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Magnoliopsida
Achyranthes L.
EOL Text
Perennial herbs with entire, opposite leaves. Inflorescence a slender spike, terminal on the stems and branches. Bracts with midrib excurrent into a spine. Modified sterile flowers 0. Flowers solitary in the bracts, bisexual. Bracteoles 2. Tepals 4-5, 1-3(-5)-nerved, narrowly lanceolate, mucronate with the excurrent midrib. Bracteoles with a spiny awn, the awn exceeding the membranous wings of the lamina. Stamens 5 (in ours); filaments alternating with pseudostaminodes. Fruits strongly deflexed, closely appressed to the inflorescence axis.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings, Flora of Zimbabwe |
Source | http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=534 |
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) Stats
Specimen Records:58
Specimens with Sequences:81
Specimens with Barcodes:61
Species:7
Species With Barcodes:6
Public Records:23
Public Species:5
Public BINs:0
Achyranthes is a genus of medicinal and ornamental plants in the Amaranthaceae family.
Species include:
- Achyranthes arborescens
- Achyranthes aspera (= A. argentea) (Sanskrit : apamarg (अपामार्ग))
- Achyranthes atollensis (extinct)
- Achyranthes bidentata
- Achyranthes canescens
- Achyranthes faureri
- Achyranthes indica
- Achyranthes japonica
- Achyranthes longifolia
- Achyranthes margaretarum
- Achyranthes mutica
- Achyranthes splendens
- Achyranthes talbotii
The herb is used in Traditional Chinese medicine practice. Achyranthes (Cyathula) has properties that inhibits collagen-induced arthritis and acute edema. Most significantly, two novel triterpene glycosides isolated from achyranthes have been shown to be 1,000 times more potent than Sialyl Lewis X (SleX), an important blood group antigen that inhibits excess recruitment of neutrophils to injured tissues. This property has made it useful for treating arthritis; when too many white blood cells are recruited to an injured joint the neutrophils attack and destroy healthy tissues, leading to conditions such as septic shock and rheumatoid arthritis.[1]
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Wikipedia |
Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Achyranthes&oldid=635232626 |