''Zanthoxylum asiaticum'' is a species of plant in the family

Rutaceae The Rutaceae is a family, commonly known as the rueRUTACEAE
in BoDD – Botanical Der ...

. Under its synonym ''Toddalia asiatica'', it was the only species in the monotypic genus ''Toddalia'', now included in ''

Zanthoxylum ''Zanthoxylum'' is a genus of about 250 species of deciduous and evergreen trees, shrubs and climbers in the family Rutaceae that are native to warm temperate and subtropical areas worldwide. It is the type genus of the tribe Zanthoxyleae in ...

''. It is known by the English name orange climber.

Description

This is a

liana A liana is a long- stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a t ...

with woody, corky,

thorn Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to: Botany * Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants * ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species Comics and literature * Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Comic ...

y stems that climb on trees, reaching up to 10 m in length. It has shiny green citrus-scented leaves, yellow-green flowers, and orange fruits about half a cm wide that taste like

orange peel An orange is a fruit of various citrus species in the family Rutaceae (see list of plants known as orange); it primarily refers to ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'', which is also called sweet orange, to distinguish it from the related ''Citrus × ...

. The seeds are dispersed by birds and monkeys that eat the fruits. In particular, the

scaly-breasted munia The scaly-breasted munia or spotted munia (''Lonchura punctulata''), known in the pet trade as nutmeg mannikin or spice finch, is a sparrow-sized estrildid finch native to tropical Asia. A species of the genus ''Lonchura'', it was formally descr ...

prefers to nest in these trees.

Distribution

It is native to many countries in Africa and Asia. Examples include South Africa where in

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gr ...

it is called ''ranklemoentjie'', and in

Venda Venda () was a Bantustan in northern South Africa, which is fairly close to the South African border with Zimbabwe to the north, while to the south and east, it shared a long border with another black homeland, Gazankulu. It is now part of t ...

, ''gwambadzi''.PlantZAfrica.com
/ref> It is very popular among the Kikuyus of Central Kenya, where it is known as ''mururue'', Mauritius, where it is known as patte poule or properly .Kamau, Loice Njeri and Peter Mathiu Mbaabu and James Mucunu Mbaria and Peter Karuri Gathumbi and Stephen Gitahi Kiama (2016).
Ethnobotanical survey and threats to medicinal plants traditionally used for the management of human diseases in Nyeri County, Kenya
, p. 11. Leakey, L. S. B. (1977). ''The Southern Kikuyu before 1903'', v. III, p. 1340. London and New York: Academic Press.

Habitat

It grows in forested

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...

habitat with high

rainfall Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

. The destruction of forest habitat in Africa threatens the species' survival.Nabwami, J., et al. (2007)
Characterization of the natural habitat of ''Toddalia asiatica'' in the Lake Victoria basin: soil characteristics and seedling establishment.
African Crop Science Conference Proceedings Volume 8.

Fossil record

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

seeds assigned to ''Toddalia'' (now included in ''Zanthoxylum'') have been described as ''Toddalia nanlinensis'' from the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

of Nanlin Formation in Longchuan Basin,

Dehong Autonomous Prefecture The Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture is located in western Yunnan province, People's Republic of China, and is one of the eight autonomous prefectures of the province, bordering Baoshan to the east and Burma's Kachin State to the west. ...

Yunnan Province Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. The fossil seeds are boat-shaped with tegmen that is composed of thin-walled cells with fine criss-crossed spiral lignifications.

Medicinal uses

The plant is used medicinally by many African peoples, including the Maasai, who use it for

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. ...

cough A cough is a sudden expulsion of air through the large breathing passages that can help clear them of fluids, irritants, foreign particles and microbes. As a protective reflex, coughing can be repetitive with the cough reflex following three ph ...

, and

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptom ...

. The roots contain

coumarin Coumarin () or 2''H''-chromen-2-one is an aromatic organic chemical compound with formula . Its molecule can be described as a benzene molecule with two adjacent hydrogen atoms replaced by a lactone-like chain , forming a second six-membered h ...

s that have

antiplasmodial ''Plasmodium'' is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of ''Plasmodium'' species involve development in a blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a verteb ...

activity. Extracts of the plant have demonstrated

antiviral Antiviral drugs are a class of medication used for treating viral infections. Most antivirals target specific viruses, while a broad-spectrum antiviral is effective against a wide range of viruses. Unlike most antibiotics, antiviral drugs do n ...

activity against H1N1 influenza in the laboratory.Lu, S. Y., et al. (2005). Identification of antiviral activity of ''Toddalia asiatica'' against influenza type A virus. ''Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi.'' 30:13 998-1001. The harvest of this slow-growing plant from the wild for medicinal use may cause its populations to decline. Protocols for domestication or propagation of the tree are being researched.

References

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q15930630 asiaticum Plants used in traditional African medicine Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus