Physochlaina

''Physochlaina'' is a small genus of herbaceous perennial flowering plants belonging to the nightshade family, Solanaceae, found principally in the north-western provinces of China (and regions adjoining these in the Himalaya and Central Asia) although one species occurs in Western Asia, while others occur in Siberia, Mongolia and the Chinese autonomous region of Inner Mongolia. Some sources maintain that the widespread species ''P. physaloides'' is found also in Japan, but the species is not recorded as being native in one of the few English-language floras of the country. The genus has medicinal value, being rich in tropane alkaloids, and is also of ornamental value, three species having been grown for ornament, although hitherto infrequently outside botanical gardens. Furthermore, the genus contains a species (''P. physaloides'' – recorded in older literature under the synonyms ''Hyoscyamus physalodes'', ''Hyoscyamus physaloides'' and ''Scopolia physaloides'') formerly used as an entheogen in Siberia (re. which see translation of Gmelin's account of such use below).

Derivation of genus name

The name ''Physochlaina'' is a compound of the Greek words φυσα (''phusa''), 'bladder' / 'bubble' / 'inflated thing' and χλαινα ( ''chlaina'' ), 'robe' / 'loose outer garment' / 'cloak' / 'wrapper' – giving the meaning 'clad loosely in a puffed-up bladder' – in reference to the calyces of the plants, which become enlarged and sometimes bladder-like in fruit – like those of the much better known Solanaceous genera Physalis, Withania and Nicandra, from which they differ in enclosing, not berries, but box-like pyxidial capsules, like those of Hyoscyamus (see below). The variant spelling ''Physochlaena'' – as employed by Professor Eva Schönbeck-Temesy in her section on the Solanaceae for ''Flora Iranica'' – appears first on page 737 of Volume 22 of the German-language journal ''Linnaea'' for the year 1849.

Publication of genus name

The genus name ''Physochlaina'' was first published in 1838 by Scottish botanist George Don ( great-uncle of Monty Don ) on page 470 of volume IV of his four-volume work ''A General System of Gardening and Botany'', often referred to as ''Gen. Hist.'' (an abbreviation of the alternative title ''A General History of the Dichlamydeous Plants'') and written between 1832 and 1838. He included in his new genus the two species hitherto known as ''Hyoscyamus physaloides'' L. and ''Hyoscyamus orientalis'' M. Bieb. – the latter published by Baron Friedrich August Marschall von Bieberstein in his ''Flora taurico-caucasica'' of 1808.

Common names

Not being native to Western Europe, plants belonging to the genus ''Physochlaina'' have no common name of any antiquity in English, nor have they acquired a more recent common name among English-speaking gardeners, despite the passage of two centuries since their introduction to cultivation in the U.K.

Robert Sweet coined the English name ''Oriental Henbane'' for ''P. orientalis'' in his work ''The British Flower Garden'' in 1823, but this is simply a translation of the ( now obsolete ) name ''Hyoscyamus orientalis''. He further coins the name ''Purple-flowered Henbane'' for the Siberian species ''P. physaloides'', but this adds to the confusion, as, not only is the species in question no longer classified as a Henbane ( i.e. ''Hyoscyamus'' ), but there are also a number of ( true ) ''Hyoscyamus'' spp. which bear purple flowers – e.g. Hyoscyamus muticus.

There is, however, a common name (age unknown) for ''Physochlaina'' in Russian, namely Пузырница (''Puzeernitsa'') – 'bladder / bubble plant', qualified Пузырница Физалисовая (''Puzeernitsa Phizalisovaya'') – ''Physalis-like Bladder plant'' in the case of ''P. physaloides ''. The Swedish common name for the genus – ''Vårbolmört'' – translates as ' Spring(-flowering) Henbane', while the Finnish common name ''Kievarinyrtti'' means ' Inn Herb' and the Estonian common name is ''Ida-vullrohu'', meaning 'Eastern Henbane'.

