''Siphonochilus aethiopicus'', commonly known as African ginger, is a species of flowering plant in the ginger family,

Zingiberaceae Zingiberaceae () or the ginger family is a family of flowering plants made up of about 50 genera with a total of about 1600 known species of aromatic perennial herbs with creeping horizontal or tuberous rhizomes distributed throughout tropical ...

.B.L.Burtt, 1982 ''In: Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 40: 372'' It is used in

traditional medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) refers to the knowledge, skills, and practices rooted in the cultural beliefs of various societies, especially Indigenous groups, used for maintaining health and treatin ...

in sub-Saharan Africa, and is critically endangered due to

over-harvesting Overexploitation, also called overharvesting or ecological overshoot, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to ...

Description

''Siphonochilus aethiopicus'' is a flowering

decidious In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flo ...

plant in the family Zingiberacae, the ginger family. It was first described by

Georg August Schweinfurth Georg August Schweinfurth (29 December 1836 – 19 September 1925) was a Baltic Germans, Baltic German botanist and ethnologist who explored East Central Africa. Life and explorations He was born at Riga, Latvia, then part of the Russian Emp ...

and received its current name from

Brian Laurence Burtt Brian Laurence "Bill" Burtt FRSE FLS (27 August 1913 – 30 May 2008), was an English botanist and taxonomist who is noted for his contributions to the family Gesneriaceae. In a career that spanned 74 years, he worked first at the Royal Botani ...

. The genus name ''

Siphonochilus ''Siphonochilus'' is a genus of flowering plants native to sub-Saharan Africa.Govaerts, R. (2004). World Checklist of Monocotyledons Database in ACCESS: 1-54382. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Species * ''Siphonochilus a ...

'' comes from ''siphoni'' and ''chilus'', both meaning tube, referring to the shape of the flower, while ''aethiopicus'' is an archaic word for Africa. ''Siphonochilus aethiopicus'' is native to west and south Africa. Due to over-harvesting, it is currently found at around 10% of its historic range. It can be found in

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

, wooded grassland, and bushland. It has large light green lance-shaped leaves. The South African variety has white or pink flowers, while the Nigerian variety has purple flowers. The flowers are funnel shaped and grow from ground level. It regrows annually from small underground roots called

rhizomes In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

. It can grow to about . It produces small fruit after a short flowering, usually just one day.

Human uses

Medicinal

''Siphonochilus aethiopicus'' is used in

in sub-Saharan Africa, and the African Herbal Pharmacopoeia lists it as one of the 51 most important medicinal plants in the region. The rhizomes are used to treat coughs, influenza, pain, inflammation, and malaria, among others, and sometimes used as a contraceptive tea. The rhizomes and leaves are used to relieve menstrual pain. Extracts are also used in some commercial medicines, including for asthma and allergies. A 2021 literature review found that the rhizome had "anti-

asthmatic Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheez ...

, anti-inflammatory, and antiplasmodial" properties, as well as limited

antimicrobial An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms (microbicide) or stops their growth (bacteriostatic agent). Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they are used to treat. For example, antibiotics are used aga ...

effects. The roots and rhizomes contain siphonochilone and

eucalyptol Eucalyptol (also called cineole) is a monoterpenoid colorless liquid, and a bicyclic ether. It has a fresh camphor-like odor and a spicy, cooling taste. It is insoluble in water, but miscible with organic solvents. Eucalyptol makes up about ...

, which have been used to treat asthma and allergies, and extracts have "natural anti-inflammatory mediators". There are few studies on the actual efficacy of the plant as used in traditional medicine. Due to

, the plant is considered critically endangered. While the plant can be cultivated, some traditional healers believe that only wild-harvested plants have the correct medical properties. In some markets of the

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

Province of South Africa, ''Siphonochilus aethiopicusi'' is the most expensive plant per weight, and could cost up to R800 per kilogram in 2011.

Other

In South Africa, ''Siphonochilus aethiopicus'' is used for spiritual healing and protection against spirits. The Zulu people use it to protect against lightning and snake bites. It is sometimes used as a spice or condiment. The oil is used to make

perfume Perfume (, ) is a mixture of fragrance, fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), Fixative (perfumery), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agre ...

Notes

References

{{Taxonbar aethiopicus