Arctopus
| Arctopus | |
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| Arctopus echinatus , native plant in Goegap N.R., South Africa | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae
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| (unranked): | Angiosperms
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| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | Arctopus |
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Arctopus is a genus of flowering plant in the Apiaceae, with 3 species. It is endemic to southern Africa. The genus name means "bears foot" (from ἄρκτος árktos "bear" and πούς pous "foot") in reference to the curious growth habit, resembling a large footprint. The species were used in Khoisan medicine and adopted by the early settlers who gave them the Afrikaans name of sieketroos (= "sickness-comfort" i.e. "sickness remedy")[1] They are atypical members of the Apiaceae with the leaves growing flat on the ground and are dioecious, having separate male and female plants.[2]
Gallery[]
Paw print of a bear, showing similarity to curious outline of Arctopus foliage - whence genus name
References[]
- ^ Magee, A.R; Van Wyk, B.-E; Van Vuuren, S.F (2007). "Ethnobotany and antimicrobial activity of sieketroos (Arctopus species)". South African Journal of Botany. 73: 159–162. doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2006.06.009.
- ^ Magee, Anthony R.; van Wyk, Ben-Erik; Tilney, Patricia M.; van der Bank, Michelle (2008). "A Taxonomic Revision of the South African Endemic Genus Arctopus (Apiaceae, Saniculoideae)". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 95 (3): 471–486. doi:10.3417/2005174. JSTOR 25488206.
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Categories:
- Apiaceae genera
- Apioideae
- Dioecious plants
- Apiaceae stubs