In Turkey, where the species ''Physochlaina orientalis'' is native to the region abutting the easternmost stretch of Turkey's Black Sea coast, the common name given to the plant is ''Taş Banotu'', meaning ''Stone Henbane'' i.e. "the henbane that grows on/out of, stone" in reference to the plant's ability to thrive in rock crevices ee section below on ''P. orientalis'' with accompanying image of wild specimen growing in crevices in volcanic rock The late Professor Turhan Baytop lists the Turkish common name ''Yalancı Banotu'' (= "False Henbane") for the plant in his 1963 work on the medicinal and poisonous plants of Turkey. He does not, however, record any information concerning any medicinal properties attributed to ''Physochlaina orientalis'' or folk medicinal uses of it made in Turkey. While Baytop includes a brief mention of the plant in the section "List of the Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Turkey" under the family heading "Solanaceae", he does not include it in the section which constitutes the bulk of his work - namely "Principal Medicinal Plants of Turkey" - this in marked contrast to his substantial treatment of the related genus ''Hyoscyamus''.
The list entry for ''P. orientalis'' reads simply " * Physoclaina ic.orientalis (M.B.) G.Don. - ''Yalancı Banotu'': Gümüşhane" - the initial asterisk here indicating a plant not only medicinal but actively poisonous, and "Gümüşhane" the province of Turkey in which the plant is to be found.

In the ancient, Iranian language Ossetian, spoken both to the North and the South of the Greater Caucasus range, plants of the genus Physochlaina have the common name Тыппыргæрдæг – approximate pronunciation ''Typpyrgərdəg'' ( where schwa stands for the unique Ossetian vowel for which the special letter 'æ' had to be created in the Cyrillic alphabet ). (See also page ''Physochlaina'' in Wikipedia, language: Ирон).
The name Тыппыргæрдæг is composed of the Ossetian elements тыппыр ( ''typpyr'' ) 'swollen' / 'puffed up' and кæрдаг / гæрдаг ( (approx.) ''kerdag'' / ''gerdag'' ) 'grass' / 'herb' (and also - confusingly - 'fungus' / 'mushroom'), thus yielding an English translation of ''bladder-grass'' ( cf. Ossetian таппуз (''tappuz'') 'bladder' / 'bubble' ). This Ossetian common name for the plant is thus very similar in meaning to the Russian ''Puzeernitsa'', but it is not clear whether it arose independently or is simply a translation of the Russian name for the plant. This said, Abaev lists a second meaning (prevalent particularly in the Digor dialect) of the Ossetian word ''typpyr'', namely 'kurgan' (burial mound), in which the primary sense of 'swelling' is applied specifically to a swelling in the landscape i.e. a tumulus or small artificial hill. It is thus possible that the compound ''Typpyrgerdeg'' is translateable as ''grave-grass'' i.e. a herb associated in some way with grave mounds. Such a meaning for this compound would be compatible with a native Ossetian provenance - not unlikely in regard to the name of a plant native to the Caucasus (see below re. ''P. orientalis'').

There are likewise several common names for the Himalayan ''Physochlaina praealta'' in the various languages of Nepal, and common names for the genus ''Physochlaina'' and the various ''Physochlaina'' species of Eastern Asiatic provenance in Standard Chinese (泡囊草属 ''pao nang ts'ao shu''), Tibetan (''khyn khors''), Kazakh (үрмежеміс = (approximately) ''urmezhemis''), Uzbek (''xiyoli''), Uyghur, Mongolian (''garag chig tav'') and certain Tungusic languages.

