''Nothocestrum'' is a genus of

flowering plant 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 ...

s in the nightshade family,

Solanaceae Solanaceae (), commonly known as the nightshades, is a family of flowering plants in the order Solanales. It contains approximately 2,700 species, several of which are used as agricultural crops, medicinal plants, and ornamental plants. Many me ...

. It contains four species of large

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 ...

s or small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s that are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, where they are known as ''aiea''.

Species

* '' Nothocestrum breviflorum'' A.Gray – Smallflower aiea (

island of Hawaii Hawaii is the List of islands of the United States by area, largest island in the United States, located in the Hawaii, state of Hawaii, the southernmost state in the union. It is the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of volcani ...

) * ''

Nothocestrum latifolium ''Nothocestrum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. It contains four species of large shrubs or small trees that are endemic to Hawaii, where they are known as ''aiea''. Species * '' Nothocestrum breviflorum'' ...

'' A.Gray – Broadleaf aiea (

Maui Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...

Molokai Molokai or Molokai ( or ; Molokaʻi dialect: Morotaʻi ) is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its g ...

, Lānai,

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

Kauai Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands. It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauai lies 73 m ...

) * '' Nothocestrum longifolium'' A.Gray – Longleaf aiea (island of Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, Lānai, Oahu, Kauai) * '' Nothocestrum peltatum'' Skottsb. – Oahu aiea (Kauai)

Medicinal use

The leaves, bark, and tap root of Nothocestrum spp. were used to make infusions applied topically to treat ''

abscess An abscess is a collection of pus that has built up within the tissue of the body, usually caused by bacterial infection. Signs and symptoms of abscesses include redness, pain, warmth, and swelling. The swelling may feel fluid-filled when pre ...

es'', the plant parts being pounded, mixed with water, strained, heated with hot rocks, and cooled before application. The same plant parts were also made into a liquid medicine taken internally to treat abscesses. This medicine also contained ‘ohi‘a bark (''

Metrosideros ''Metrosideros'' is a genus of approximately 60 trees, shrubs, and vines in the family Myrtaceae, mostly found in the Pacific region. Most of the tree forms are small, but some are exceptionally large, the New Zealand species in particular. The ...

'' spp.), moa holo kula (''

Psilotum nudum ''Psilotum nudum'', the whisk fern, is a species of fern in the order Psilotaceae, Psilotales. Like the other species in this order, it lacks roots. ''Psilotum nudum'', means "bare naked" in Latin, because it lacks (or seems to lack) most of the ...

'') and kō honua‘ula (red/purple

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

, ''

Saccharum officinarum ''Saccharum officinarum'' is a large, strong-growing species of grass in the sugarcane genus. Its stout stalks are rich in sucrose, a disaccharide sugar which accumulates in the stalk internodes. It originated in New Guinea, and is now cultivate ...

'').

References

External links

* * Physaleae Endemic flora of Hawaii Trees of Hawaii Solanaceae genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{tree-stub