# Boophone

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Boophone
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Boophone.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boophone
> Source revision: 1309638148
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{short description|Genus of plants}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Boophone disticha.jpg
| image_caption = Inflorescence of ''Boophone disticha''
| display_parents = 2
| taxon = Boophone
| authority = [Herb.](/source/William_Herbert_(botanist))<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](/source/Noctuid) moth ''[Diaphone eumela](/source/Diaphone_eumela)''}}]]
'''''Boophone''''' is a small [genus](/source/genus) of [herbaceous](/source/herbaceous), [perennial](/source/perennial) and [bulbous plants](/source/bulb) in the Amaryllis family ([Amaryllidaceae](/source/Amaryllidaceae), subfamily [Amaryllidoideae](/source/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](/source/species) distributed across South Africa to Kenya and Uganda. It is closely related to ''[Crossyne](/source/Crossyne)'', a genus whose species have prostrate [leaves](/source/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](/source/subtribe) Boophoninae, in the [Amaryllideae](/source/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](/source/Amaryllidinae)
| 2= {{clade
| 1= Subtribe '''Boophoninae'''
| 2= {{clade
|       1= Subtribe [Strumariinae](/source/Strumariinae)
|       2= Subtribe [Crininae](/source/Crininae)
    }}
}}
}}
}}

=== Species ===

The list of ''Boophone'' species, with their complete [scientific name](/source/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](/source/Boophone_disticha)'' ([L.f.](/source/L.f.)) [Herb.](/source/William_Herbert_(botanist))<ref>Bot. Mag. 52: [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/487555 t. 2578] (1825)</ref>|| From [Sudan](/source/Sudan) to [South Africa](/source/South_Africa)
|-
|120px||120px  ||''[Boophone haemanthoides](/source/Boophone_haemanthoides)'' Leight.<ref>Leighton, Frances Margaret. ''Journal of South African Botany'' 13: 59. 1947. {{full citation needed|date=November 2012}}</ref>|| From [Namibia](/source/Namibia) to the [Western Cape Province](/source/Western_Cape_Province) 
|-
|}

=== Etymology ===
[William Herbert](/source/William_Herbert_(botanist)) 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](/source/Brithys)'' and ''[Diaphone](/source/Diaphone_(moth))'' use ''Boophone'' as a food plant.

==Traditional medicine ==

''Boophone disticha'' is used in South African [traditional medicine](/source/traditional_medicine) by the [Zulu people](/source/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 [alkaloid](/source/alkaloid)s with affinity for the [serotonin transporter](/source/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}}

{{taxonbar|from=Q144319}}

Category:Amaryllidoideae
Category:Amaryllidaceae genera
Category:Entheogens
Category:Plants used in traditional African medicine
Category:Zulu culture
Category:Taxa named by William Herbert (botanist)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Boophone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boophone) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boophone?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.