{{short description|Species of plant}} {{Speciesbox |image = Toddalia asiatica.jpg |image_caption = Leaves and fruits |image2 = Toddalia asiatica 18.JPG |taxon = Zanthoxylum asiaticum |authority = (L.) Appelhans, Groppo & J.Wen<ref name=POWO_77194041-1/> |synonyms = {{Species list |Cranzia aculeata|Oken |Cranzia asiatica|(L.) Kuntze |Cranzia nitida|Kuntze |Cranzia schmidelioides|(Baker) Kuntze |Cranzia willdenowii|Kuntze |Limonia oligandra|Dalzell |Rubentia angustifolia|Bojer ex Steud. |Scopolia angustifolia|Spreng. |Scopolia micracantha|Blume |Scopolia nitida|Willd. ex Spreng. |Toddalia aculeata|Pers. |Toddalia ambigua|Turcz. |Toddalia angustifolia|Lam. |Toddalia asiatica|(L.) Lam. |Toddalia asiatica var. parva|Z.M.Tan |Toddalia effusa|Turcz. |Toddalia floribunda|Wall. |Toddalia micrantha|(Blume) Steud. |Toddalia nitida|Lam. |Toddalia rubicaulis|Schult. |Toddalia schmidelioides|Baker |Toddalia tonkinensis|Guillaumin |Toddalia willdenowii|Steud. |Zanthoxylum floribundum|Wall. |Zanthoxylum nitidum|Wall. |Paullinia asiatica|L. |Scopolia aculeata|Sm. }} |synonyms_ref = <ref name=POWO_77194041-1/> }} '''''Zanthoxylum asiaticum''''' is a species of plant in the family Rutaceae. Under its synonym '''''Toddalia asiatica''''', it was the only species in the monotypic genus '''''Toddalia''''', now included in ''Zanthoxylum''.<ref name="POWO_77194041-1">{{cite web |title=''Zanthoxylum asiaticum'' (L.) Appelhans, Groppo & J.Wen |work=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77194041-1 |access-date=2021-09-15 }}</ref><ref name=AppeBaylHeslGrop21/> It is known by the English name '''orange climber'''.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}
==Description== This is a liana with woody, corky, thorny stems that climb on trees, reaching up to 10 m in length. It has shiny green citrus-scented leaves, yellow-green flowers, and orange fruits about half a cm wide that taste like orange peel.<ref name=pl/> The seeds are dispersed by birds and monkeys that eat the fruits.<ref name=pl/> In particular, the scaly-breasted munia prefers to nest in these trees.
==Distribution== It is native to many countries in Africa and Asia.<ref>{{GRIN | ''Toddalia asiatica'' | 36738 | accessdate = 12 January 2018 }}</ref> Examples include South Africa where in Afrikaans it is called ''ranklemoentjie'', and in Venda, ''gwambadzi''.<ref name=pl>[http://www.plantzafrica.com/planttuv/todalasia.htm PlantZAfrica.com]</ref> It is very popular among the Kikuyus of Central Kenya, where it is known as ''mururue'', Mauritius, where it is known as patte poule <ref name=njo>{{Cite journal|last1=Njoroge|first1=Grace N.|last2=Bussmann|first2=Rainer W.|author2-link=Rainer W. Bussmann|year=2006|title=Diversity and Utilization of antimalarial ethnophytotherapeutic remedies among the Kikuyus (Central Kenya)|journal=Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine|volume=2|pages=8|number=8|doi=10.1186/1746-4269-2-8|pmid=16451716|pmc=1397805 |doi-access=free }}</ref> or properly {{wikt-lang|ki|mũrũrũe}}.<ref>"''mũ''rũrũe" in {{Cite book|last=Benson|first=T.G.|title=Kikuyu-English dictionary|page=421|location=Oxford|publisher=Clarendon Press}}</ref><ref name="lnk2016">Kamau, Loice Njeri and Peter Mathiu Mbaabu and James Mucunu Mbaria and Peter Karuri Gathumbi and Stephen Gitahi Kiama (2016). "[http://hdl.handle.net/11295/100882 Ethnobotanical survey and threats to medicinal plants traditionally used for the management of human diseases in Nyeri County, Kenya]", p. 11.</ref><ref name="lsbl">Leakey, L. S. B. (1977). ''The Southern Kikuyu before 1903'', v. III, p. 1340. London and New York: Academic Press. {{ISBN|0-12-439903-7}}</ref>
==Habitat== It grows in forested riparian habitat with high rainfall.<ref name=pl/> The destruction of forest habitat in Africa threatens the species' survival.<ref name=nab>Nabwami, J., et al. (2007). [http://www.acss.ws/Upload/XML/Research/475.pdf Characterization of the natural habitat of ''Toddalia asiatica'' in the Lake Victoria basin: soil characteristics and seedling establishment.] African Crop Science Conference Proceedings Volume 8.</ref>
==Fossil record== Fossil seeds assigned to ''Toddalia'' (now included in ''Zanthoxylum'') have been described as ''Toddalia nanlinensis'' from the Miocene of Nanlin Formation in Longchuan Basin, Dehong Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. The fossil seeds are boat-shaped with tegmen that is composed of thin-walled cells with fine criss-crossed spiral lignifications.<ref>Fruits of Schima (Theaceae) and seeds of Toddalia (Rutaceae) from the Miocene of Yunnan Province, China by Ya Li, Jian Yang, Nilamber Awasthi and Cheng-Sen Li in Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 193:119–127 · June 2013</ref>
==Medicinal uses== The plant is used medicinally by many African peoples,<ref name=orwa/> including the Maasai, who use it for malaria,<ref>Bussmann, R. W., et al. (2006). [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1475560/ Plant use of the Maasai of Sekenani Valley, Maasai Mara, Kenya.] ''J Ethnobiol Ethnomed'' 2 22.</ref> cough, and influenza.<ref name=pl/> The roots contain coumarins that have antiplasmodial activity.<ref>Oketch-Rabah, H. A., et al. (2000). A new antiplasmodial coumarin from ''Toddalia asiatica'' roots. ''Fitoterapia'' 71:6 636-40.</ref> Extracts of the plant have demonstrated antiviral activity against H1N1 influenza in the laboratory.<ref>Lu, S. Y., et al. (2005). Identification of antiviral activity of ''Toddalia asiatica'' against influenza type A virus. ''Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi.'' 30:13 998-1001.</ref> The harvest of this slow-growing plant from the wild for medicinal use may cause its populations to decline.<ref name=nab/>
Protocols for domestication or propagation of the tree are being researched.<ref name=nab/>
== References == {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=AppeBaylHeslGrop21>{{Citation |mode=cs1 |last1=Appelhans |first1=Marc S. |last2=Bayly |first2=Michael J. |last3=Heslewood |first3=Margaret M. |last4=Groppo |first4=Milton |last5=Verboom |first5=G. Anthony |last6=Forster |first6=Paul I. |last7=Kallunki |first7=Jacquelyn A. |last8=Duretto |first8=Marco F. |date=2021 |title=A new subfamily classification of the ''Citrus'' family (Rutaceae) based on six nuclear and plastid markers |journal=Taxon |volume=70 |issue=5 |pages=1035–1061 |doi=10.1002/tax.12543 |name-list-style=amp |doi-access=free |hdl=11343/288824 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
<ref name=orwa>Orwa, J. A., et al. (2008). The use of ''Toddalia asiatica'' (L) Lam. (Rutaceae) in traditional medicine practice in East Africa. ''Journal of Ethnopharmacology'' 115:2 257-62.</ref> }}
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asiaticum Category:Plants used in traditional African medicine Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus