''Tragia volubilis'' also known as fireman is a climbing subshrub or climbing shrub native to tropical America and Africa. It belongs to the

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae (), the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of Euphorbia, the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', ar ...

family, ''

Tragia ''Tragia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It is widespread across North and South America, Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian Subcontinent, northern Australia, and to various islands in the Caribbean ...

'' genus. As many of the species of the genus, it has stinging hairs, similar to those of

nettle Nettle refers to plants with stinging hairs, particularly those of the genus '' Urtica''. It can also refer to plants which resemble ''Urtica'' species in appearance but do not have stinging hairs. Plants called "nettle" include: * ball nettle ...

Distribution

The species is distributed from Mexico and the Caribbean to Argentina, and in Central Africa.

Uses

It is used as a poison and also as a medicinal plant with diuretic and anti STD uses.

Phytochemistry

The methanolic extract of the aerial parts of the plant contains alkaloids, flavonoids and tannins.

Avicularin Avicularin is a bio-active flavonol isolated from a number of plants including ''Polygonum aviculare'',LC Method for Analysis of Three Flavonols in Rat Plasma and Urine after Oral Administration of Polygonum aviculare Extract. Fuquan Xu, Huashi Gua ...

quercitrin Quercitrin is a glycoside formed from the flavonoid quercetin and the deoxy sugar rhamnose. Austrian chemist Heinrich Hlasiwetz (1825-1875) is remembered for his chemical analysis of quercitrin. It has also been investigated as a potential d ...

afzelin Afzelin is a flavonol glycoside. It is the rhamnoside of kaempferol. It is found in ''Nymphaea odorata ''Nymphaea odorata'', also known as the American white waterlily, fragrant water-lily, beaver root, fragrant white water lily, white water l ...

and

amentoflavone Amentoflavone is a biflavonoid (''bis''-apigenin coupled at 8 and 3 positions, or 3,8-biapigenin) constituent of a number of plants including ''Ginkgo biloba'', ''Chamaecyparis obtusa'' (hinoki), ''Biophytum sensitivum'', '' Selaginella tamarisci ...

were isolated and identified from the extract. The biological activity of these compounds supports the ethnomedical uses of the plant. Partitions of the aqueous extract of ''T. volubilis'' reduce the activity of the chemotherapeutic

doxorubicin Doxorubicin, sold under the brand name Adriamycin among others, is a chemotherapy medication used to treat cancer. This includes breast cancer, bladder cancer, Kaposi's sarcoma, lymphoma, and acute lymphocytic leukemia. It is often used toge ...

References

volubilis Volubilis (; ; ) is a partly excavated Berber-Roman city in Morocco, situated near the city of Meknes, that may have been the capital of the Kingdom of Mauretania, at least from the time of King Juba II. Before Volubilis, the capital of the kin ...

Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Plants described in 1753 Flora of the Neotropical realm {{Euphorbiaceae-stub