Craterostigma plantagineum

Craterostigma plantagineum, is a plant species in the genus Craterostigma. It is a dwarf growing plant and can be found (in ideal conditions) to make a 'carpet' across the ground, with blooms in shades of blue and purple. It is native to parts of Africa and to India. It is known as a resurrection plant (meaning it can dry out and stay dormant for long periods and then come back to life after some rain).

Craterostigma plantagineum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Linderniaceae
Genus: Craterostigma
Species:
C. plantagineum
Binomial name
Craterostigma plantagineum
Synonyms[1]

Craterostigma nanum (Benth.) Engl.
Torenia plantaginea  (Hochst.) Benth.[2]

Description
Seen in Borakalalo Game Reserve, North West Province, South Africa

Craterostigma plantagineum has a orange red to yellow rhizome with hairy roots underneath.[3]

It has a rosette of leaves,[4][2][5] which are variable,[5] ranging from narrow elliptic,[6] lanceolate,[2][3] to broadly ovate.[2][5][3] The leaf is approx. 50mm in diameter.[7] They can be lightly hairy on both surfaces,[5][4] or hairless above and hairy beneath.[2] They conspicuously veined,[5][2] or ribbed.[4] The veins or ribs are purple or pink on the underside.[4]

Above the leaf, it has a small branched or unbranched stem,[4] which is hairy,[4][2] and usually less than 2–3 in (51–76 mm) tall.[2][4] It is quadrangular in section.[3]

In summer it blooms, normally between October and May,[2] appearing a week after the first rains.[5][4][8]

The blooms appear at the end of the branched stems are the flowers, which are 0.3–1.0 cm (0–0 in) tall or long.[7][2][4] They are blue,[4][5][3] or purple.[2] with a white throat.[2][4] 5 broad lobes, with 2 yellow,[4] or orange honey guides, marked as spots at the throat,[5] acting as false stamens. The true stamens are united under the hood, where the two lobed stigma waits.[4]

After the flowers are finished blooming, it produces a fruit capsule which is ovoid,[3] cylindric and glabrous or smooth.[5]

Biochemistry

Most plants have two sets of chromosomes, this can be used to identify hybrids and aid in classification of groupings. It is polyploid,[9] and has a chromosome count of 2n=56.[3]

Resurrection plant

Craterostigma plantagineum (Hochst) is known as a resurrection plant as it has the ability to dry out and then stay dormant for long periods and then come back to life after some rain.[2][4] It re-hydrates rapidly on re-watering.[10] These survival mechanisms help it cope in environments with extreme hydration and restricted seasonal water.[9]

As well as being able to cope with water scarcity, it is also resistant to salinity.[11]

It is desiccation tolerant,[12] and in 2001, a study was carried out by D. Bartels and F. Salamini, to understand the drought tolerance at a molecular level (Plant Physiology, 127:1346-53).[13] Other studies on the plant include effects of desiccation on photosynthesis pigments (J. Alamillo and D. Bartels, 2001, Plant Sci 160, 1161-1170) and polyamine metabolic canalization of drought stress (R. Alcazar, M. Bitrian, D. Bartels et al. 2011, Plant Sig. Behav. 6:243-250).[14]

It was found in 2000, that the capacity to accumulate large amounts of sucrose in the vegetative tissues helps the plant survive.[15]

In 2011, a study found that Putrescine (an organic chemical compound) to spermine (an organic chemical compound) canalization has also been found in C. plantagineum, which conversely to Arabidopsis, accumulates high spermine levels which associate with drought tolerance.[16]

Taxonomy
Seen in Borakalalo Game Reserve, South Africa

It was once the english common name of Rhodesian Violet,[6] recently it has been called the Kenya violet.[4][17] It is also called 'blue carpet',[2][7][12] or 'false violet',[7] and occasionally as 'mole's spectacles'.[5] but this last one is normally the common name for Craterostigma wilmsii[18] or Craterostigma nanum.[19] It is also commonly called the 'resurrection plant' in science.[20]

