Century plant

Description

Boophone disticha is a bulbous tropical and subtropical flowering plant, endemic to Africa. Commonly called the century plant or tumbleweed, Boophone disticha was first collected in 1781 from South Africa by Swedish botanist Carl Peter Thunberg and described by Linnaeus as Amaryllis disticha. Since that time it has been placed in the genera Brunsvigia and Haemanthus, finally coming to rest as Boophone. The genus itself was written in three ways (Boophone, Boophane and Buphane) by the author William Herbert, straining the procedures of the rules of nomenclature. The etymology of the genus is from the Greek 'bous' = ox, and 'phontes'= killer of, a clear warning that eating the plant can be fatal to livestock. The genus as currently understood includes two or possibly three species. B. disticha is one of the most widely distributed bulbous species in South Africa, readily identified by its fan-like appearance and its bulb half-protruding from the ground. The Khoi, Bushmen and Bantu were aware of its poisonous nature and used parts of the plant medicinally and as an arrow poison. The principal compounds are eugenol - an aromatic, volatile oil smelling of cloves and having analgesic properties, and the toxic alkaloids buphandrin, crinamidine and buphanine, the latter having an effect akin to that of scopolamine and if taken in quantity may lead to agitation, stupor, strong hallucinations and (if over-ingested) coma or death