Accepted species

The Plant List, a joint project of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Missouri Botanical Garden, accepts only six species of the genus:
* '' Physochlaina capitata'' A.M. Lu (common name in Chinese: 伊犁泡囊草 ''yi li pao nang cao'' i.e. "''Physochlaina'' of the Ili River region") : Xinjiang : Ili River valley region, encompassing Borohoro Mountains and S.W. Tian Shan : Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture (principal settlement Yining City) : Xinyuan County (known as Künes pre-1946) and Gongliu County, growing on grassy slopes and in rock crevices. Corolla : yellow with purple throat or pale purple veined with deeper purple. Flowering time April to May and fruiting from May to June.
* '' Physochlaina infundibularis'' Kuang : Southeastern and North-Central China : South and West Henan, Qin Mountains of Shaanxi and South Shanxi, growing in valleys and forests at altitude of 800-1600m. Corolla : greenish-yellow, pale purplish at base or yellowish-purple. Flowering time : March to May and fruiting from May to June. It has also been reported as native to Primorskiy Krai.Фитоаптека (Fitoapteka) http://fitoapteka.org/herbs-p/4103-101032-physochlaina-infundibuaris
* '' Physochlaina macrocalyx'' Pascher (common name in Chinese 长萼泡囊草 chang e pao nang cao): Tibet. Little-known species. Corolla entirely yellow (no trace of violet). Not yet observed in fruit. Only description available the original brief one by Adolf Pascher, publisher of species name.
* '' Physochlaina macrophylla'' Bonati : South-Central China : W. Sichuan, growing in forests at altitude of 1900-2400m. Corolla purple. Flowering time :June to July and fruiting from July to August.
* '' Physochlaina physaloides'' ( L.) G.Don : China : Hebei, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang. Also Kazakhstan, Mongolia and S. Siberia. Grows on grassy slopes and forest margins at around 1000m. Corolla purple. Flowering from April to May and fruiting from May to July.
* '' Physochlaina praealta'' ( Decne.) Miers : Western Himalaya, N. India, N. Pakistan, Nepal and Tibet, growing on slopes at altitude of 4200-4500m. Corolla yellow with purple or greenish veins. Flowering from June to July and fruiting from July to August.
The others being rejected mostly as synonyms.
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Science Plants of the World online, however, accepts also:
* '' Physochlaina alaica'' Korotkova ex Kovalevsk : Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
* '' Physochlaina albiflora'' Grubov : Mongolia
* '' Physochlaina orientalis'' ( M.Bieb.) G.Don : 'Balkan States' (according to Flora of USSR), Armenia and E. Turkey, Transcaucasia, Iran and W. Central Asia
* '' Physochlaina semenowii'' Regel : Meeting point of Xinjiang province of China and easternmost Kazakhstan i.e. Dzungaria – notably the Tarbagatay Mountains (= ' Tarbagan marmot Mountains'), the Dzungarian Alatau ('Trans-Ilian Alatau' – Semenova) and the Tian Shan (including the Borohoro Mountains). Also Kyrgyzstan. Grows in mountains and mountain river valleys. Corolla small (1 cm) tubular and violet. Flowering from May to June.

Description

Perennial herbs, differing in their type of inflorescence – a terminal, cymose panicle or corymbose raceme – from the other five genera of subtribe Hyoscyaminae within tribe Hyoscyameae of the Solanaceae. Flowers pedunculate (not secund, sessile/subsessile as in Hyoscyamus). Calyx lobes subequal or unequal; corolla campanulate (bell-shaped) or infundibuliform (funnel-shaped), lobes subequal or sometimes unequal, imbricate in bud; stamens inserted at the middle of corolla tube; disk conspicuous; fruiting calyx lobes nonspinescent apically (i.e. lacking the spiny points characteristic of the calyces of the related genus Hyoscyamus – the Henbanes), fruiting calyx inflated, bladder-like or campanulate, loosely enclosing the capsular fruit. Fruit a pyxidium (i.e. dry capsule opening by a distinct operculum ( = lid ) – as in the other five genera of the Hyoscyaminae).
Pollen grain polymorphic, usually subspheroidal, oval in polar view, circular-triangular in equatorial view.

Horticultural merit as ornamental

A gifted botanist blessed also with a gardener's eye for beauty, George Don was enthusiastic in his praise for the two plant species for which he created the new genus ''Physochlaina'', noting in his ' ''A General History...'' ' of 1838 :

'The species of ''Physochlaina'' are extremely desirable plants; being early flowerers, and elegant when in blossom. They will grow in any soil, and are readily propagated by divisions of the root, or by seed. They are well adapted for decorating borders in early spring'.