In Zimbabwe, it has 2 common names, in Tonga language, it is known as 'mubatabata',[7] and in Ndebele language it is 'umabuyasibonze'.[2]

The Latin specific epithet plantagineum refers to the leaves of the plant which are similar to those of a plantain.[2][21]

It was first described and published by German (botanist and Protestant minister) Christian Ferdinand Friedrich Hochstetter, in 'Flora' Vol.24 on page 669 in 1841.[22][1][23]

The species and genus was described by Hochstetter also in 1841; the name 'Craterostigma', may refer to the hollow between the two lips of the stigma.[4]

It was verified by United States Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service on 12 April 2016.[23]

Distribution and habitat

Craterostigma plantagineum is native to some tropical parts of Africa and Temperate Asia.[23]

Range

It is found within Africa in Chad, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan (including Didinga mountains in south Sudan,[24]), Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Niger, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana,[5] Namibia and South Africa.[2][24] Within Asia, it is found in India and also on the Arabian peninsula in Yemen.[2][23][24]

Habitat

It is found growing in shallow soils over rock,[7][2] on the edge of murram (dirt roads), or on poor pasture lands,[4] and in wooded grasslands.[24][2]

It grows in lowlands,[7] at altitudes of 900–2,200 m (3,000–7,200 ft) above sea level.[2][4]

Cultivation

It is used in gardens within East Africa.[25]

Uses

It has been medically used in folk medicine in Botswana, an infusion of the roots was taken for the treatment of abdominal pains. Also an ointment was applied to the face as a lucky charm.[5]

References
  1. "Craterostigma plantagineum Hochst. is an accepted name". theplantlist.org (The Plant List). 23 March 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  2. "Flora of Zimbabwe: Species information: Craterostigma plantagineum". www.zimbabweflora.co.zw. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  3. Joachim W. Kadereit (Editor) Flowering Plants · Dicotyledons: Lamiales (except Acanthaceae including Avicenniaceae) (2002), p. 392, at Google Books
  4. Napier, E. (1933). "NOTES ON WILD FLOWERS" (PDF). biodiversitylibrary.org. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  5. Gwithie Kirby Wild Flowers of Southeast Botswana (2013), p. 325, at Google Books
  6. Hornby, H. E.; Hornby, Robina M. (1963–1964). "The Reaction of Craterostigma Plantagineum Hochst. To Desiccation". Kirkia, the Zimbabwe Journal of Botany. 4: 217–220. JSTOR 23501014. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  7. Horst Wild A Rhodesian Botanical Dictionary of African and English Plant Names 1972, p. 9, at Google Books
  8. Wildlife Society of Southern Africa African Wildlife, Volume 44, 1990, p. 295, at Google Books
  9. Q. Ashton Acton Issues in Life Sciences: Botany and Plant Biology Research: 2011 Edition , p. 852, at Google Books
  10. Norwood, M.; Truesdale, M.R.; Richter, A.; Scott, P. (1 February 2000). "Photosynthetic carbohydrate metabolism in the resurrection plant Craterostigma plantagineum". Journal of Experimental Botany. 51 (343): 159–165. doi:10.1093/jexbot/51.343.159. PMID 10938822. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  11. Ruth Grene, Nicholas J. Provart and José M. Pardo (Editors) Resistance to Salinity and Water Scarcity in Higher Plants. Insights From Extremophiles and Stress-Adapted Plants : Tools, Discoveries and Future Prospects (July 2019), p. 39, at Google Books
  12. Yuki Nakamura and Yonghua Li-Beisson (Editors)Lipids in Plant and Algae Development (2016), p. 185, at Google Books
  13. Bernard Goffinet Bryophyte Biology (2009), p. 326, at Google Books
  14. Shri Mohan Jain and S. Dutta Gupta (Editors) Biotechnology of Neglected and Underutilized Crops (2013), p. 68, at Google Books
  15. Scott, Peter (February 2000). "Resurrection Plants and the Secrets of Eternal Leaf". Annals of Botany. 85 (2): 159–166. doi:10.1006/anbo.1999.1006. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  16. Alcázar, Rubén; Bitrián, Marta; Bartels, Dorothea; Koncz, Csaba; Altabella, Teresa; Tiburcio, Antonio F. (2011). "Polyamine metabolic canalization in response to drought stress in Arabidopsis and the resurrection plant Craterostigma plantagineum". Plant Signaling & Behavior. 6 (2): 243–250. doi:10.4161/psb.6.2.14317. PMC 3121985. PMID 21330782.
  17. "Craterostigma plantagineum Kenya violet". rhs.org.uk. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  18. "Buy Craterostigma%20wilmsii seeds from B & T World Seeds". b-and-t-world-seeds.com. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  19. "Grasses, Sedges, Forbs, Herbs & Flowering Plants, Fountain Hill Reserve". Fountainhill Estate and Protected Area. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  20. Theodore T. Kozlowski, Stephen G. Pallardy Physiology of Woody Plants 2nd Edit. (1997), p. 342, at Google Books
  21. W. T. Parsons, William Thomas Parsons and E. G. Cuthbertson Noxious Weeds of Australia, p. 325, at Google Books
  22. "Craterostigma plantagineum, International Plant Names Index". www.ipni.org. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  23. "Taxon: Craterostigma plantagineum Hochst". npgsweb.ars-grin.gov. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  24. Ib Friis and Kaj Vollesen Flora of the Sudan-Uganda Border Area East of the Nile: Catalogue of vascular plants, 2nd Part, vegetation and phytogeography (2005), p. 423, at Google Books
  25. Arthur John Jex-Blake Gardening in East Africa: A Practical Handbook by Members of the Royal Kenya Horticultural Society and of the Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika Civil Services, p. 402, at Google Books

