{{short description|Genus of plants}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Boophone disticha.jpg | image_caption = Inflorescence of ''Boophone disticha'' | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Boophone | authority = Herb.<ref>Appendix: 18 (1821).</ref>{{full citation needed|date=November 2012}} | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text | synonyms = *''Buphane'' Herb. *''Boophane'' Herb. }}
[[File:Boophone disticha02.jpg|thumb|{{center|''Boophone disticha'' flowerhead with caterpillars of the Noctuid moth ''Diaphone eumela''}}]] '''''Boophone''''' is a small genus of herbaceous, perennial and bulbous plants in the Amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae.<ref>{{Cite web | last=Stevens | first=P.F. | title=Angiosperm Phylogeny Website: Asparagales: Amaryllidoideae | url=http://www.mobot.org/mobot/research/apweb/orders/asparagalesweb.htm#AllAma }}</ref>) It consists of two confirmed species distributed across South Africa to Kenya and Uganda. It is closely related to ''Crossyne'', a genus whose species have prostrate leaves.<ref>{{cite web|last=Vigneron|first=P.|title=Boophone|url=http://www.amaryllidaceae.org/Boophone/index.htm|publisher=Amaryllidaceae organization|year=2000–2006|access-date=2009-05-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090716034508/http://www.amaryllidaceae.org/Boophone/index.htm|archive-date=2009-07-16|url-status=dead}}</ref> They are drought tolerant but not cold-hardy, and are very poisonous to livestock.
== Taxonomy ==
''Boophone'' is the single genus in subtribe Boophoninae, in the Amaryllideae tribe.
=== Phylogeny === Boophoninae are placed within Amaryllideae as follows, based on their phylogenetic relationship:{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}
{{clade | label1= Tribe '''Amaryllideae''' | 1= {{clade | 1= Subtribe Amaryllidinae | 2= {{clade | 1= Subtribe '''Boophoninae''' | 2= {{clade | 1= Subtribe Strumariinae | 2= Subtribe Crininae }} }} }} }}
=== Species ===
The list of ''Boophone'' species, with their complete scientific name, authority, and geographic distribution is given below.<ref name="RBG">Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. [http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/qsearch.do World Checklist of Monocotyledons: ''Boophone '']. Accessed May 16, 2009.</ref> {| class="wikitable" |- ! Flowers !! Plant !! Scientific name !! Distribution |- |120px||120px ||''Boophone disticha'' (L.f.) Herb.<ref>Bot. Mag. 52: [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/487555 t. 2578] (1825)</ref>|| From Sudan to South Africa |- |120px||120px ||''Boophone haemanthoides'' Leight.<ref>Leighton, Frances Margaret. ''Journal of South African Botany'' 13: 59. 1947. {{full citation needed|date=November 2012}}</ref>|| From Namibia to the Western Cape Province |- |}
=== Etymology === William Herbert wrote the name of this genus with three different orthographies: "Boophane" in 1821; "Buphane" and "Buphone" in 1825. This final spelling was corrected to "Boophone" in 1839 by Milne-Redhead. The name was derived from the Greek ''bous'' (an ox) and ''phone'' (death), due to its toxic nature to cattle. A proposal was published in 2001 to conserve the name "Boophone" and to take the earlier ones as synonyms.<ref>{{cite journal | author = R. H. Archer | author2 = R. K. Brummitt | author3 = D. A. Snijman | year = 2001 | title = Proposal to conserve the name ''Boophone'' Herbert with that spelling (Amaryllidaceae) | journal = Taxon | volume = 50 | issue = 2 | pages = 569–572 | doi = 10.2307/1223904| jstor = 1223904 | doi-access = free }}</ref> This proposal was accepted in 2002.<ref>Richard K. Brummitt. 2002. Report of the Committee for Spermatophyta: 53. Taxon, Vol. 51, No. 4 (Nov., 2002), pp. 795–799.</ref>
== Associated insects == Larvae of the moth genera ''Brithys'' and ''Diaphone'' use ''Boophone'' as a food plant.
==Traditional medicine ==
''Boophone disticha'' is used in South African traditional medicine by the Zulu people to induce hallucinations for divinatory purposes, and also for various mental illnesses.<ref name="pmid18775771">{{cite journal |vauthors=Stafford GI, Pedersen ME, van Staden J, Jäger AK |title=Review on plants with CNS-effects used in traditional South African medicine against mental diseases |journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology |volume=119 |issue=3 |pages=513–37 |year=2008 |pmid=18775771 |doi=10.1016/j.jep.2008.08.010 }}</ref> Its use, however, is limited by injuries that result from the plant's toxicity.<ref>{{Cite journal | author = J. F. Sobiecki | title = A preliminary inventory of plants used for psychoactive purposes in southern African healing traditions | journal = Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa | volume = 57 | year = 2002 | issue = 1–2 | pages = 1–24 | doi = 10.1080/00359190209520523| bibcode = 2002TRSSA..57....1S | s2cid = 40983799 }}</ref> They have also been used as ingredients in traditional arrow poisons, and medicinal dressings for skin lesions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://succulent-plant.com/families/amaryllidaceae.html|title=Amaryllidaceae|website=succulent-plant.com|language=en|access-date=2018-02-07}}</ref>
==Chemistry== A variety of alkaloids with affinity for the serotonin transporter have been isolated from ''Boophone disticha''.<ref name="pmid15814274">{{cite journal |vauthors=Sandager M, Nielsen ND, Stafford GI, van Staden J, Jäger AK |title=Alkaloids from ''Boophane disticha'' with affinity to the serotonin transporter in rat brain |journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology |volume=98 |issue=3 |pages=367–70 |year=2005 |pmid=15814274 |doi=10.1016/j.jep.2005.01.037 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Neergaard J, Andersen J, Pedersen ME, Stafford GI, van Staden J, Jäger AK |title=Alkaloids from ''Boophone disticha'' with affinity to the serotonin transporter |journal=South African Journal of Botany |volume=72 |issue=2 |pages=371–4 |year=2009 |pmid= |doi=10.1016/j.sajb.2009.02.173 |bibcode=2009SAJB...75..371N |doi-access=free }}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist|30em}}
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Category:Amaryllidoideae Category:Amaryllidaceae genera Category:Entheogens Category:Plants used in traditional African medicine Category:Zulu culture Category:Taxa named by William Herbert (botanist)