Echites umbellatus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Genus: Echites
Species:
E. umbellatus
Binomial name
Echites umbellatus
Jacq. (1760)

Echites umbellatus is a flowering climber, belonging to subfamily Apocynoideae of the family Apocynaceae and has the English common name devil's potato.[1] It was first described in 1760 by Dutch botanist, Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin. The species grows in parts of Florida, Tabasco, Yucatán Peninsula, Belize, Honduras, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Colombian islands in the Western Caribbean.[2]

It is a perennial with white flowers[3] and is toxic.,[4] containing lycopsamine-type pyrrolizidine alkaloids.[5] Disease associated with consumption of PAs is known as pyrrolizidine alkaloidosis and many such alkaloids exhibit hepatotoxicity i.e. can cause severe liver damage,[6][7] including hepatic veno-occlusive disease and liver cancer[8] They are also tumorigenic.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Echites umbellatus - Species Details". Atlas of Florida Plants.
  2. ↑ "Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve - Plant Listings - Echites umbellata".
  3. ↑ "Plants Profile for Echites umbellatus (devil's potato)". plants.usda.gov.
  4. ↑ The Spooky World of Plants
  5. ↑ Burzynski, Elizabeth A., Minbiole, Kevin P.C. and Livshultz, Tatyana, "New sources of lycopsamine-type pyrrolizidine alkaloids and their distribution in Apocynaceae" March 2015 Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 59:331-339
  6. ↑ "Foodborne Pathogenic Microorganisms and Natural Toxins Handbook: Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids". Bad Bug Book. United States Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved 2009-07-11.
  7. ↑ Schoental, R.; Kelly, JS (April 1959). "Liver lesions in young rats suckled by mothers treated with the pyrrolizidine (Senecio) alkaloids, lasiocarpine and retrorsine". The Journal of Pathology and Bacteriology. 77 (2): 485–495. doi:10.1002/path.1700770220. PMID 13642195.
  8. ↑ Schoental, R (1968). "Toxicology and Carcinogenic Action of Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids" (PDF). Cancer Research. 28 (11): 2237–2246. PMID 4302035.
  9. ↑ Fu, P.P.; Yang, Y.C.; Xia, Q.; Chou, M.C.; Cui, Y.Y.; Lin, G. (2002). "Pyrrolizidine alkaloids-tumorigenic components in Chinese herbal medicines and dietary supplements". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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