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Arum cyrenaicum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arum cyrenaicum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Alismatales
Family: Araceae
Genus: Arum
Species:
A. cyrenaicum
Binomial name
Arum cyrenaicum
Hruby (1912)
Arum cyrenaicum is located in Crete and Cyrenaica
Arum cyrenaicum
Arum cyrenaicum
Arum cyrenaicum
Arum cyrenaicum
Arum cyrenaicum
Arum cyrenaicum
Range of A. cyrenaicum[1] (precise locations only)

Arum cyrenaicum is a woodland plant species of the family Araceae. It has a disjunct distribution, being found in Greece and in Libya, where it has seen limited use as a foraged root and leaf vegetable.

Description

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It has discoid tubers with dimensions 3–5 centimetres (1.2–2.0 in) × 1–3 centimetres (0.39–1.18 in).[2]

Petioles are dark green and 6–30 centimetres (2.4–11.8 in) long. Leaves usually number 4; individual simple, with hastate or sagittate blade morphology and a sharp apex 7–22 centimetres (2.8–8.7 in) × 5–13 centimetres (2.0–5.1 in). The central vein is clear, and veins are reticulate-pinnate.[2]

Inflorescence bisexual and monoecious. Spathe up to 26 centimetres (10 in) long, coiled at the bottom, widening at the middle and sharp at the top; laminate, lanceolate, acuminate, purple. Spathe one third shorter than spadix. Spadix 6–12 centimetres (2.4–4.7 in) long but indistinctly shaped, dung-scented. Spadix dark purple at the edges, pale green at the middle. The female flowers are below the male flowers on the lower part of the spadix, with 4–8 millimetres (0.16–0.31 in) between them. Club elongate, conical, obtuse, almost prostrately thickened from the stem, or more-or-less cylindrical like the purple stem, the same length as the stem, often longer. Male flowers form 4–5 purple circular rows; stamen filaments short, with pale purple anther and flexible yellow to cream coloured staminodes. Female flowers form 6–7 yellow circular rows; ovary single-chambered, usually with 4 ovules, no style, hemispherical stigma, parietal placentation topped with creamy yellow pistillodes. Upper organs polycyclic, neutral, yellowish, lower oligocyclic or completely absent as in A. pictum.[3][2]

Fruits are green berries, which transition to orange and mature to red.[2]

Morphological descriptions have also been published in 1977[4] and by Ralf and Schönfelder in 1995.[5]

Taxonomy

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It was first collected at the entrance of Lethe cave (Benghazi) by Gustav Ferdinand Ruhmer [es] in 1883 but under the name A. italicum var. byzantinum Schott. This specimen has been lost.[6] The next collection was by Paul Hermann Wilhelm Taubert in 1887, again in Cyrenaica, but under the name Arum nickelii Schott.[3]

Distribution and habitat

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Restricted to Crete[7] and Cyrenaica.[3] On Crete, it has been found near Vlthias,[7] among other places. In Cyrenaica, it has been found at the entrance of Lethe cave,[3] in the Wadi Zaza,[8] the Wadi Belkaf,[9] and at Cyrene,[10] among other places.

The species was originally thought to be a Cyrenian endemic. But on 9 April 1984, Mary Briggs observed and photographed an individual near Vlithias (Palaiochora), and returned in March 1988 to send living material to Peter Boyce, who grew several individuals from Cretan stock and confirmed their identity as A. cyrenaicum.[7]

On Crete, A. cyrenaicum grows in a woodland of Platanus orientalis L., associated with Arum concinnatum Schott, Cyclamen creticum Hildebr., Hedera helix L., and Tamus communis L..[7]

At Cyrene, A. cyrenaicum is the dominant species in one community at an elevation of 555 metres (1,821 ft).[11] The other Araceae members are found in Cyrene are Arisarum vulgare and Biarum bovei, though the former and A. cyrenaicum are much more common than the latter.[2]

Ecology

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A. cyrenaicum is an annual herbaceous species. It is an understory species, growing to 40 centimetres (16 in), flowering March-April.[2] It can be pollinated by Nematocera species, attracted by its dung-like scent.[12]

Uses

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The rhizomes are used as food in Libya.[13][14] It is said to have been consumed by Senussi rebels against the Italians.[15]

It has also been noted as a potential ornamental plant.[16]

Its anticancer and antidiabetic potential has been investigated. For anticancer activity, it was determined the fruit extract has shown toxicity on normal cells, while the root extract showed weak activity on cancer cells. For antidiabetic activity, PTP inhibition has been shown for the root and aerial part extracts.[17]

Toxicity

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A 2012 study confirmed the presence of oxalate type raphides in the species, especially concentrated in the leaves and fruit. With the exception of the corms, cyanogenic glycosides were also found throughout the plant, but especially in the inflorescences and fruits, then the spathes, and to a lesser extent the leaves. They determined these glycosides were destroyed with thermal treatment. They performed an acute toxicity test on laboratory mice, in which a dose of 2000 mg/kg of heated extract resulted in no metabolic or behavioral changes, confirming the ability of heat to destroy the raphides.[15]

Chemistry

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The seeds' major hydrocarbons are nonacosane (also present in the roots), hexadecane and 9,12-octadecadiene, which occur alongside nonacosanol. The fatty acid methyl ester myrestic acid predominates in the seeds, but is secondary to margaric acid in the roots.[18]

The most abundant volatile compounds emitted by the inflorescence is bicyclogermacrene, followed by 1-decene, β-citronellene, dimethyl-octadiene, p-cresol and an unidentified sesquiterpene, and with lower abundances of methyl butyrate, methyl isobutyrate, 2-heptanone and 2-nonanone, and trace amounts of 2-methyl methyl butyrate, methyl benzoate, indole, skatole and various sesquiterpenes.[19]

References

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  1. ^ GBIF 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Salih & Abdulrraziq 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Hruby 1912, p. 159.
  4. ^ Jafri & El-Gadi 1977.
  5. ^ Ralf & Schönfelder 1995, p. 409.
  6. ^ El-Mokasabi, Omar & El-Garary 2025, p. 224.
  7. ^ a b c d Turland 1992, p. 162.
  8. ^ El-Barasi, El-Sherif & Gawhari 2003.
  9. ^ Alaib et al. 2016.
  10. ^ Hamad et al. 2024.
  11. ^ Dakeel et al. 2024.
  12. ^ Gibernau, Macquart & Przetak 2004, p. 155.
  13. ^ El-Darier & El-Mogaspi 2009.
  14. ^ Łuczaj & Emre 2025.
  15. ^ a b Ben Ramadan et al. 2012.
  16. ^ Alaib et al. 2016, p. 25.
  17. ^ Saad 2019.
  18. ^ Zargoun et al. 2020.
  19. ^ (Kite et al. 2000)

Bibliography

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