apex with 2, short, recurved or straight cusps, with a large adaxial nectary. Follicles obliquely ovoid to subglobose, 6-8 × 2.5-5 cm, base oblique, apex rounded, beakless; pericarp with soft bristles or spines, minutely tomentose when young, glabrescent when ripe. Seeds ovate, ca. 5 mm; coma shining white, ca. 5 mm. 2n = 22.
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- Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
Habitat & Distribution
provided by eFloras
Cultivated for medicine in S Guangdong and Hainan [Africa; widely introduced].
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- Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
Derivation of specific name
provided by Flora of Zimbabwe
physocarpus: bladderfruit, referring to the inflated fruits
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- Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten and Petra Ballings
- bibliographic citation
- Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T. and Ballings, P. (2002-2014). Gomphocarpus physocarpus E. Mey. Flora of Zimbabwe website. Accessed 28 August 2014 at http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=145710
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- Mark Hyde
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- Bart Wursten
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- Petra Ballings
Description
provided by Flora of Zimbabwe
Robust perennial herb, up to 2.5 m tall. Stems usually single, branching near the top, upper parts with spreading white hairs. Leaves opposite, sometimes sub-opposite or crowded near the ends of branches, narrowly oblong to lanceolate, 4-12 cm long, mostly hairless except for soft white hairs on the midrib and margins. Flowers in extra-axillary, 5-12-flowered, nodding umbels. Corolla strongly reflexed, white. Corona lobes attached 1.5 - 2 mm above the base of the staminal column, white, tinged pink, mauve or purple, laterally compressed, as tall as the column. Follicle more or less erect on a twisted pedicel, spherical to subspherical, often somewhat depressed on one side, distinctly inflated, not beaked, covered in soft bristles. See Gomphocarpus fruticosus for comparison.
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- Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten and Petra Ballings
- bibliographic citation
- Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T. and Ballings, P. (2002-2014). Gomphocarpus physocarpus E. Mey. Flora of Zimbabwe website. Accessed 28 August 2014 at http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=145710
- author
- Mark Hyde
- author
- Bart Wursten
- author
- Petra Ballings
Insects whose larvae eat this plant species
provided by Flora of Zimbabwe
Danaus chrysippus aegyptius (African monarch)
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- Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten and Petra Ballings
- bibliographic citation
- Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T. and Ballings, P. (2002-2014). Gomphocarpus physocarpus E. Mey. Flora of Zimbabwe website. Accessed 28 August 2014 at http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=145710
- author
- Mark Hyde
- author
- Bart Wursten
- author
- Petra Ballings
Worldwide distribution
provided by Flora of Zimbabwe
Native to South Africa, Swaziland and southern Mozambique; most likely introduced elsewhere in Africa.
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- Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten and Petra Ballings
- bibliographic citation
- Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T. and Ballings, P. (2002-2014). Gomphocarpus physocarpus E. Mey. Flora of Zimbabwe website. Accessed 28 August 2014 at http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=145710
- author
- Mark Hyde
- author
- Bart Wursten
- author
- Petra Ballings
Gomphocarpus physocarpus
provided by wikipedia EN
Gomphocarpus physocarpus, commonly known as hairy balls, balloonplant, balloon cotton-bush, bishop's balls, nailhead, or swan plant, is a species of dogbane. The plant is native to southeast Africa, but it has been widely naturalized. It is often used as an ornamental plant.
Description
Gomphocarpus physocarpus is an undershrub perennial herb, that can grow to over six feet. The plant blooms in warm months. It grows on roadside banks, at elevations of 2800 to 5000 feet above sea level. The plant prefers moderate moisture, as well as sandy and well-drained soil and full sun.
Gomphocarpus physocarpus is traditionally used to produce ointments for the treatment of warts and the seeds are used in rituals. The leaves and stems produce milky latex that is toxic, yet it has never been described in detail particularly with regards to the anatomy of lactiferous cells.[2]
The flowers are small, with white hoods and about 1 cm across. The follicle is a pale green, and in shape an inflated spheroid. It is covered with rough hairs. It reaches three inches in diameter. The leaves are light green, linear to lanceolate and 3 to 4 inches long, 1.2 cm broad. The brown seeds have silky tufts.[3][4]
This plant will readily hybridize with Gomphocarpus fruticosus creating intermediate forms.[5]
Ecology
Gomphocarpus physocarpus is a food of the caterpillars of Danaus butterflies, including the monarch butterfly.
References
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^ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species".
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^ Munsamy, A., & Naidoo, Y. (2017). Characterisation of the indumentum and the laticifers in the leaves and stems of Gomphocarpus physocarpus (Apocynaceae). South African Journal of Botany, 109, 356–357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2017.01.134
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^ Llamas, Kirsten Albrecht (2003). Tropical Flowering Plants: A Guide to Identification and Cultivation. Timber Press. p. 73. ISBN 0-88192-585-3.
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^ Iremonger, Susan (2002). A Guide to the Plants of the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. The University of West Indies Press. p. 47. ISBN 976-640-031-8.
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^ Gurib-Fakim, A. (2011). "Gomphocarpus fruticosus (L.) W.T.Aiton". In Schmelzer, G.H.; Gurib-Fakim, A. (eds.). Prota 11(2): Medicinal plants/Plantes médicinales 2. Wageningen, Netherlands: PROTA.
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Gomphocarpus physocarpus: Brief Summary
provided by wikipedia EN
Gomphocarpus physocarpus, commonly known as hairy balls, balloonplant, balloon cotton-bush, bishop's balls, nailhead, or swan plant, is a species of dogbane. The plant is native to southeast Africa, but it has been widely naturalized. It is often used as an ornamental plant.
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- Wikipedia authors and editors
