''Androya'' is a genus of

flowering plants Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the family

Scrophulariaceae The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...

. It is endemic to the southwest of

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

Taxonomy

It was first described by H.Perrier in 1952.

Species

This taxon only contains one species, ''Androya decaryi''.

Description

This

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

shrub can be found at elevations between 0 - 499m.

Uses

Traditional medicine

A decoction of this plant is used to treat symptoms associated with malaria and yellow fever.

Chemistry

Three

spermidine Spermidine is a polyamine compound () found in ribosomes and living tissues and having various metabolic functions within organisms. Function Spermidine is an Aliphatic compound, aliphatic polyamine. Spermidine synthase (SPDS) catalyzes its form ...

alkaloids are known to be present in ''Androya decaryi''. They are (–)-(2S)-2-phenyl-1,5,9-triazacyclotridecan-4-one, (+)-decaryine A and (–)-decaryine B. However, there is no sufficient evidence to suggest that these three chemicals have any significant activity against ''

Plasmodium falciparum ''Plasmodium falciparum'' is a Unicellular organism, unicellular protozoan parasite of humans and is the deadliest species of ''Plasmodium'' that causes malaria in humans. The parasite is transmitted through the bite of a female ''Anopheles'' mos ...

''.

References

Scrophulariaceae Scrophulariaceae genera Monotypic Lamiales genera Endemic flora of Madagascar Plants described in 1952 Taxa named by Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie {{Scrophulariaceae-stub