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Thapsia (plant)

Genus of plants

Genus of plants

  • Distichoselinum F.García Mart. & Silvestre
  • Elaeoselinum W.D.J.Koch ex DC.
  • Guillonea Coss.
  • Margotia Boiss.

Thapsia, commonly known as the deadly carrots, is a small genus of poisonous plants in the family Apiaceae. Their center of diversity is around the western Mediterranean, extending into the Atlantic coasts of Portugal and Morocco. Some species are used in traditional medicine.

Description

Species of Thapsia are herbaceous perennials, growing 50 to 200 cm high. The inflorescences are large, regularly distributed umbels. The seeds have four wings, and are the main characteristic of the genus, which is distributed in the Mediterranean, on the Iberian Peninsula, and North Africa.

The generic name Thapsia is derived from the Ancient Greek name θαψία (thapsía) for the members of the genus. The Greeks believe it to have originated from ancient Thapsos in Sicily. It has a long history of being used in ancient traditional medicine. Algerians used it as a pain-reliever though they recognized that the plant was deadly to camels. The Greek colony of Cyrene exported a medicinal plant known as silphion, used as a purgative and emetic. Although its exact identity remains contentious today, some historians believe that the plant may have been Thapsia garganica.

Cancer research

The chemical compound thapsigargin has been isolated from Thapsia garganica. A synthetic prodrug of thapsigargin called "G-202" is in preliminary clinical trials for cancer treatment. The active constituent kills tumor cells by destroying their calcium balance. A biotech company called GenSpera, Inc. in San Antonio, TX is studying methods of delivering thapsigargin directly to cancer cells, avoiding damage to other cells in the body of the patient.

Antiviral research

This same chemical compound thapsigargin is now being looked at as an antiviral to use against SARS-coV-2, the coronavirus virus that causes COVID-19. It has not yet reached the clinical trial stage.

Species

20 species of Thapsia are currently accepted. It is, however, a complex genus, and some authors may recognize different numbers of species.

  • Thapsia asclepium L.
  • Thapsia cinerea A.Pujadas
  • Thapsia eliasii (Sennen & Pau) Wojew., Banasiak, Reduron & Spalik
  • Thapsia foetida L.
  • Thapsia garganica L.
  • Thapsia gummifera (Desf.) Spreng.
  • Thapsia gymnesica Rosselló & A.Pujadas
  • Thapsia maxima Mill.
  • Thapsia meoides (Desf.) Guss.
  • Thapsia minor Hoffmans & Link
  • Thapsia nestleri (Soy.-Will.) Wojew., Banasiak, Reduron & Spalik
  • Thapsia nitida Lacaita
  • Thapsia pelagica Brullo, Guglielmo, Pasta, Pavone & Salmeri
  • Thapsia platycarpa Pomel
  • Thapsia scabra (Cav.) Simonsen, Rønsted, Weitzel & Spalik
  • Thapsia smittii Simonsen, Rønsted, Weitzel & Spalik
  • Thapsia tenuifolia Lag.
  • Thapsia thapsioides (Desf.) Simonsen, Rønsted, Weitzel & Spalik
  • Thapsia transtagana Brot.
  • Thapsia villosa L. The list of species is taken from the IPNI (International Plant Names Index) .
  • Thapsia annua (A.Chev.) M.Hiroe (1979) (synonym : Melanoselinum annuum A.Chev.)
  • Thapsia bischoffii (Schmidt) M.Hiroe (1979) (synonym : Tornabenea bischoffii Schmidt)
  • Thapsia cinerea A.Pujadas (2003) (Morocco)
  • Thapsia decipiens Hook.f. (1867) (Madeira)
  • Thapsia decussata Lag. (1816)
  • Thapsia dissecta (Boiss.) Arán & Mateo (2002) (synonym : Thapsia villosa var. dissecta Boiss. )
  • Thapsia edulis G.Nicholson (1887) (Madeira)
  • Thapsia garganica L. (1767) (synonyms : Thapsia lineariloba Pomel, Thapsia marocana Pomel, Thapsia silphia St.-Lag., Thapsia stenocarpa Pomel)
    • Thapsia garganica subsp. gymnesica (Rosselló & A.Pujadas) Romo (1994) (synonym : Thapsia gymnesica Rosselló & A.Pujadas)
    • Thapsia garganica subsp. messanensis (Guss.) Brullo, Guglielmo, Pasta, Pavone & Salmeri (2009) (Sicily)
  • Thapsia hirta (Schmidt) M.Hiroe (1979) (synonym : Tornabenea hirta)
  • Thapsia insularis (Parl. & Webb.) M.Hiroe -(1979) (synonym : Tetrapleura insularis)
  • Thapsia intermediaLag. (1821) (Spain)
  • Thapsia melanoselina Masf. (1881)
  • Thapsia minor Hoffmanns. & Link (1834) (Portugal)
  • Thapsia moniza Masf (1881) (Canaries)
  • Thapsia nitida Lacaita (1928) (Spain)
    • Thapsia nitida subsp. meridionalis (A.Pujadas) Rivas Mart. (2002)
  • Thapsia pelagica Brullo, Guglielmo, Pasta, Pavone & Salmeri (2009)
  • Thapsia platycarpa Pomel (species recently differentiated from Thapsia garganica)
  • Thapsia polygama Desf. (1798) (North Africa)
  • Thapsia praealta d'Urv. (1822) (Kos – Dodecanese)
  • Thapsia tenuissima (A.Chev.) M.Hiroe (1979) (synonym : Melanoselinum tenuissimum A.Chev.)
  • Thapsia transtagana Brot. (1804) (Portugal)
  • Thapsia villosa L. (1753) (synonyms :, Thapsia microcarpa Pomel, Thapsia stenoptera Pomel) (Iberian peninsula)
    • Thapsia villosa var. laciniata (Rouy) O.Bolòs & Vigo (1974) (synonym : Thapsia laciniata Rouy)
    • Thapsia villosa subsp. maxima (Mill.) O.Bolòs & Vigo (1974) (synonym : Thapsia maxima Mill.)
    • Thapsia villosa var. platyphyllos Franco & P.Silva. (1971)--

References

References

  1. "Thapsia L. {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science".
  2. M. Seoane. (1831). "Neuman & Baretti's Dictionary of the Spanish and English Languages". William Clowes.
  3. (2011). "Reinvestigation of essential oil content of ''Thapsia garganica'' grown in the east of Algeria". Revue des Sciences fondamentales et appliquées.
  4. (2003). "Flora Iberica. Volume X: Araliaceae-Umbelliferae". Real Jardín Botánico.
  5. M. Grieve. "''Thapsia''". Botanical.com.
  6. "Thapsigargin prodrug G-202". NCI Cancer Dictionary.
  7. Kristen Philipkoski. (2 February 2012). "Scientists Transform Deadly Plant Into Cancer Killing Smart Bomb". Gizmodo.com.
  8. David Nield. (27 November 2021). "Molecule Derived From Poisonous Plant Blocks All SARS-CoV-2 Variants in Cell Cultures". ScienceAlert.com.
  9. "''Thapsia'' L.". [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]].
  10. (2003). "Studies on ''Thapsia'' (Apiaceae) from north-western Africa: A forgotten and a new species". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.
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