Triphyophyllum

Triphyophyllum peltatum is a facultatively carnivorous,<ref name = "Walker, 2023">Walker, C. (2023). Triggered by phosphorous [sic deficiency.] Nature Plants, 9(6), 853-853.</ref> up to 60 m tall vine<ref name = "Cross & Krueger, 2020">Cross, A., Krueger, T., Restoration Ecology Lab, Ecological Health Network, & Missouri Botanical Garden. (2020, November 26). Save me, Seymour! The increasingly dire plight of Darwin’s “Most wonderful plants in the world.” Natural History of Ecological Restoration. Retrieved March 28, 2025, from https://mbgecologicalrestoration.wordpress.com/2020/11/26/save-me-seymour-the-increasingly-dire-plight-of-darwins-most-wonderful-plants-in-the-world/</ref> in the monotypic genus Triphyophyllum Template:IPAc-en in the family Dioncophyllaceae native to tropical western Africa, in Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Sierra Leone<ref name = "POWO b" /> where it grows in tropical rainforest.<ref name = "Cross & Krueger, 2020" />

Description

File:Triphyophyllum peltatum 8 (Dioncophyllaceae) © W. Barthlott.jpg

Flower, Fruit and ripe seed of the adult plant

File:Triphyophyllum peltatum 13 (Dioncophyllaceae) © W. Barthlott.jpg

Juvenile non climbing insectivorous stage of Triphyophyllum with entire leaves and a single glandular insectivorous leaf resembling those of Drosophyllum

File:Triphyophyllum peltatum 2 beschnitten (Dioncophyllaceae) © W. Barthlott.jpg

Unfurling tip of a juvenile insectivorous leaf with stalked glands in the SEM

Vegetative characteristics

It is a facultatively carnivorous,<ref name = "Walker, 2023" /> heterophyllous,<ref name = "Green et al., 1979" /> up to 60 m tall vine<ref name = "Cross & Krueger, 2020" /> with glabrous, terete stems.<ref name = "Porembski & Barthlott, 2003" /> It has a three-stage lifecycle, each with a different shaped leaf, as indicated by its Greek name. In the first stage, T. peltatum forms a rosette of simple lanceolate Dracaena-like leaves about seven inches (18 cm) in length with undulate margins. At times when there is insufficient phosphorus in the soil<ref name=winkelmann>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> it develops long, slender, glandular, circinate leaves up to fourteen inches (35 cm) in length and bearing two sorts of glands, and resembling those of the related Drosophyllum, which capture insects; there being one to three of these leaves in each rosette.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the plant's adult liana form it has short non-carnivorous leaves bearing a pair of "grappling hooks" <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> at their tips on a long twining stem which can become Template:Convert in length and Template:Convert thick.<ref>George Cheer, A GUIDE TO CARNIVOROUS PLANTS OF THE WORLD (Pymble, New South Wales, Aust.: Angus and Robertson, 1992) p. 122.</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> T. peltatum is the largest of all confirmed carnivorous plants in the world, but its carnivorous nature did not become known until 1979, some 51 years after the plant's discovery.<ref name = "Green et al., 1979">Green, S., Green, T. L., & Heslop-Harrison, Y. (1979). Seasonal heterophylly and leaf gland features in Triphyophyllum (Dioncophyllaceae), a new carnivorous plant genus. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 78(2), 99-116.</ref>

Generative characteristics

The axillary,<ref name = "Slack, 2000" /><ref name = "Fibres, 2012" /> branched,<ref name = "GFFP" /> cymose, few-flowered<ref name = "Fibres, 2012" /> or many-flowered inflorescence bears up to 80 small, ephemeral,<ref name = "GFFP" /> fragrant,<ref name = "Slack, 2000" /> white to pink,<ref name = "GFFP">Triphyophyllum, das Hakenblatt. (n.d.). Gesellschaft Für Fleischfressende Pflanzen. Retrieved March 28, 2025, from https://www.carnivoren.org/karnivoren/gattungen/triphyophyllum/</ref> bisexual, actinomorphic, pedicellate flowers.<ref name = "Fibres, 2012" /> The pedicel is up to 3 cm long. The flower has 5 triangular, 2 mm long sepals, and 5 obovate, 13 mm long petals.<ref name = "Fibres, 2012" /> The androecium consists of 10 stamens.<ref name = "Fibres, 2012" /><ref name = "Porembski & Barthlott, 2003" /> The style is very short.<ref name = "Porembski & Barthlott, 2003">Porembski, S., Barthlott, W. (2003). Dioncophyllaceae. In: Kubitzki, K., Bayer, C. (eds) Flowering Plants · Dicotyledons. The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants, vol 5. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. </ref> The up to 4 cm wide, 1-seeded,<ref name = "Fibres, 2012" /> 4–5-valved capsule fruit<ref name = "Porembski & Barthlott, 2003" /><ref name = "Fibres, 2012" /> bears discoid, papery,<ref name = "Fibres, 2012" /> flat, winged, circular, pink to red,<ref name = "Slack, 2000" /> 5–8<ref name = "Porembski & Barthlott, 2003" />(–10) cm wide seeds<ref name = "Schmid-Hollinger">Schmid-Hollinger, R. (n.d.). Triphyophyllum peltatum (“Hakenblatt”). Retrieved March 30, 2025, from https://www.bio-schmidhol.ch/de/Fleischfressende_Pflanzen/triphyophyllum</ref><ref name = "Slack, 2000">Slack, A. (2000). Carnivorous Plants. pp. 231–232. Vereinigtes Königreich: MIT Press.</ref> with an up to 5.5 cm long funiculus extending beyond the fruit.<ref name = "Fibres, 2012" /> Most of the seed's development occurs outside the fruit.<ref>John Hutchinson and J. M. Dalziel, "Tropical African Plants II" KEW BULLETIN (1928) pp. 31-32. (Under the name Dioncophyllum peltatum).</ref> The seeds are wind-dispersed.<ref name = "Porembski & Barthlott, 2003" /><ref name = "Stach & Timmann, 2006" />

