SYNADENIUM GRANTII (sin. Euphorbia umbellata)
Origen: Este de Africa tropical (Kenia, Tanzania, Burundi, este de Zaire, etc)
Es un arbusto semisuculento o pequeño arbolito que puede alcanzar en su hábitat los 3,5 metros de altura.
En Recregarden tenemos dos variedades: una con hojas verde manzana y pequeñas manchas rojas y la variedad "rubra" con troncos rojizos y hojas que se abren de color vino y se tornan luego de color rojo-bronce.
Se reproduce muy fácilmente por esquejes.
Sólo soporta heladas muy débiles y con tiempo seco.
Es conocido como "lechero africano" o "planta de la vida" por las propiedades de su látex blanco. Este látex es tóxico y puede producir irritaciones en la piel por contacto y envenenamiento por ingestión, pero también tiene propiedades medicinales. Se dice que era usado por Napoleón para desinfectar las heridas de guerra y por la Madre Teresa de Calcuta que utilizaba un "agua de la vida" preparada a partir de este látex.
Entre sus componentes activos se encuentra el "phorbol" cuyas propiedades anticancerígenas están siendo estudiadas pues destruye las células cancerígenas y propicia la regeneración celular. También se estudia su uso en otras patologías como gangrena, diabetes, lupus y SIDA.
English version:
Origin: Eastern tropical Africa (Kenia, Tanzania, Eastern Zaire, etc)
Common name: African Milk Bush, "Plant of the Life".
It´s a semi-succulent shrub o little tree that in its original habitat can reach 3,5 metres tall.
Here in Recregarden we have two cultivars: one with red spotted apple-green leaves and "rubra" cultivar with reddish stems and leaves that open wine red and turn later to bronze reddish.
Propagation is very easy by cuttings.
It withstands only very ligt frosts.
It´s called "African Milk Bush" for its latex that it´s toxic and may produce skin irritations and poisoning by ingestion. It has also medical applications. It´s said that Napoleon used this latex to disinfect wounds and Mother Teresa of Calcuta used a "Life Water" prepared from this latex.
One of its components is "phorbol" which anticancerous properties are now investigated because it destroys cancerous cells and promotes new cell growing. Other medical applications are also investigated.
Actualizado a 01/11/2016
This is a vivacious plant, and a great addition to your outdoor garden or patio garden. There are also a number of articles which make the claim that the sap--called latex--has medicinal properties in the treatment of many cancers, AIDS, diabetes, heart problems, parasites, and many other illnesses. Care must be taken, however, as the sap can also be severely caustic, and can be poisonous in high doses. A number of videos demonstrate what their authors consider to be the "proper" method of using this sap.
ResponderEliminarI had two very tall plants, and when a windstorm caused one of the branches to break off, I planted it into soil directly, and the plant took off immediately. As an experiment, I cut off a very leggy branch, planting the top into soil, with the same success. I also cut some of the stems into about 10" segments, placed them in water, and within a couple of weeks, those segments had a leafy growth at their tips. (No roots resulted from this process, though.) Once those were established, I also placed them in soil, and they are growing vigorously. The upshot of this is that I now have some fourteen successful plants growing in pots, and as each stem grows to several segments in length, it is also cut (which causes a bushing out and branching of the remainder) and grown in soil. This has been one of my most successful plants to propagate.
It is a beautiful plant; when grown in mostly shade with a couple hours of direct sunlight, the plant develops a nice green variegation; when exposed to more direct sunlight, it develops purple/green variegation. During the colder days of winter, when temperatures drop toward or below freezing, these plants come inside to live.