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Tabernaemontana Crassa
''Tabernaemontana crassa'' is a plant in the dogbane family Apocynaceae, native to tropical Africa. Description ''Tabernaemontana crassa'' grows as a shrub or small tree up to tall, with a trunk diameter of up to . Its fragrant flowers feature white to pale yellow corolla lobes. Distribution and habitat ''Tabernaemontana crassa'' is native to an area of tropical Africa from Sierra Leone east and south to Angola. Its habitat is forests or on coastlines from sea level to altitude. Uses ''Tabernaemontana crassa'' is used in local traditional medicine as an anaesthetic, as a haemostatic, as an anthelmintic and in the treatment of rheumatism, kidney problems, rickets and conjunctivitis. It has also been used as arrow poison. References crassa ''Crassa'' is a genus of the concealer moth family (Oecophoridae). Among these, it belongs to subfamily Oecophorinae. The genus name ''Tichonia'', established by J. Hübner in 1825, was frequently misapplied to these moths by ear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Bentham
George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studied law, but had a fascination with botany from an early age, which he soon pursued, becoming president of the Linnaean Society in 1861, and a fellow of the Royal Society in 1862. He was the author of a number of important botanical works, particularly flora. He is best known for his taxonomic classification of plants in collaboration with Joseph Dalton Hooker, his ''Genera Plantarum'' (1862–1883). He died in London in 1884. Life Bentham was born in Stoke, Plymouth, on 22 September 1800.Jean-Jacques Amigo, « Bentham (George) », in Nouveau Dictionnaire de biographies roussillonnaises, vol. 3 Sciences de la Vie et de la Terre, Perpignan, Publications de l'olivier, 2017, 915 p. () His father, Sir Samuel Bentham, a naval architect, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including arthritis and "non-articular rheumatism", also known as "regional pain syndrome" or "soft tissue rheumatism". There is a close overlap between the term soft tissue disorder and rheumatism. Sometimes the term "soft tissue rheumatic disorders" is used to describe these conditions. The term "Rheumatic Diseases" is used in MeSH to refer to connective tissue disorders. The branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and therapy of rheumatism is called rheumatology. Types Many rheumatic disorders of chronic, intermittent pain (including joint pain, neck pain or back pain) have historically been caused by infectious diseases. Their etiology was unknown until the 20th century and not treatable. Postinfectious arthritis, also known as reactiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flora Of West Tropical Africa
Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora as in the terms ''gut flora'' or ''skin flora''. Etymology The word "flora" comes from the Latin name of Flora, the goddess of plants, flowers, and fertility in Roman mythology. The technical term "flora" is then derived from a metonymy of this goddess at the end of the sixteenth century. It was first used in poetry to denote the natural vegetation of an area, but soon also assumed the meaning of a work cataloguing such vegetation. Moreover, "Flora" was used to refer to the flowers of an artificial garden in the seventeenth century. The distinction between vegetation (the general appearance of a community) and flora (the taxonomic composition of a community) was first made by Jules Thurma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plants Used In Traditional African Medicine
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclude the fungi and some algae, as well as the prokaryotes (the archaea and bacteria). By one definition, plants form the clade Viridiplantae (Latin name for "green plants") which is sister of the Glaucophyta, and consists of the green algae and Embryophyta (land plants). The latter includes the flowering plants, conifers and other gymnosperms, ferns and their allies, hornworts, liverworts, and mosses. Most plants are multicellular organisms. Green plants obtain most of their energy from sunlight via photosynthesis by primary chloroplasts that are derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria. Their chloroplasts contain chlorophylls a and b, which gives them their green color. Some plants are parasitic or mycotrophic and have lost the abil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tabernaemontana
''Tabernaemontana'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae. It has a pan-tropical distribution, found in Asia, Africa, Australia, North America, South America, and a wide assortment of oceanic islands. These plants are evergreen shrubs and small trees growing to 1–15 m tall. The leaves are opposite, 3–25 cm long, with milky sap; hence it is one of the diverse plant genera commonly called "milkwood". The flowers are fragrant, white, 1–5 cm in diameter. The cultivar '' T. divaricata'' cv. 'Plena', with doubled-petaled flowers, is a popular houseplant. Some members of the genus ''Tabernaemontana'' are used as additives to some versions of the psychedelic drink ayahuasca; the genus is known to contain ibogaine (e.g. in bëcchëte, ''T. undulata''), conolidine (present in minor concentration in ''T. divaricata'') and voacangine ('' T. alba'', '' T. arborea'', '' T. africana''). Because of presence of coronaridine and voacangine in Mexican ''Ta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arrow Poison
Arrow poisons are used to poison arrow heads or darts for the purposes of hunting and warfare. They have been used by indigenous peoples worldwide and are still in use in areas of South America, Africa and Asia. Notable examples are the poisons secreted from the skin of the poison dart frog, and curare (or 'ampi'), a general term for a range of plant-derived arrow poisons used by the indigenous peoples of South America. Poisoned arrows have featured in mythology, notably the Greek story of Heracles slaying the centaur Nessus using arrows poisoned with the blood of the Lernaean Hydra. The Greek hero Odysseus poisons his arrows with hellebore in Homer's ''Odyssey''. Poisoned arrows also figure in Homer's epic about the Trojan War, the ''Iliad'', in which both Achaeans and Trojans used toxic arrows and spears. Poisoned arrows are referred to in the Book of Job in the Bible, descriptive of the sufferings experienced by the just man, Job. The modern terms "toxic" and "toxin" derive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conjunctivitis
Conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye, is inflammation of the outermost layer of the white part of the eye and the inner surface of the eyelid. It makes the eye appear pink or reddish. Pain, burning, scratchiness, or itchiness may occur. The affected eye may have increased tears or be "stuck shut" in the morning. Swelling of the white part of the eye may also occur. Itching is more common in cases due to allergies. Conjunctivitis can affect one or both eyes. The most common infectious causes are viral followed by bacterial. The viral infection may occur along with other symptoms of a common cold. Both viral and bacterial cases are easily spread between people. Allergies to pollen or animal hair are also a common cause. Diagnosis is often based on signs and symptoms. Occasionally, a sample of the discharge is sent for culture. Prevention is partly by handwashing. Treatment depends on the underlying cause. In the majority of viral cases, there is no specific treatment. Mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rickets
Rickets is a condition that results in weak or soft bones in children, and is caused by either dietary deficiency or genetic causes. Symptoms include bowed legs, stunted growth, bone pain, large forehead, and trouble sleeping. Complications may include bone deformities, bone pseudofractures and fractures, muscle spasms, or an abnormally curved spine. The most common cause of rickets is a vitamin D deficiency, although hereditary genetic forms also exist. This can result from eating a diet without enough vitamin D, dark skin, too little sun exposure, exclusive breastfeeding without vitamin D supplementation, celiac disease, and certain genetic conditions. Other factors may include not enough calcium or phosphorus. The underlying mechanism involves insufficient calcification of the growth plate. Diagnosis is generally based on blood tests finding a low calcium, low phosphorus, and a high alkaline phosphatase together with X-rays. Prevention for exclusively breastfed babi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthelmintic
Anthelmintics or antihelminthics are a group of antiparasitic, antiparasitic drugs that expel parasitic worms (helminths) and other internal parasites from the body by either stunning or killing them and without causing significant damage to the host. They may also be called vermifuges (those that stun) or vermicides (those that kill). Anthelmintics are used to treat people who are infected by helminths, a condition called helminthiasis. These drugs are also used to treat infected animals. Pills containing anthelmintics are used in mass deworming campaigns of school-aged children in many developing countries. The drugs of choice for soil-transmitted helminths are mebendazole and albendazole; for schistosomiasis and tapeworm, tapeworms it is praziquantel. Types Antiparasitics that specifically target worms of the genus ''Ascaris'' are called ascaricides. * Benzimidazoles: ** Albendazole – effective against Strongyloides stercoralis, threadworms, roundworms, whipworms, tapeworms, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otto Stapf (botanist)
Otto Stapf FRS (23 April 1857, in Perneck near Bad Ischl – 3 August 1933, in Innsbruck) was an Austrian born botanist and taxonomist, the son of Joseph Stapf, who worked in the Hallstatt salt-mines. He grew up in Hallstatt and later published about the archaeological plant remains from the Late Bronze- and Iron Age mines that had been uncovered by his father. Stapf studied botany in Vienna under Julius Wiesner, where he received his PhD with a dissertation on cristals and cristalloids in plants. 1882 he became assistant professor (''Assistent'') of Anton Kerner. In 1887 he was made ''Privatdozent'' (lecturer without a chair) in Vienna. He published the results of an expedition Jakob Eduard Polak, the personal physician of Nasr al-Din, the Shah of Persia, had conducted in 1882, and plants collected by Felix von Luschan in Lycia and Mesopotamia 1881–1883. In 1885, Polak sponsored Stapf to conduct a botanical expedition of his own to South- and Western Persia, which was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haemostatic
An antihemorrhagic (antihæmorrhagic) agent is a substance that promotes hemostasis (stops bleeding). It may also be known as a hemostatic (also spelled haemostatic) agent. Antihemorrhagic agents used in medicine have various mechanisms of action: * Systemic drugs work by inhibiting fibrinolysis or promoting coagulation. * Locally acting hemostatic agents work by causing vasoconstriction or promoting platelet aggregation. Medical uses Hemostatic agents are used during surgical procedures to achieve hemostasis and are categorized as hemostats, sealants and adhesives. They vary based on their mechanism of action, composition, ease of application, adherence to tissue, immunogenicity and cost. These agents permit rapid hemostasis, better visualization of the surgical area, shorter operative times, decreased requirement for transfusions, decreased wound healing time and overall improvement in patient recovery time. Types Systemic There are several classes of antihemorrhagic drug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
