Chiococca alba
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Other uses|Bermudiana (disambiguation)}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Chiococca alba.jpg
| image_caption =
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Chiococca
| species = alba
| authority = (L.) Hitchc.{{GRIN | accessdate=2010-04-19}}
| synonyms = *Chiococca bermudiana S.Br.{{cite journal |url=http://www.conservation.bm/publications/species-recovery-plans/Flowering%20Plants%20final_secured.pdf |first=Samia |last=Sarkis |title=Recovery plan for eight species of flowering plants, Carex bermudia, Peperomia septentrionalis, Phaseolus lignosus, Erigeron darrellianus, Galium bermudense, Hypericum hypericoides, Psychotria lingustrifolia, in Bermuda |page=4 |date=December 2009 |publisher=Department of Conservation, Bermuda |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706150342/http://www.conservation.bm/publications/species-recovery-plans/Flowering%20Plants%20final_secured.pdf |archivedate=2011-07-06 }}
- Chiococca racemosa L.
- Lonicera alba L.
}}
Chiococca alba is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family (Rubiaceae) native to Florida and the extreme southern tip of Texas in the United States,{{cite web |url=http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/nativeshrubs/chiococcaalba.htm |title=David's Milkberry, Snowberry, Milkberry, David's Root, Perlilla, Canica, Cahinca, Cainea, Caninara, Aceitillo, Madreselva, Lagrimas de San Pedro, Lagrimas de Maria, Oreja de Raton, Suelda, Consuelda, Bejuco de Berac, Bejuco de Berraco, Xcanchac-che |publisher=Texas A&M University |accessdate=2009-12-11}} Bermuda, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, the Galápagos, and tropical South America. Common names include David's milkberry, West Indian milkberry, cahinca{{cite web |url=http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CHAL8 |title=Chiococca alba (L.) A.S. Hitchc. |work=Native Plant Information Network |publisher=Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center |accessdate=2009-12-11}} and West Indian snowberry.{{cite web |url=http://www.fs.fed.us/global/iitf/pdf/shrubs/Chiococca%20alba.pdf |title=Chiococca alba (L.) A.S. Hitchc. West Indian snow-berry |work=International Institute of Tropical Forestry |publisher=United States Forest Service |accessdate=2009-12-11}} The specific epithet, alba, means "white" in Latin and refers to the color of its fruits.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ai97pkgIH5MC |title=Florida Keys Wildflowers: A Field Guide to Wildflowers, Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of the Florida Keys |first=Roger L. |last=Hammer |publisher=Globe Pequot |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7627-2569-4 |page=104 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Description
West Indian milkberry is an evergreen woody vine or scrambling shrub that often grows on other vegetation and may reach a height of {{convert|6|m|ft|abbr=on}}. The opposite, simple leaves are {{convert|5|-|11|cm|in|abbr=on}} long and may be elliptic to ovate or broadly lanceolate in shape. Yellow, bell-shaped flowers up to {{convert|1|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length appear throughout the year{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wzmo7cHvhZkC |first=Gil |last=Nelson |title=The Shrubs and Woody Vines of Florida: a Reference and Field Guide |publisher=Pineapple Press Inc |isbn=978-1-56164-110-9 |year=1996 |pages=297}} on racemes or panicles of six of to eight.{{cite web|url=http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/shrubs/CHIALBA.PDF |first=Edward F. |last=Gilman |title=Chiococca alba |work=Cooperative Extension Service Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences |publisher=University of Florida |date=October 1999 |accessdate=2009-12-12 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116092436/http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/shrubs/CHIALBA.PDF |archivedate=January 16, 2009 }} The fruit is a white drupe {{convert|4|-|7|mm|in|abbr=on}} in diameter that generally contains two dark brown seeds.
Taxonomy
Lonicera alba was described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus.{{GRIN | Lonicera alba | 22545 | accessdate = 2010-04-19}} It was moved to Chiococca in 1893 by A. S. Hitchcock, and is considered the type species of that genus.{{cite web |url=http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40007077 |title=Chiococca P. Browne |work=TROPICOS |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden |accessdate=2009-12-11}} Stewardson Brown described the Bermuda population of the plant as a new species, C. bermudiana, in 1909 due to its lighter green and larger leaves, larger berries, and wider and longer pedicels. Many authorities consider C. bermudiana a synonym of C. alba.
Uses
Chiococca alba is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental for its dark green, evergreen foliage and white drupes. It is used in espalier and grown on trellises. The roots have several uses in herbal medicine, including as a laxative, diuretic, emetic, and antidiarrhoeal. The plant was sold commercially in Europe and the United States for those purposes at one time.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eS7lX_rC3GEC |title=Florida Ethnobotany |first=Daniel F. |last=Austin |publisher=CRC Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-8493-2332-4 |pages=200–202}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Wikispecies-inline}}
- {{Commons category-inline}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q5101397}}
Category:Plants described in 1893
Category:Flora of Southern America
Category:Medicinal plants of Central America