Hippobroma longiflora

Hippobroma longiflora (L.) G.Don, Gen. Hist. 3: 717 (1834).

Hippobroma longiflora (L.) G.Don

Hippobroma longiflora (L.) G.Don

Vietnamese name: Mù mát; Lỗ danh

Chinese name: 同瓣草 学名

English Name: Bethlehem star, Madam fate, Star flower.

Latin Name: Hippobroma longiflora (L.) G.Don

Synonym Name: Isotoma longiflora (L.) C.Presl; Isotoma longiflora var. runcinata (Hassk.) Panigrahi, P.Daniel & M.V.Viswan.; Isotoma runcinata Hassk.; Laurentia longiflora (L.) Peterm.; Laurentia longiflora var. runcinata (Hassk.) E.Wimm.; Lobelia longiflora L.; Rapuntium longiflorum (L.) Mill.; Solenopsis longiflora (L.) M.R.Almeida

Family: Campanulaceae

Description: Stems erect, 9-35 cm tall, simple or branching at base, glabrous or increasingly villous toward apex. Leaves sessile or shortly petiolate; blade 7-16 × 1-3.7 cm, oblanceolate or elliptic, glabrous or sometimes sparsely villous, base attenuate, apex acute or acuminate. Pedicels 3-10 mm, densely villous. Corolla white; tube 6.5-10 cm, villous, entire; lobes elliptic, narrowly elliptic, or linear, 1.8-2.5 cm. Hypanthium campanulate, obconic, or ellipsoid, 6-9 mm, densely villous; calyx lobes linear, 8-19 mm, villous, margin denticulate. Anther tube ca. 7 mm. Capsule obconic, campanulate, broadly ellipsoid, or obovoid, 11-15 × 8-12 mm, densely villous. Seeds light brown to red-brown, broadly ellipsoid, terete or slightly compressed, ca. 0.7 mm, reticulate. 2n = 28.

Distribution: It is found in China, Taiwan native to Jamaica; widely introduced and naturalized in tropics and subtropicsIn Viet Nam plants grow naturally and are grown for medicinal purposes in families.

Ecological: Grows in moist, shady, lowland areas with moderate rainfall. 

Chemistry: It is notable for its concentrations of two pyridine alkaloids: lobeline and nicotine.

- diphenethylpiperidine alkaloids, hippofoline A, hippofoline B, and (−)-cis-2',2''-diphenyllobelidiol N-oxide, alongside two known alkaloids, (-)-lobeline and (−)-cis-2',2''-diphenyllobelidiol.

Pharmacology: (-)-lobeline to treat respiratory-related diseases such as asthma and bronchitis (Felpin and Lebreton, 2004). More recently, (-)-lobeline was demonstrated to be a potential agent for the treatment of psychostimulant abuse by modulating dopamine reuptake in the central nervous system (D Crooks, 2002; Crooks et al., 2011)

Uses: Relieve toothache, sore mouth (Leaf). Applying to treat wounds, amygdalitis, diarrhea, diarrhea, malaria, fresh leaves to treat pus swell, snake bite. Poison attention when used.

Reference:

- theplantlist.org

- efloras.org

- ipni.org

- Zi-YangChan, KayatriGovindaraju, PremanandKrishnan, Yun-YeeLow, Kam-WengChong, Kien-ThaiYong, Kang-NeeTing, Kuan-HonLim; Diphenethylpiperidine alkaloids with tracheal smooth muscle relaxation activity from Hippobroma longiflora (L.) G. Don; Phytochemistry Letters Volume 30, April 2019, Pages 93-98