Synedrella nodiflora: Classification, Distribution Characteristics, Morphology, Germination, and Uses
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Synedrella
Species: Synedrella nodiflora
Common Name: kimkim, Akara aje, An-bal-Kayan
INTRODUCTION
Synedrella nodiflora Linn. is a member of the Asteraceae family. A straggling annual herb with a Fibrous woody rootstock that reaches over 2 m tall, native to tropical America but now scattered pan-tropically, that thrives in waste spots throughout the region. It is an annual plant that grows in various parts of Nigeria and Africa in general, and in different communities and locations, it is known by different names. In the Congo, the leaf infusion is used as a laxative, while the sap is used to cure tooth problems. Cough, heart problems, stomach aches, and earaches can all be alleviated by combining the leaves with other medicines. The aqueous extract of the entire plant is used to treat epilepsy in Ghanaian traditional medicine. In Nigeria, the herb is widely used for heart problems, wound healing, and bleeding control. The herb is used for headaches, earaches, stomachaches, and rheumatism embrocation in Malaysia and Indonesia. The most prevalent principles of this species include alkaloids, sequiterpense lactones, tannins, flavoniod, steroids, and terpeniod. Anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, analgesic, astringent, antibacterial, and a plethora of other bioactivities are represented by the chemicals found in the genus.
Synedrella nodiflora is a little, annual weed of cultivation native to America that can also be found in India’s plains and the Andaman Islands. It is occasionally discovered in the Amravati district (M.S.). The leaves are used as a pollutice for rheumatism and the juice is used to treat earaches. Rathi and Gopalkrishnan (Rathi and Gopalkrishnan, 2005). A leaf infusion is used as a laxative in Ghana; leaf sap is used in Cango for oral affections and is put on gums to tighten them. In Malaya, it is used for poulticing painful legs and headaches after confinement, and in Indonesia, the sap is put in the ear for earache. In Tganyika, the roots are pounded and cooked, and the decoction is offered as a cough mixture (Burkil 1985). Rathi and Gopalkrishnan discovered that aerial parts of Synedrella nodiflora have insecticidal action against Sapodeptera latura ( 2005).
Distribution
It is native to tropical America and has since spread throughout the world’s warmer regions (Holm et al. 1997). It can be found in the plains of India, the Andaman Islands, and West Africa. Bangladesh, Japan, Spain, China, and England are among the countries where it can be found (Chauhan & Johnson 2009). In Ghana, Nigeria, Malaysia, and Indonesia, the plant is used as animal feed and in traditional medicine to cure a variety of health concerns (Burkill 1985; Idu & Onyibe 2007).
Characteristics
1. Synedrella is a monotypic genus with just S. nodifora as a species. The species name refers to the presence of fower clusters around the nodes in the higher regions of the plant, while the generic name is derived from the Greek word “synedros,” which means “little fowers seated together” (Davidse et al. 2015).
2. Synedrella nodiflora is an erect branched ephemeral herb in the Asteraceae family that grows 30-80 cm tall.
3. Typically, the shallow root system is heavily branched. It thrives in humid environments, nutrient-rich soils, crop fields, wastelands, roadsides, lawns, and disturbed areas.
4. The upright or ascending, sometimes woody stems branch dichotomously from the plant’s base; they have long internodes and swollen nodes, are rounded or slightly angular in section, smooth, often coarsely hairy, and reach a height of about 50 cm.
5. In wet conditions, the lower sections of the stems may root at the nodes. The leaves are 4- 9 cm long, elliptic to ovate with three conspicuous veins and finely toothed margins, finely hairy with short petioles, and linked by a ridge across the stem, and come in opposite pairs.
6. Epigeal germination is present in the seedlings. The hypocotyl is 8-19 mm in length, hairless, and purplish. Cotyledons are elliptic, 6-8 mm in length, reddish or purplish, and stalked.The paired juvenile leaves resemble adult leaves but are smaller.
7. It includes bioactive components such as flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, and other bioactive compounds that are used to cure a variety of ailments, and its leaves are consumed as a vegetable by some livestock and humans. Ribbed, dichotomously branching, sub-angular stems are smooth to sparsely hairy.