Cytology

The chromosome count is 2n = 24,<ref name = "Porembski & Barthlott, 2003" /><ref name = "Fibres, 2012" /> 36.<ref name = "Fibres, 2012">Fibres. pp. 438–440. (2012). Niederlande: Prota Foundation.</ref>

Taxonomy

Triphyophyllum peltatum was first described as Dioncophyllum peltatum Template:Au by John Hutchinson and John McEwan Dalziel in 1927.<ref name = "POWO a">Triphyophyllum peltatum (Hutch. & Dalziel) Airy Shaw. (n.d.). Plants of the World Online. Retrieved March 28, 2025, from https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:317595-1</ref> It was moved to a new monotypic genus Triphyophyllum Template:Au as Triphyophyllum peltatum Template:Au by Herbert Kenneth Airy Shaw in 1952.<ref name = "POWO b">Triphyophyllum Airy Shaw. (n.d.). Plants of the World Online. Retrieved March 28, 2025, from https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:14246-1</ref><ref name = "POWO a" />

Etymology

The generic name Triphyophyllum is derived from tri meaning three,<ref>HarperCollins Publishers Limited. (n.d.). Definition of “tri-.” Collins Online Dictionary. Retrieved March 29, 2025, from https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/tri</ref> phyo meaning to grow,<ref>Auden, H. W., & Taylor, A. E. (1906). A Minimum of Greek: A Hand Book of Greek Derivatives for the Greek-less Classes of Schools and for Students of Science. p. 28. Morang & Company, Limited.</ref> and phyllum meaning leaf.<ref>Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). -phyllum. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved March 29, 2025, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/-phyllum</ref> It refers to the three growth stages of the plant with three different types of leaves.<ref name=winkelmann /> The specific epithet peltatum means shield-like<ref>South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). (n.d.-c). Pelargonium peltatum (L) L’Hér. PlantZAfrica. Retrieved March 29, 2025, from https://pza.sanbi.org/pelargonium-peltatum</ref> and refers to the discoid seeds,<ref name = "Stach & Timmann, 2006">Stach, G., & Timmann, L. (2006, February 11). Species: Triphyophyllum peltatum (Hutchinson & Dalziel) Airy Shaw, {1952}. Die Karnivoren-Datenbank. Retrieved March 30, 2025, from https://www.fleischfressendepflanzen.de/db/species.ffp?id=35</ref> which have a long stalk that extends the seed beyond the capsule fruit.<ref name = "Fibres, 2012" />

Distribution and habitat

Triphyophyllum is found in Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Sierra Leone,<ref name = "POWO b" /> where it occurs in primary<ref name = "Porembski & Barthlott, 2003" /> and old secondary dry evergreen rainforests. The habitat has a 6–7 month dry season. The acid, nutrient-poor soil is shallow.<ref name = "Green et al., 1979" />

Conservation

It is a rare and endangered species.<ref name=winkelmann />

Cultivation

Triphyophylum peltatum is difficult to cultivate.<ref name=winkelmann/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> It is cultivated in several botanical gardens: Würzburg, Hannover,<ref name = "Universität Würzburg, 2023">Mangel weckt den Appetit auf Fleisch. (2023, May 16). Universität Würzburg. Retrieved March 30, 2025, from https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/aktuelles/pressemitteilungen/single/news/mangel-weckt-den-appetit-auf-fleisch/</ref> Abidjan, Bonn, Cambridge University and WürzburgTemplate:Citation needed, and is exceedingly rare in private collections.

Uses

File:Triphyophyllum compounds.svg

Triphyophyllum compounds; top left: R = -H: Habropetalin A; R = -OH: Dioncophyllin A.; bottom left: Dioncophyllin; bottom right: Dioncophyllin C.

Triphyophyllum peltatum is traditionally used in folk medicine in the treatment of elephantiasis,<ref name = "Fibres, 2012" /><ref name = "Porembski & Barthlott, 2003" /> and malaria.<ref name = "Porembski & Barthlott, 2003" /> It produces many pharmaceutically active secondary metabolites, some of which have been found to have strong antiplasmodial activity. Some metabolites were found to have antitumoral and anti-multiple myeloma activity.<ref name=winkelmann/> The stems are used as tying material.<ref name = "Fibres, 2012" />

External links

• The Carnivorous Plant FAQ: About Triphyophyllum
• Bringmann, G., H. Rischer, J. Schlauer, K. Wolf, A. Kreiner, M. Duschek & L.A. Assi 2002. {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }} Template:Small Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 31(2): 44–52.

• Bringmann, G., J. Schlauer, K. Wolf, H. Rischer, U. Buschbom, A. Kreiner, F. Thiele, M. Duschek & L.A. Assi 1999. {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }} Template:Small Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 28(1): 7–13.

• Bringmann, G., M. Wenzel, H.P. Bringmann & J. Schlauer 2001. {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }} Template:Small Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 30(1): 15–21.

• Jonathan 1992. {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }} Template:Small Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 21(3): 51–53.

• Rice, B. 2007. Carnivorous plants with hybrid trapping strategies. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 36(1): 23–27.
• Simons, P. 1981. {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }} Template:Small Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 10(3): 65–68, 79–80.