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Acokanthera Venenata
''Acokanthera oppositifolia'', the poison arrow tree, is a shrub used as the source of an arrow poison and to coat caltrops made from the sharp fruits of the puncture vine (''Tribulus terrestris''). All plants of the genus '' Acokanthera'' contain toxic cardiac glycosides strong enough to cause death. ''Acokanthera oppositifolia'' is widespread in southern and central Africa from Cape Province north to The Democratic Republic of the Congo + Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t .... '' Acokanthera schimperi'' is employed for the same purpose. Unlike all other parts of the plant, the ripe fruit is sweet and edible. Unripe fruit are still poisonous, so only really ripe fruit are eaten. References oppositifolia Plants described in 1792 Flora of Africa Fru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biological evolution occurred and proceeded in accordance with Naturalism (philosophy), natural laws. Lamarck fought in the Seven Years' War against Prussia, and was awarded a commission for bravery on the battlefield. Posted to Monaco, Lamarck became interested in natural history and resolved to study medicine.#Packard, Packard (1901), p. 15. He retired from the army after being injured in 1766, and returned to his medical studies. Lamarck developed a particular interest in botany, and later, after he published the three-volume work ''Flore françoise'' (1778), he gained membership of the French Academy of Sciences in 1779. Lamarck became involved in the Jardin des Plantes and was appointed to the Chair of Botany in 1788. When the French Nationa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leslie Edward Wostall Codd
Leslie Edward Wostall Codd (16 September 1908 in Vants Drift, Dundee, District, Natal – 2 March 1999 in Pretoria), was a South African plant taxonomist. Life Codd was born in 1908. He attended the Natal University College where he obtained an M.Sc in 1928. He continued his studies at Cambridge University in 1929, and the ''Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture'' in Trinidad in 1930, where he met his future wife, Cynthia. He worked with the Department of Agriculture in British Guiana between 1931 and 1936. In 1937 he was appointed to the Pasture Research Section of the Department of Agriculture in Pretoria. In 1941 he was awarded a D.Sc degree by the University of South Africa. In 1945 he assumed the post of Officer-in-Charge at the ''Prinshof Experiment Station'' in the ''Division of Botany'', where he was involved with the selection, growing and testing of pasture grasses. At the same time he was in charge of the ''Botanical Survey of South Africa.'' While stationed at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acokanthera Oppositifolia02
''Acokanthera'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae. It comprises 5 species and is generally restricted to Africa, although ''A. schimperi'' also occurs in Yemen. Its sap contains the deadly toxin ''ouabain'', a glycoside that causes heart failure. The sap is among the most commonly used in arrow poisons, including those used for poaching elephants. The poison it contains works by stopping the heart, like most other arrow poisons. ;Species * ''Acokanthera laevigata'' Kupicha - Tanzania, Malawi * ''Acokanthera oblongifolia'' (Hochst.) Benth. & Hook.f. ex B.D.Jacks. - Mozambique, South Africa * ''Acokanthera oppositifolia'' (Lam.) Codd - widespread from Cape Province north to Zaire and Tanzania * ''Acokanthera rotundata ''Acokanthera rotundata'' (commonly known as round-leaved poison-bush) is a plant in the family Apocynaceae. It grows as a shrub or small tree, with fragrant flowers featuring a white corolla, often pink to red on the corolla tube. The f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shrub
A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple Plant stem, stems and shorter height, less than tall. Small shrubs, less than tall are sometimes termed as subshrubs. Many botany, botanical groups have species that are shrubs, and others that are trees and herbaceous plants instead. Some define a shrub as less than and a tree as over 6 m. Others use as the cutoff point for classification. Many trees do not reach this mature height because of hostile, less than ideal growing conditions, and resemble shrub-sized plants. Others in such species have the potential to grow taller in ideal conditions. For longevity, most shrubs are classified between Perennial plant, perennials and trees. Some only last about five years in good conditions. Others, usually larger and more woody, live beyond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caltrop
A caltrop (also known as caltrap, galtrop, cheval trap, galthrap, galtrap, calthrop, jackrock or crow's foot''Battle of Alesia'' (Caesar's conquest of Gaul in 52 BC), Battlefield Detectives program, (2006), rebroadcast: 2008-09-08 on History Channel International (13:00-14:00 hrs EDST); Note: No mention of name caltrop at all, but illustrated and given as battle key to defend Roman lines of circumvallation per recent digs evidence.) is an area denial weapon made up of usually four, but possibly more, sharp nails or spines arranged in such a manner that one of them always points upward from a stable base (for example, a tetrahedron). Historically, caltrops were part of defences that served to slow the advance of troops, especially horses, chariots, and war elephants, and were particularly effective against the soft feet of camels. In modern times, caltrops are effective when used against wheeled vehicles with pneumatic tires. Name The modern name "caltrop" is derived from the Ol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tribulus Terrestris
