User:KADIRI AKEEM/sandbox/Oluwatoyin Temitayo Ogundipe Tropical Plants Information Gap Initiative: Phyllanthus amarus Schum. & Thonn

Phyllanthus amarus Schum. & Thonn Contents 1. Description 2. Medicinal / Medical Uses 3. Research 4. Gallery 5. References 6. External links 7. Source of information DESCRIPTION Phyllanthus amarus Schum. & Thonn. — F.T.A. 6, 1: 717; Chev. Bot. 556. APD acc P. amarus Schum. & Thonn is a pantropical annual herbaceous weed that grows well in moist, shady and sunny places. It is probably the most widely found Phyllanthus in all its areas of occurrence. It is indigenous to the rainforests of the Amazon and other tropical countries like Nigeria, India, China, and Bahamas (4,5,6), Philippines or India (7). Paleobotanical studies have not been able to identify the exact geographic origin of this plant. It has simple leaves which are elliptic-oblong in shape, about 5–10 mm. long and 2–4•5 mm. broad. Like other Phyllanthus it exhibits phyllanthoid branching in which the vertical stems bear deciduous, flower-bearing, horizontal (plagiotropic) stems. It flowers in April-November, Disk of female flowers is stellate with normally five deep radiating lobes; styles are short but distinct, deeply bifid at apex, not forming a closely packed circle at top of ovary; anther-thecae with markedly oblique dehiscence; 1female flower together with 1 male flower in each axil. In West Africa, it is abundantly present in Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia. MEDICINAL / MEDICAL USES1,2,3, Phyllanthus amarus is a popular herb in the Indian Ayurvedic system of medicine for treating problems of stomach, genitourinary system, liver, kidney and spleen1. Its pharmacological activities include antiamnesic antibacterial, anticancer anti-diarrhoeal, gastroprotective and antiulcer, antifungal, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-allodynic and anti-oedematogenic, antinociceptic, antioxidant, antiplasmodial and antiviral. However, clinical studies have reported on aphrodisiac, contraception, diuretic, anti-hypertentive, hepatoprotective, hypoglycemic and hypocholesterolemic, immunomodulatory, nephroprotective, radioprotective and spasmolytic activities.

RESEARCH Researches on the disease conditions listed above have been conducted with evidences to support the various claims1,3. However, this plant has been proposed for scientific investigation as immune booster and for treatment of upper respiratory infection, especially in the bronchial region2 based on folkloric accounts obtained from local natives in Nigeria.

GALLERY

REFERENCES 1.	Patel, J. R., Tripathi, R., Chauhana, N. S., Dixit, V. K. (2011). Phyllanthus amarus: Ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology: A review Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 138: 286–313. 2.	Medicinal Plant Research Group, Department of Botany, University of Lagos, Nigeria 3.	Oluwafemi, F. and F. Debiri (2008). Antimicrobial effect of Phyllantus amarus and Parquetina nigrescens on Salmonella typhi. African Journal of Biomedical Research, 11: 215-219. 4.	Hutchinson, J., and Dalziel, J. M. (1972). Flora of West Tropical Africa. Crown Agents for Overseas Governments and Administrations, Millbank, London. 5.	Morton, J.F. (1981). Atlas of Medicinal Plants of Middle America. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data. Thomas books, 1420 p 6.	Tirimana, A.S.L. (1987). Medicinal Plants of Suriname: Uses and Chemical Constituents. Chemical Laboratory, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Suriname, 92p 7.	Chevallier, A., 2000. Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine: Natural Health, Second ed. Dorling Kindersley Book, USA, 336 p.

EXTERNAL LINKS The following links should be contacted for additional information about the species. World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Tropicos, Catalogue of Life Global Biodiversity Information Facility, The New York Botanical Garden Virtual Herbarium, JSTOR Plant Science, Herbarium CatalogueRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew,  National Center for Biotechnology Information, GenBank -NucleotideAlphabet of Life,  Encyclopedia of Life, Royal Botanic Gardens, KewPlant information portal,  Biodiversity Heritage Library, Wikispecies, Google Images.

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION Kingdom:	Plantae

Clade:	Tracheophytes

Clade:	Angiosperms

Clade:	Eudicots

Clade:	Rosids

Order:	Malpighiales

Family:	Phyllanthaceae

Genus:	Phyllanthus

Species:	P. amarus Binomial name

Phyllanthus amarus Schum. & Thonn.

ABOUT THE NAME Phyllanthus amarus Schumach.&Thonn. This name is the accepted name of a species in the genus Phyllanthus (family Phyllanthaceae). The record derives from World Checklist of Selected Plant Families WCSP which reports it as an accepted name (record 153315) with original publication details: Kongel. DanskeVidensk. Selsk. Skr., Naturvidensk. Math.Afd.4: 195 1829. Synonyms: Diasperus nanus (Hook.f.)Kuntze Phyllanthus amarus var. baronianus Leandri Phyllanthus nanus Hook.f. Phyllanthus niruri var. amarus (Schumach. &Thonn.)Leandri Phyllanthus niruri var. scabrellus (Webb) Müll.Arg. Phyllanthus scabrellus Webb Phyllanthus swartzii Kostel.

INFORMATION SOURCE CLAIM This work is part of the Tropical Plants Information Gap Initiative of the Department of Botany, University of Lagos, Nigeria under the aegis of Professor Oluwatoyin Temitayo Ogundipe. The initiative is to provide missing descriptive information on tropical plants for inclusion in the Wikipedia- The free Encyclopedia. Data will be updated as information is available.