In regard to the soil type favoured by wild populations, volume 22 of ''Linnaea'' (in surprisingly geological vein) provides the observation that ''Physochlaina orientalis'' is to be found growing on soils underlain by trachytes (volcanic rocks of a type notably rich in the chemical element potassium, a plant macronutrient essential for the production of flowers and fruit and, in a specifically Solanaceous context, the main ingredient of liquid feed for tomato plants).

Use in traditional Chinese medicine

At least three species of ''Physochlaina'' are currently used in traditional Chinese medicine : ''P. infundibularis'', ''P. physaloides'' and ''P. praealta''.

''Physochlaina infundibularis''

漏斗泡囊草 ''Lou-dou Pao-nang-ts'ao'' / ''lou dou pao nang cao'' (= 'Funnel-shaped ''Physochlaina'' '). The inhabitants of the neighbouring provinces of Shaanxi (rendered formerly 'Shensi') and Henan hold ''P. infundibularis'' in high esteem as a medicinal plant, regarding it as a kind of ginseng : most unusually for a toxic Solanaceous plant (totally unrelated botanically to the Araliaceous ginseng genus Panax) it is considered to be a 'general tonic' ( = adaptogen). The Chinese element 参 ''shen'' (= ''ginseng'') forms a part of two of the common names for the plant, namely 华山参 ''Hua-shan-shen'' (= ''ginseng of Mount Hua'') and ''Je-shen'' (= ''hot ginseng'' – from its hot, sweet, slightly bitter and astringent taste).

As with Panax, it is the fleshy root of ''Physochlaina infundibularis'' that forms the drug : the fresh, raw roots are first peeled and then boiled in a sugar solution containing small quantities of three other herbal drugs, before being dried, ready for storage and use. The three drugs added to the boiling solution are the root of '' Glycyrrhiza uralensis'', the rhizome of '' Ophiopogon japonicus'' and the fruits of ''Gardenia jasminoides''. This peeling, boiling and addition of 'cooling', 'yin' drugs is undertaken to mitigate the 'heat' / toxicity of the ''Physochlaina infundibularis'' roots.

In addition to its use as an adaptogen, ''P. infundibularis'' is used (in traditional Chinese medicine) in the treatment of asthma, chronic bronchitis, abdominal pain, palpitations and insomnia and as a sedative. The drug is also used to treat diarrhea of the kind considered in traditional Chinese medicine to be 'diarrhea due to deficiency of vital energy with symptoms of cold'.

The nomenclatural association of ''P. infundibularis'' with Mount Hua – 'West Great Mountain' of the Five Great Mountains of China of Taoism – is an interesting one and merits further study : in common with other mountains regarded in China as numinous/ Xian ling, Mount Hua (a precipitous assemblage of five (counted anciently only as three) peaks in the Qin range) is held to be a source of rare medicinal plants and life-prolonging elixirs. Furthermore, at the foot of the West Peak of Mount Hua (known as Lianhua Feng (蓮花峰) or Furong Feng (芙蓉峰), both meaning Lotus Flower Summit) stood, from as early as the second century BCE, a Taoist temple which was the site of shamanic practices undertaken by spirit mediums (see also Wu (shaman)) to contact an (unnamed) God of the Underworld and his minions, believed to dwell in the heart of the mountain.(See also Chinese folk religion). Tropane-containing, Solanaceous plants (such as ''Datura'' and '' Hyoscyamus'' spp.) have a long history of use as entheogens in shamanic practices – including Taoist practices- and indeed ''Physochlaina physaloides'' is known definitely to have been used as an entheogen by certain Tungus tribes ( see section below ), so the possible use of its sister species ''P. infundibularis'' in Taoist, shamanic practices at Mount Hua might prove a topic worthy of consideration.