''Tribulus terrestris'' is an annual plant in the caltrop family (Zygophyllaceae) widely distributed around the world. It is adapted to thrive in dry climate locations in which few other plants can survive. It is native to warm temperate and tropical regions in southern Eurasia and Africa. It has been unintentionally introduced to North America and Australia. An aggressive and hardy invasive species, ''T. terrestris'' is widely known as a noxious weed because of its small woody fruit – the bur – having long sharp and strong spines which easily penetrate surfaces, such as bare feet or thin shoes of crop workers and other pedestrians, the rubber of bicycle tires, and the mouths and skin of grazing animals. Names Like many weedy species, this plant has numerous common names according to the world region, including 3-corner-jack, goathead, bull's head, gopher-head, caltrop, cat-head, devil's eyelashes, devil's-thorn, devil's-weed, puncturevine, and tackweed. Vernacula ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acokanthera
''Acokanthera'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae. It comprises 5 species and is generally restricted to Africa, although ''A. schimperi'' also occurs in Yemen. Its sap contains the deadly toxin ''ouabain'', a glycoside that causes heart failure. The sap is among the most commonly used in arrow poisons, including those used for poaching elephants. The poison it contains works by stopping the heart, like most other arrow poisons. ;Species * ''Acokanthera laevigata'' Kupicha - Tanzania, Malawi * ''Acokanthera oblongifolia'' (Hochst.) Benth. & Hook.f. ex B.D.Jacks. - Mozambique, South Africa * ''Acokanthera oppositifolia'' (Lam.) Codd - widespread from Cape Province north to Zaire and Tanzania * ''Acokanthera rotundata ''Acokanthera rotundata'' (commonly known as round-leaved poison-bush) is a plant in the family Apocynaceae. It grows as a shrub or small tree, with fragrant flowers featuring a white corolla, often pink to red on the corolla tube. The f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cardiac Glycoside
Cardiac glycosides are a class of organic compounds that increase the output force of the heart and decrease its rate of contractions by inhibiting the cellular sodium-potassium ATPase pump. Their beneficial medical uses include treatments for congestive heart failure and cardiac arrhythmias; however, their relative toxicity prevents them from being widely used. Most commonly found as defensive poisons in several plant genera such as ''Digitalis'' (the foxgloves) and '' Asclepias'' (the milkweeds), these compounds nevertheless have a diverse range of biochemical effects regarding cardiac cell function and have also been suggested for use in cancer treatment. Classification General structure The general structure of a cardiac glycoside consists of a steroid molecule attached to a sugar (glycoside) and an R group. The steroid nucleus consists of four fused rings to which other functional groups such as methyl, hydroxyl, and aldehyde groups can be attached to influence th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surface area.Sayre, April Pulley (1999), ''Africa'', Twenty-First Century Books. . With nearly billion people as of , it accounts for about of the world's human population. Demographics of Africa, Africa's population is the youngest among all the continents; the median age in 2012 was 19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4. Based on 2024 projections, Africa's population will exceed 3.8 billion people by 2100. Africa is the least wealthy inhabited continent per capita and second-least wealthy by total wealth, ahead of Oceania. Scholars have attributed this to different factors including Geography of Africa, geography, Climate of Africa, climate, corruption, Scramble for Africa, colonialism, the Cold War, and neocolonialism. Despite this lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Colony, as well as Walvis Bay, and had Cape Town as its capital. In 1994, the Cape Province was divided into the new Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Western Cape provinces, along with part of the North West. History When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, the original Cape Colony was renamed the Cape Province. It was by far the largest of South Africa's four provinces, as it contained regions it had previously annexed, such as British Bechuanaland (not to be confused with the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana), Griqualand East (the area around Kokstad) and Griqualand West (area around Kimberley). As a result, it encompassed two-thirds of South Africa's territory, and covered an area of approximately . At the time of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Democratic Republic Of The Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is the second-largest country in Africa and the 11th-largest in the world. With a population of around 112 million, the DR Congo is the most populous nominally Francophone country in the world. French is the official and most widely spoken language, though there are over 200 indigenous languages. The national capital and largest city is Kinshasa, which is also the economic center. The country is bordered by the Republic of the Congo, the Cabinda exclave of Angola, and the South Atlantic Ocean to the west; the Central African Republic and South Sudan to the north; Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania (across Lake Tanganyika) to the east; and Zambia and Angola to the south. Centered on the Congo Basin, most of the country's terrain is cove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tanzania
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. According to a 2024 estimate, Tanzania has a population of around 67.5 million, making it the most populous country located entirely south of the equator. Many important hominid fossils have been found in Tanzania. In the Stone and Bronze Age, prehistoric migrations into Tanzania included South Cushitic languages, Southern Cushitic speakers similar to modern day Iraqw people who moved south from present-day Ethiopia; Eastern Cushitic people who moved into Tanzania from north of Lake Turkana about 2,000 and 4,000 years ago; and the Southern Nilotic languages, Southern Nilotes, including the Datooga people, Datoog, who originated fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
