Ant tree ( lat.Tabebuia impetiginosa , other names - pink ipe, pink lapacho) - a plant of the genus Tabebuia (or Handroanthus ) of the Bignonian family , which is a tree that grows in all states of Central and South America from northern Mexico to northern Argentina , especially in Colombia , Venezuela , Brazil . It is an ordinary tree in the northeastern regions of Argentina and in southeast Bolivia . The islands of Trinidad and Tobago are considered the place of origin of this tree.
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| Tabebuia impetiginosa ( Mart. Ex DC. ) Standl. |
Content
Other names
This tree has a long history of human use, as a result of which it has many local names: Ipe-Kavata, Ipe-Komum, Ipe-Reto, Ipe-Rosa, Ipe-Roho-Damata, Lapacho Negro, Pau d'Arco-Roho, Peuva or puwa . Wood is sometimes sold under the name "Brazilian tree", although this name is usually used to refer to an unrelated tree of the Caesalpinia echinata species.
This plant is sometimes called a Brazil nut, but more often this name is used to refer to the Bertholletia excelsa Humb plant . & Bonpl. ( Bertolite high ).
Description
Pink lapacho is a rather large deciduous tree, reaching 80 cm in diameter and 30 m in height. A third of this height is usually the trunk, and two-thirds is a crown with long branches. The crown of the tree is large, spherical, but often rare. Leaves are unpaired , 5 to 8 cm long, elliptical in shape, with slightly serrated edges.
The bark is brownish gray, hard and hard to separate. The wood has a pleasant yellowish color, without knots, extremely strong and heavy (935 kg / m³). It contains a lot of tannins and therefore is very resistant to the effects of the environment, water and the sun [1] . For the manufacture of furniture, this wood is rarely used because of its hardness. Sometimes it is used for the manufacture of beams or for other supporting structural elements of buildings.
The tree blooms from July to September, until the appearance of new leaves. The flower is large, in the form of a tube, the petals are usually pink or lilac, occasionally white, about 5 cm long. There are 4 stamens and one staminode in the flower. The fruit is a narrow drop-down box containing several winged seeds.
Flowers are readily available for pollinators . Some hummingbirds - for example Florisuga fusca and Anthracothorax nigricollis - prefer flowers from other members of the genus Tabebuia , while for flowers such as Heliomaster squamosus, these flowers of this tree can be the main source of food. [2]
Usage
Tabebuia impetiginosa , like other species of this genus, often grows wild in the forests of Central and South America . It is used as a honey plant , and also as an ornamental plant in landscaped gardens, public gardens and on boulevards because of the expressiveness and bright color of flowers [3] . Widely known and popular, this tree is the national plant of Paraguay .
The inner bark of Tabebuia impetiginosa is used for medicinal purposes [4] . It is dried and crushed, and when brewed they get bitter brownish tea, known as lapacho or tahibo. The unpleasant taste of the resulting extract is reduced if taken in the form of tablets or medicine . Lapacho bark is used for influenza and in the cold season, as well as to calm smokers cough. [1] .
Lapacho plays an important role in traditional medicine of many indigenous peoples of South America. In recent decades, it began to be used as a general tonic and adaptogen. In the 1980s, it was advertised as having “almost unbelievable properties” that could improve the quality of life of patients with cancer and AIDS [5] However, the main active ingredient, lapachol, was rejected due to toxicity, which can even cause human death when taken in amounts that necessary to achieve a therapeutic effect [6] . Nevertheless, the strong antibiotic and disinfecting properties of lapachol make it possible to use it successfully in special cases. It is noticed that Indian healers use lapacho tea, as well as from other types of Tabebuia , as a rule, for a short time to relieve acute malaise, and not as a general restorative [1] . The possibility of using as an antimicrobial and disinfectant expectorant, for example against Pneumocystis pneumonia in AIDS patients, is being investigated.
See also
- Lapacho
- Ipe (wood)
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 López et al. (1987)
- ↑ Baza Mendonça & dos Anjos (2005)
- ↑ lopezetal1987
- ↑ Tabebuia avellanedae at the University of Sao Paulo
- ↑ Eg Purple Lapacho: Ancient Herb, Modern Miracle Archived on May 28, 2007.
- ↑ Eg de Cássia da Silveira e Sá & de Oliveira Guerra (2007)
Sources
- Angely, JA (1965): Flora analitica do Parana .
- Baza Mendonça, Luciana & dos Anjos, Luiz (2005): Beija-flores (Aves, Trochilidae) e seus recursos florais em uma área urbana do Sul do Brasil [Hummingbirds (Aves, Trochilidae) and their flowers in an urban area of southern Brazil ]. [Portuguese with English abstract] Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 22 (1): 51-59. DOI : 10.1590 / S0101-81752005000100007 PDF fulltext
- de Cássia da Silveira e Sá, Rita & de Oliveira Guerra, Martha (2007): Reproductive toxicity of lapachol in adult male Wistar rats submitted to short-term treatment. Phytother. Res. 21 (7): 658–662. DOI : 10.1002 / ptr.2141 (HTML abstract)
- López, JA; Little, E .; Ritz, G .; Rombold, J. & Hahn, W. (1987): Árboles comunes del Paraguay: Ñande yvyra mata kuera. Cuerpo de Paz, Asunción.