Compilation
Sarcophyte piriei

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Name

Identification
Sarcophyte piriei Hutch. [family BALANOPHORACEAE ] (stored under name); Sarcophyte sanguinea Sparrm. [family BALANOPHORACEAE ] Verified by Hansen, B., Sarcophyte sanguinea Sparrm. [family BALANOPHORACEAE ]
Related name
  • Sarcophyte piriei
  • Sarcophyte sanguinea

Flora

Entry for SARCOPHYTE piriei Hutch. [family BALANOPHORACEAE]
Herbarium
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K)
Collection
Flora Somalia
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora Somalia, Vol 2, (1999) Author: by M. Thulin [updated by M. Thulin 2008]
Names
SARCOPHYTE piriei Hutch. [family BALANOPHORACEAE], (1914);
SARCOPHYTE sanguinea (Hutch.) B. Hansen subsp. piriei [family BALANOPHORACEAE], in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 106: 366 (1986). Fig. 96. [type as above]
Information
Plants with a fruity smell. Male inflorescences up to 40 cm tall, female ones lower, flesh-coloured to purplish-red except for the pale bracts. Male flowers with tepals about twice as long as the stamens. Pollen grains smooth.
Range
S3
Altitude range
c. 30 m.
Distribution
SOMALIA Musselman 7087; SMP 152.
Distribution (external)
Kenya
Tanzania
Zambia
Malawi
Mozambique
Notes
Diinsi (Som.). This gives a popular folk remedy in southern Somalia and Samuelsson & al. in J. Ethnopharmacology 35: 44 (1991) report that a preparation from the tuber is used against bruises, toothache, sore throat, abdominal pain, etc. Musselman (on herbarium label) reports that an infusion of the plant in water is used as a remedy for diarrhoea and menstrual disorders. Hansen (1986) and in Fl. Trop. E. Afr. treated S. piriei as a subspecies of S. sanguinea, which differs in having an offensive smell, tepals about 1.5 times as long as the stamens, and rugulose pollen grains.

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