In addition to its being considered a kind of ginseng in its own right, the root of ''Physochlaina infundibularis'' ('Physochlainae Radix') is sometimes passed off in the ginseng trade as a substitute for the more costly roots of the true ginsengs ''Panax ginseng'' and '' Panax quinquefolius'' – a dangerous practice which could lead to the (potentially fatal), anticholinergic poisoning of unwitting users of these famous tonics, although the substitution tends to be a feature of local, Chinese (rather than international) trade.

ote: as indicated previously, above, ''Physochlaina infundibularis'' is claimed (in a Russian language website) also to be native to what was once the extreme northeast of China (see Outer Manchuria), but is now the Primorskiy Krai region of the Russian Far East.] The Russian name for the plant is given as Пузырница воронковидная (''Puzeernitsa Voronkovidnaya'') i.e. "funnel-shaped bladder plant" / "the bladder-bearing plant with funnel-shaped flowers", which, like the Chinese ''lou dou pao nang cao'' is simply a translation of the scientific name for the plant.
The plant illustrated in the image on the website page resembles ''Physochlaina physaloides'' but the description provided pertains to ''P. infundibularis''.]

''Physochlaina macrophylla''

大叶泡囊草 ''Da-ye Pao-nang-t'sao'' / ''da ye pao nang cao'' (= "big-leaf ''Physochlaina''" - translating the specific name ''macrophylla'' - Greek for "(having) large leaves" (the disproportionately large leaves dwarf the modest violet flowers)). Like the root of ''Physochlaina infundibularis'', that of ''P. macrophylla'' has also (apparently) occasionally been passed off as that of ''Panax'' in the Chinese ginseng trade : '(The root of) ''Physochlaina macrophylla'' Bonati, a native of Henan, Honan, China, in appearance is very much like ginseng but slightly red; one should avoid using it as a substitute for ginseng as its alkaloid causes vomiting'.

''Physochlaina physaloides''

泡囊草 ''Pao-nang-ts'ao'' / ''pao nang cao'' (= "(common) ''Physochlaina''") is the Standard Chinese name of the widespread species ''P. physaloides'' and the drug derived from it, which is used in the traditional medicine of Mongolia, where the plant has the common name ''Yagaan Khyn Khors'' and is also sometimes known by the Tibetan name ''Tampram''. In the traditional systems of medicine in China and Mongolia it is considered to have the effects of 'combatting weakness', 'warming up the stomach', 'soothing the mental condition' and relieving asthma. It is also used for treating 'diarrhea due to deficiency of vital energy with symptoms of cold' and 'cough or asthma caused by excessive phlegm or neurasthenia'.
Note : the medical concept neurasthenia – now largely abandoned in Western medicine – is expressed in Chinese as ''shenjing shuairuo'' (simplified Chinese: 神经衰弱), a compound of ''shenjing'' 'nervous' and ''shuairuo'' 'weakness', and the Chinese condition so described is a culture-bound syndrome encompassing debility, emotional turmoil, excitement, tension-induced pain and sleep disturbances, caused by a depletion of qi ('vital energy') and impaired functioning of the ''wuzang'' (= 'five vital organs').

A recent chemical analysis of the plant revealed the presence of the following compounds: in the above-ground parts, the flavonoids neoisorutin, glucoepirutin, rutin, quercetin-
3-O-β-D-glucofuranosyl-(6→I)-α-L- rhamnopyranoside-7-α-L-rhamnopyranoside and the alkaloids hyoscyamine, scopolamine and 6-hydroxyatropine; while the underground organs yielded the flavonoids liquiritigenin, guaiaverine, coumarin, scopolin, fabriatrin, scopoletin, umbelliferone, and also β-sitosterol, 3-O-β-D- glucopyranoside-β-sitosterol and the alkaloids atropine, scopolamine and cuscohygrine.''Medicinal Plants in Mongolia'' pub. World Health Organization, Regional Office for the Western Pacific Region 2013

retrieved at 13.01 on 2/11/19.

