Browallia
Browallia is a small genus of seven species of flowering plants (mostly annuals though occasionally shrubs or ephemerophytes) belonging to the nightshade family Solanaceae.[1] It is named after Johannes Browallius (1707–1755), also known as Johan Browall, a Swedish botanist, physician and bishop.[2] The genus is closely related to the monotypic genus Streptosolen, the single species of which was published initially under the name Browallia jamesonii.
Browallia | |
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Browallia speciosa | |
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Tribe: | Browallieae |
Genus: | Browallia |
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Browallia species are found from southern Arizona in the north, southward through Mexico, Central America and the Antilles to andine South America, reaching as far south as Bolivia.[1]
Species
'At least 17 binomials,at the specific level,have been proposed for this difficult genus; no doubt that a critical sound treatment is badly needed to clarify its obscure taxonomy' - Armando Hunziker (2001)[1]
- Browallia abbreviata Benth.
- Browallia acutiloba A.S. Alva & O.D. Carranza
- Browallia americana L. - Jamaican forget-me-not
- Browallia dilloniana Limo, K. Lezama & S. Leiva
- Browallia eludens R.K.VanDevender & P.D.Jenkins - Arizona/yellow bush-violet
- Browallia mirabilis S. Leiva
- Browallia speciosa Hook. - Amethyst flower or bush-violet[3]
Use in Colombian folk medicine
The Ingano of Mocoa in the Colombian department of Putumayo chew the leaves of Browallia speciosa to a pulp and pack the resultant material around decaying molars to alleviate the pain of toothache.[4]
Gallery
- Close-up of flowers of Browallia americana. Self-seeded, garden plant.
- Flower and foliage of Browallia americana, wild plant, Costa Rica.
- Fruiting calyces of Browallia americana.
- Browallia speciosa cultivar "Marine Bells". Cultivated plant.
- Streptosolen : a monotypic genus closely related to the genus Browallia. S. jamesonii was formerly classified as a Browallia and is still sometimes known colloquially as "Orange Browallia".
References
- Armando T. Hunziker: The Genera of Solanaceae. A.R.G. Gantner Verlag K.G., Ruggell, Liechtenstein 2001. ISBN 3-904144-77-4, pps. 87-89 inclusive.
- Genaust, Helmut (1976). Etymologisches Wörterbuch der botanischen Pflanzennamen ISBN 3-7643-0755-2
- The Plant List http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/search?q=Browallia Retrieved 1.57 on 28/2/19
- Schultes, Richard Evans and Raffauf, Robert F. The Healing Forest - Medicinal and Toxic Plants of the Northwest Amazonia, pub. Dioscorides Press, Portland, Oregon (an imprint of Timber Press,Inc.) 1990 ISBN 0-931146-14-3 pps. 418-19.
Further reading
- Pink, A. (2004). Gardening for the Million. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.