| Stegnosperma | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Stegnosperma cubense | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Stegnospermataceae Nakai |
| Genus: | Stegnosperma Benth. |
| Species | |
Stegnosperma is agenus offlowering plants, consisting of three species[1][2] of woody plants, native to theCaribbean,Central America, and theSonoran Desert. These areshrubs orlianas, with anomalous secondary thickening in mature stems, by successivecambia.
Leaves are alternate, entire, 2–5 cm in length, tapering at both ends. Flowers are small (5–8 mm), five-merous, with white petal-likesepals, and a superiorovary. They are arranged in shortracemes, usually no more than 10 cm long, shorter inS. watsonii. The fruit is acapsule 5–8 mm in diameter: it contains small (2–3 mm) black seeds with a conspicuous reddish aril.
The genus has commonly been treated as belonging to the familyPhytolaccaceae, but theAPG system andAPG II system, of 2003, regard it as the sole genus of its own family, theStegnospermataceae and assign it to the orderCaryophyllales in the cladecore eudicots
Turner et al. suggest thatS. halimifolium Bentham andS. watsonii D.J. Rogers are actually the same species, observing that specimens from the gulf coast ofSonora have intermediate characteristics. Whether one species or two, they are locally common all along theGulf of California, where they are found on the coastal strand and some inland washes, always at low elevations (less than 600 m).
Stem and root anatomy was originally thought to be normal, but this was due to the small diameter of herbarium specimens examined by early researchers. Anomalous secondary thickening by successive cambia has been described in detail within mature stems and roots.[3][4][5]
In traditional medicine, curanderas use an extract of the root as a part of the treatment for rabies due to its emetic properties.[6] Jiménez-Estrada et al.[7] listStegnosperma extract for treatment of headache, snakebite, and rabies. They provide an analysis of the antioxidant and antiproliferative activity ofS. halimifolium.