''Physochlaina praealta''

西藏泡囊草 (''H'si-Tsang-pao-nang-ts'ao'' / ''xi zang pao nang cao'' = "Tibetan ''Physochlaina''") is the Standard Chinese name given both to ''Physochlaina praealta'' (Decne) Miers. and the drug prepared from its roots and aerial parts. This has been used in Tibet as a substitute for ''Tsang-ch'ieh'' (transliterated also as Zang Qie) – Anisodus tanguticus, more commonly known in China as ''shān làngdàng'' (= 山莨菪 = 'mountain henbane'). Unsurprisingly, for a tropane-containing plant, ''P. praealta'' has been recognised in India to have the belladonna-like property of causing mydriasis and is also used there as a topical medication in the treatment of boils.Sharma, B.M. and Singh, Pratap, (1975) Pharmacognostic study of ''Physochlaina praealta'' Miers. ''Quarterly Journal of Crude Drug Research'', 13, pps. 77–84.

Corroboration of the possession of antiseptic properties by ''Physochlaina praealta'' was provided recently by the publication (in 2019) of a paper entitled (most unhelpfully in this context) ''Isolation of Anemonin from Pulsatilla wallichiana and its Biological Activities''. In a manner not so much as hinted at by its title, this paper discusses not only the effects of aqueous extracts of the eponymous Pulsatilla species but also of methanol extracts of ''Physochlaina praealta'' on various pathogens and medical conditions.Iftikhar Ali, Sakeena Khatoon, Faiza Amber, Qamar Abbas, Muhammad Ismail, Nadja Engel, and Viqar Uddin Ahmad ''Isolation of Anemonin from Pulsatilla wallichiana and its Biological Activities'' J. Chem. Soc. Pak., Vol. 41, No. 02, 2019 pps. 325-333.

In their prefatory remarks, Iftikhar et al. note that, in Baltistan, the plant, known locally as ''Luntung'', is known to be poisonous and to have medicinal properties beneficial to both animals and humans, its leaves being used as antiseptic bedding material in cattle sheds and its seeds and flowers being used to treat toothache

The methanolic extract of P. praealta was studied for the following biological activities: antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, cytotoxic, phytotoxic, brine shrimp lethality and insecticidal properties.

The results of the tests for antibacterial activity revealed that the extract exhibited the highest percentage inhibition against ''Staphylococcus aureus'' (68.54%), followed by ''Escherichia coli'' (10.04%), ''Bacillus subtilis'' (06.96%) and '' Salmonella typhi'' (01.04%) while it remained inactive against '' Shigella flexneri'' and ''Pseudomonas aeruginosa''.

In tests for antifungal activity the extract proved inactive against the species '' Candida albicans'', ''Trichophyton rubrum'', ''Aspergillus niger'', ''Microsporum canis'' and '' Fusarium lini''.

In the test for anti-inflammatory activity the extract exhibited 17.6% inhibition at a concentration 25 mg/mL, Ibuprofen being used as a standard drug for comparison and showing 73.2% inhibition at the same concentration.

In the first test for anticancer activity doxorubicin was used as the standard drug of comparison against HeLa cell lines, showing 73% inhibition at 30 μg/mL concentration. At the same concentration, the extract exhibited 30% inhibition and was deemed inactive against HeLa cell lines by comparison.

The second test involved testing for anticancer activity on highly metastatic cancer cells - for which the alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma cell line Rh30 was chosen. After treatment with 50 μg/mL, far from a hoped-for decrease in cell viability, the ''P. praealta'' methanolic extract actually slightly increased the cell viability up to 10%.

In the cytotoxicity test, the extract exhibited 22% inhibition, and was considered nontoxic against 3T3 cell lines at the concentration 30 μg/mL, while the standard drug 'cycroamide' ypo in Iftikhar paper re.cyclophosphamide?">cyclophosphamide.html" ;"title="ypo in Iftikhar paper re.cyclophosphamide">ypo in Iftikhar paper re.cyclophosphamide?used for purposes of comparison, showed a 70% inhibition against 3T3 cell lines when applied at a similar concentration.

In the phytotoxicity test, the Lemnoideae">duckweed