Alchornea glandulosa

Alchornea glandulosa
Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Subfamily: Acalyphoideae
Tribe: Alchorneae
Subtribe: Alchorneinae
Genus: Alchornea
Species: A. glandulosa
Binomial name
Alchornea glandulosa
Poepp. & Endl.
Synonyms

Alchornea irucurama Casar.
Alchornea pittieri Pax
Alchornea subrotunda Baill.
Alchornea umboensis Croizat

Alchornea glandulosa is a tree species of the Acalyphoideae native to South America, growing for example in southern Brazil from Minas Gerais to Rio Grande do Sul. It is locally known as tamanqueiro, tapiá or amor seco. This gnarled tree grows preferentially in riparian forest, where it a common pioneer species growing to a height of 10–20 m. It is essentially evergreen, though in the hot austral summer months there is a more pronounced changeover of leaves, and branches are denuded to some extent.[1]

The fruit is about 8.7 mm long by 5.9 mm wide on average, and contains one round seed measuring about 4.45 mm in diameter; very rarely a second seed develops. This sticks out of an aril at the fruit's tip; when ripe, the seedcoat turns bright red and the fruit somewhat resembles that of a yew with a larger and more prominent seed. Fruit ripen in the summer months, roughly between September/October and December/January in S Brazil, and as the trees bear less leaves at that time than otherwise, the bright red fruit are easily spotted.[2]

Stigmasterol can be obtained from A. glandulosa

This tree is often cut down for timber, but it is also useful as a honey plant. Also, its leaves contain compounds of medical interest. In folk medicine, Alchornea species are used to treat assorted skin diseases, diarrhea, inflammations, leprosy and rheuma. Scientific studies have confirmed most of these effects, and also found extracts of certain species to kill off trypanosoma, some bacteria and fungi, and cancer cells; the latter properties have also been tested in A. glandulosa. Compounds of interest in A. glandulosa include the phytosterols β-sitosterol and stigmasterol, the terpenoid loliolide, the guanidine alkaloid N-1,N-2,N-3-triisopentenylguanidine, and the phenolic compound corilagin.[3]

Given the fruit's attractive color and the conspicuous display at the branch-tips, this tree appears to be distributed by birds which eat the fruit and spread the seeds. Perching birds, namely tanagers (Thraupidae), thrushes (Turdidae) and tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae), are most commonly seen to feed on the fruit. Some birds, such as the silver-beaked tanager (Ramphocelus carbo), prune off the seedcoat and eat it, discarding the seed, but most swallow the entire fruit. Species such as the swallow tanager (Tersina viridis) and the pale-breasted thrush (Turdus leucomelas), but perhaps most of all the sayaca tanager (Thraupis sayaca), appear to be particularly fond of them. Indeed, the sayaca tanager will defend richly fruiting A. glandulosa trees against similar-sized birds such as the blue dacnis (Dacnis cayana) or the red-eyed vireo (Vireo olivaceus). It may be that at least locally, T. sayaca is crucial for the tree's reproduction and survival.[2]

A. glandulosa fruit are also significant food of certain migrant birds in their winter quarters. In particular the red-eyed vireo and the white-necked thrush (Turdus albicollis) have been noted to be fond of them, and Swainson's flycatchers (Myiarchus swainsoni) visit the trees very often too. But as it does not relish the fruits very much, the latter species is perhaps more attracted to insects living on the tree.[2]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Conegero et al. (2003), Pascotto et al. (2006)
  2. 1 2 3 Pascotto et al. (2006)
  3. ↑ Conegero et al. (2003)

References

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