Tabernaemontana stellata (Tabernaemontana stellata)
Description
Tabernaemontana is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae. It has a pan-tropical distribution, found in Asia, Africa, Australia, North America, South America, and a wide assortment of oceanic islands.These plants are shrubs and small trees growing to 1-15 m tall. The leaves are evergreen, opposite, 3-25 cm long, with milky sap; hence it is one of the diverse plant genera commonly called "milkwood". The flowers are fragrant, white, 1-5 cm in diameter.The cultivar T. divaricata cv. 'Plena', with doubled-petaled flowers, is a popular houseplant.Some members of the genus Tabernaemontana are used as additives to some versions of the psychedelic drink Ayahuasca;the genus is known to contain ibogaine (e.g. in B-cch-te, T. undulata) conolidine and voacangine (namely in T. africana). T. sananho preparations are used in native medicine to treat eye injuries and as an anxiolytic, and T. heterophylla is used to treat dementia in the elderly. Conolidine may be developed as a new class of pain-killer.Caterpillars of the Oleander Hawk-moth (Daphnis nerii) have been found to feed on Pinwheel Flower (T. divaricata).The genus commemorates the "father of German botany" Jacobus Theodorus Tabernaemontanus.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Gentianales
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Family: Apocynaceae
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Genus: Tabernaemontana
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