Other sources
  • Chapano, C. & Mugarisanwa, N.H. (2003). Plants of the Matobo District National Herbarium and Botanic Garden, Zimbabwe Page 10.
  • Fabian, A. & Germishuizen, G. (1997). Wild Flowers of Northern South Africa. Fernwood Press, Vlaeburg. Pages 366 - 367. (Includes a picture).
  • Fischer, E. (1992). Systematik der afrikanischen Lindernieae (Scrophulariaceae) Tropische und subtropische Pflanzenwelt 81 Pages 87 – 94. (Includes a picture).
  • Fischer, E. et al. 2013. The phylogeny of Linderniaceae - The new genus Linderniella, and new combinations within Bonnaya, Craterostigma, Lindernia, Micranthemum, Torenia and Vandellia. Willdenowia 43:221.
  • Ghazanfar, S.A., Hepper, F.N. & Philcox, D. (2008). Scrophulariaceae Flora of Tropical East Africa Pages 61 – 62.
  • Heath, A. & Heath, R. (2009). Field Guide to the Plants of Northern Botswana including the Okavango Delta Kew Publishing Page 58. (Includes a picture).
  • Hepper, F.N. (1990). Craterostigma Flora Zambesiaca 8(2) Page 56.
  • Hornby, H.E. & Hornby, R.M (1964). The reaction of Craterostigma plantagineum Hochst. to desiccation Kirkia 4 Pages 217 - 220. (Includes a picture).
  • Kirby, G. (2013). Wild Flowers of Southeast Botswana Struik Nature, Cape Town South Africa Page 325. (Includes a picture).
  • Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 77.
  • Philcox, D. (1990). Scrophulariaceae Flora Zambesiaca 8(2) Page 56.
  • Phiri, P.S.M. (2005). A Checklist of Zambian Vascular Plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 32 Page 97.
  • Pickering, H. & Roe, E. (2009). Wild Flowers of the Victoria Falls Area Helen Pickering, London Page 106. (Includes a picture).
  • Plowes, D.C.H. & Drummond, R.B. (1990). Wild Flowers of Zimbabwe. Revised edition. Longman, Zimbabwe. No. 109, plate 147
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