8. The leaves are oblong to elliptical, densely hairy with short petioles, and linked by a ridge across the stem. It reproduces solely through seed. Individual plants have 4–5 months to complete their life cycle.
9. As soon as the seeds are distributed from the mother plants, they germinate and generate new plants, and the plants go through vegetative, flowering, and fruiting phases simultaneously in various habitats.
10. During the rainy season, however, the plant grows rapidly and blooms at its height from October to November.
Morphology
Herb that grows every year. The stem is terete and glabrous. Petiolate, toothed, ovate to elliptic, 5 – 12 x 2 – 3.5 cm, hairy on both sides at the base, sharp leaves. ligule short, broad, 2-3 toothed, yellow; disc florets fertile, tubular, limb 4-toothed; heads tiny, heterogamous, rayed; ray florets 1–2 seriate, fertile; ligule short, broad, 2-3 toothed, yellow; Pappus 2–3, bristly, awned, and shorter than the tube; receptacle small; paleae scarious, flat. Involucre multiceriate; bracts few, 1-2 outer generally foliaceous, inner membranous; pappus 2–3, bristly, awned, and shorter than the tube; receptacle tiny; paleae scarious, flat. The anthers are exerted, epiculate, and the base is subentire. The stylar arms are papillate for roughly half of their length and are sharp. Ray floret achenes are dorsally compressed, two-winged, smooth, and have lacerate wings; disc floret achenes are few, smaller, compressed, or triquetrous, and often muricate, black, and ribbed.
Germination
Epigeal germination occurs in the seedlings. The hypocotyl is 8-19 mm in length and hairless, with a reddish hue. Cotyledons are elliptic in shape, 6-8 mm in length, frequently reddish or purplish, and stalked. The paired juvenile leaves are smaller than the adult leaves but similar in appearance. S. nodiflora can be found in all disturbed tropical and subtropical habitats with enough soil moisture to support rapid germination, development, flowering, and seed production. It grows on a wide range of soils (though high organic content and adequate fertility are preferred) and can survive most modes of cultivation due to its short life cycle.
Synedrella nodiflora uses in animal husbandry
1. Synedrella nodiflora leaves are commonly consumed as food by cattle and people, with no known side effects.
2. The herb is commonly consumed by horses, cattle, pigs, and rabbits.
3. This plant’s sex hormone action in rabbits was researched in Benin (West Africa). Synedrella nodiflora boosts fertility and litter size, as well as lowers death rates from birth through weaning, according to their research.
4. An increase in pituitary hormone production, resulting in greater ovarian size and activity, and maturity of the hypothalamo-pituitary axis, resulting in gonadotrophin secretion, appear to be the possible causes of sexual maturation at puberty.
5. The maximum fertility rate and litter size in the rabbit were suggested by Synedrella nodiflora (L.) Gaertn leaves employed as a feed supplement in the diet could be linked to the plant’s hormonal profile.
Synedrella nodiflora uses in medicine
1. The Asteraceae family of plants includes herbs that have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, analgesic, and antipyretic characteristics.
2. Anticonvulsant, sedative, antioxidant, free radical scavenging, and antinociceptive activities of the hydro-ethanolic extract of the entire plant have been proven in vitro.
3. Epilepsy and pain are treated in Ghana with S. nodiflora (L) Gaertn weed. The leaves are also used to treat threatening abortions, hiccups, laxatives, and cattle feed.
4. The plant’s leaves are also used as post-harvest protectants by Ghana’s subsistence farmers.
5. Some indigenous communities in Nigeria have traditionally used the whole plant to heal heart ailments and stop wound bleeding. The plant is used as a poultice for aching legs, headaches, earaches, stomach aches, and rheumatism in Malaysia and Indonesia.
6. According to the researchers, a methanolic extract of Synedrella nodiflora (SN) (Asteraceae) leaves could be employed as an antidiarrheal and hypoglycemic drug.
7. Indeed, the methanolic extract of Synedrella nodiflora (SN) (Asteraceae) leaves demonstrated antidiarrhoeal action of 58.97 percent and 73.91 percent inhibition after 4 hours at dosages of 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight. Normal and alloxan-induced diabetic rats were used to test the hypoglycemic impact.