Phyllanthus
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| Phyllanthus | ||||||||||||||||
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 Indian gooseberry, Phyllanthus emblica
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| About 800 species |
Phyllanthus is the largest genus in the family Phyllanthaceae. Phyllanthus has a remarkable diversity of growth forms including annual and perennial herbaceous, arborescent, climbing, floating aquatic, pachycaulous, and phyllocladous. It has a wide variety of floral morphologies and chromosome number and has one of the widest varieties of pollen types of any plant genus.
Despite their variety almost all Phyllanthus species express a specific type of growth called "phyllanthoid branching" in which the leaves on the main (vertical) plant axes are reduced to scales called "cataphylls" while leaves on the other axes—plagiotropic (horizontal), deciduous and floriferous (flower-bearing)—develop normally. Phyllanthus is distributed in all tropical and subtropical regions on Earth. Leafflower is the common name for all Phyllanthus species.
The circumscription of this genus has been so confusing that in the 1990s, a major reorganization of Phyllanthus was carried out, while (as of 2007) a new reorganization based on genetic analysis is underway.
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[edit] Synonymy
See Taxonomy of the Phyllanthaceae
[edit] Selected species
- Phyllanthus acidus - Otaheite gooseberry
- Phyllanthus acuminatus - Jamaican gooseberry tree
- Phyllanthus emblica - Indian gooseberry, also known as amla or amalaki.
- Phyllanthus mirabilis - the only succulent species of this genus
- Phyllanthus niruri - Chanca piedra (Also includes P. amarus and P. debilis)
- Phyllanthus urinaria - chamberbitter
For full list, see List of Phyllanthus species.
[edit] Medical interest
Despite a significant amount of medical research by mostly Indian scientists publishing in western journals over the past 25 years, there remains no conclusive evidence for Indian gooseberry (Phyllanthus umblica) having any effect on human disease. The therapies indicated below derive from mainly Ayurvedic practices not thoroughly evaluated by rigorous scientific or clinical research.
Gaining attention for its potential effects against hepatitis B, [1] research on Phyllanthus niruri has revealed possible antiviral activity also against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).[2]
Phyllanthus plants have been used in folk medicine used to treat a wide number of diseases. In Indian Ayurvedic medicine, various herbaceous Phyllanthus species are known as bhuiamla,[3] a name previously assigned to P. niruri only. Bhuiamla is prescribed for jaundice, gonorrhea and diabetes (internal use) as well as poultices, skin ulcer and other skin problems (external use). Infusions are made from young shoots as a treatment of chronic dysentery. None of these supposed benefits, however, is established with scientific research.
Leaves, roots, stem, bark and berries of this genus contain lignans (e.g. phyllanthin and hypophyllanthin) and a variety of other phytochemicals.[4][5][6]
[edit] Gallery
 Phyllanthus acidus |
 Phyllanthus juglandifolius |
 Phyllanthus juglandifolius |
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 Phyllanthus mirabilis |
 Phyllanthus mirabilis |
 Phyllanthus mirabilis |
 Phyllanthus mirabilis |
[edit] References
- ^ P. niruri - Effects on Hepatitis B, Thyagarajan 1982; Mehrotra 1990; Yeh, et al. 1993; Wang 1995.[1]
- ^ T Ogata, H Higuchi et al, 1992.[2]
- ^ Puri, H. S. (2003) Rasayana: Ayurvedic herbs for longevity and rejuvenation. Taylor & Francis, London, pages 86-93.
- ^ Murugaiyah V, Chan KL. Determination of four lignans in Phyllanthus niruri L. by a simple high-performance liquid chromatography method with fluorescence detection. J Chromatogr A. 2007 Jun 22;1154(1-2):198-204.[3]
- ^ Srivastava V, Singh M, Malasoni R, Shanker K, Verma RK, Gupta MM, Gupta AK, Khanuja SP. Separation and quantification of lignans in Phyllanthus species by a simple chiral densitometric method. J Sep Sci. 2008 Jan;31(1):47-55. [4]
- ^ Bagalkotkar G, Sagineedu SR, Saad MS, Stanslas J. Phytochemicals from Phyllanthus niruri Linn. and their pharmacological properties: a review. J Pharm Pharmacol. 2006 Dec;58(12):1559-70.[5]
