| Ripogonum | |
|---|---|
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| Ripogonum scandens in New Zealand | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Liliales |
| Family: | Ripogonaceae Conran &Clifford[3] |
| Genus: | Ripogonum J.R.Forst. &G.Forst.[1][2] |
| Type species | |
| Ripogonum scandens J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.[1] | |
| Species | |
See text | |
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| Ripogonum distribution map | |
Ripogonum (sometimesRhipogonum) is agenus offlowering plants confined to easternAustralia,New Zealand, andNew Guinea. Until recently this genus was included in thefamilySmilacaceae, and earlier in the familyLiliaceae, but it has now been separated as its own familyRipogonaceae (sometimesRhipogonaceae).
Like most species of the closely related Smilacaceae, most species ofRipogonum are woody vines. Differences from Smilacaceae include thatRipogonum lacks stipules, it has a wet rather than drystigma, its seeds and leaves contain starch, and itsguard cells contain oil.[4]
The six species ofRipogonum areperennials, either vines or shrubs. The leaves, which may have several different arrangements, lackstipules. The stems may have prickles. The Australian species arebisexual; others areunisexual. Individual flowers have six white to pale green or yellowtepals. Theovary has threelocules with two ovules per locule. The fruit is aberry with a few brown seeds.[5]
In 1769, during explorerLieutenant James Cook'sfirst voyage of discovery, botanistsJoseph Banks andDaniel Solander collected specimens of "supplejack" (Ripogonum scandens) in New Zealand. The species was described in Solander's unpublished manuscriptPrimitiae Florae Novae Zelandiae and was illustrated bySydney Parkinson.[6] Cook again visited New Zealand in 1773 during hissecond voyage. While anchored at Dusky Bay (nowDusky Sound) in theSouth Island of New Zealand, he remarked in his journal:[7]
In many parts the woods are so over-run with supplejacks, that it is scarcely possible to force one's way amongst them. I have seen several which were fifty or sixty fathoms long.
During this voyage naturalistJohann Reinhold Forster, assisted by his sonGeorg Forster collected plant specimens, the elder Forster offering the following description in his journal:[8]
A kind of climbing plant called the supple Jack by our Sailors, on account of its pliancy, bears red berries, something similar to cherries, & runs up the highest trees, climbs over to another, & after having made its way over many of them, it often comes again down & strikes fresh roots.
In 1776, the Forsters published the genusRipogonum in the second edition of theirCharacteres Generum Plantarum withRipogonum scandens as the type species.[9] The nameRipogonum is derived from the Greek wordsῥιπος (rhipos, wickerwork, referring to the long shoots) andγονυ (gonu, jointed), from the jointed appearance of the stems.[10]
Because the Greek wordῥιπος begins with an aspiraterho rather than plain rho, classical scholars preferred to transcribe it with rh- rather than r-.[11] Consequently, some early botanists treated the Forsters' spelling as an error to be corrected and the spellingRhipogonum was used. Which spelling is correct depends on the interpretation of Article 60 of theInternational Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, which recommends that the classical transcription rules should be followed when forming new names (Rec. 60A) and also that "the original spelling of a name or epithet is to be retained, except for the correction of typographical or orthographical errors".[12]
It has been stated that the Forsters' spelling is probably deliberate and should not be liable to correction in the same way as an accidental typographical error would be.[13] TheInternational Plant Names Index treats the spellingRhipogonum as an "orthographic variant",[2] and theIndex Nominum Genericorum database uses the spellingRipogonum,[14] as does theWorld Checklist of Selected Plant Families as of March 2014[update].[15]
Until recently,Ripogonum was included in the familySmilacaceae (and earlier in the familyLiliaceae along with otherlilioid monocots) but it has now been separated into its own familyRipogonaceae.[3] The family name was first formally defined by Conran and Clifford in 1985.[4]Armen Takhtajan later created the same family without realising it already existed.[16]
Molecular phylogenetic studies since the early 2000s have consistently shown a close relationship between the four families Ripogonaceae,Philesiaceae, Smilacaceae and the modern narrowly defined Liliaceae. This relationship was confirmed in a 2013 study, which produced the cladogram:[17]
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The authors suggested that the Ripogonaceae and Philesiaceae could be combined into a single family based both on the genetic similarity of their plastids and common morphological features.[17] TheAPG III system treats them as two separate families in the Liliales, both distinct from Smilacaceae.[3]
Ripogonum contains six described species as of July 2013[update].[18][19]
Some species of this genus are used for constructing baskets,[20] ropes,[21] and fish traps[22] by indigenous peoples. In Australia and New Zealand,Ripogonum berries are known foods for some species of mammals and birds.[23][24]
Ripogonum scandens has a fibrous root rich in starch and used as abeer flavouring.[25] Known to theMāori of New Zealand askareao orpirita, a concentrated decoction of the supplejack root has a sweetish sarsaparilla-like scent and flavour and is soothing to the throat.[26] It was also used in treating bowel complaints, fever, rheumatism and skin diseases.[27] The edible small berry is dry and insipid but the cooked young shoots reportedly taste like fresh green beans, and the sap is also edible.[25]
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