Felix Coe

ABSTRACT The new combination Jaltomata weberbaueri (Dammer) Mione is based on Saracha weberbaueri Dammer; this species resides in Peru, Dept. Ancash, between 3,300 and 3,700 m elevation. The new combination Jaltomata aspera (Ruíz & Pavón) Mione is based on Atropa aspera Ruíz & Pavón; Hebecladus asperus (Ruíz & Pavón) Miers is a synonym. This species resides in Peru, Dept. Lima, from near sea-level to 1,800 m, and is rare, likely due to habitat destruction by humans.

... For example, a snakebite doctor would grow key species, such as alcotán (104 Cissampelos pareira L.), antidote beans (54 Fevillea cordifolia L.), snake root (19 Aristolochia trilobata L.), and sorosi (56 Momordica charantia L.). Similarly, a midwife would grow certain key ...

Page 1. ETHNOBOTANY OF THE GARfFUNA OF NICARAGUA 1 FELIX G. COE AND GREGORY J. ANDERSON EASTERN Coe, Felix G., and Gregory J. Anderson (Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Box U-43, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-3043). ...

We used an alkaloid test and a brine shrimp bioassay to assess the bioactivity of the medicinal plants used by eastern Nicaraguan healers in traditional medicine. Ethnomedicinal uses were obtained from interviews of traditional healers. Aqueous extracts derived from 30 species of angiosperms were assayed for the presence of alkaloids and toxicity. Species tested are distributed in 30 genera and 21 families. Of the 30 species tested for alkaloids with Dragendorff's reagent, 29 contained alkaloids. Toxicological analysis was conducted using the brine shrimp lethal assay (BSLA). Biological activity using BSLA was recorded as the median lethal concentration (LC50) that kills 50% of the larvae within 24 h of contact with the aqueous plant extracts. The LC50 of the shrimp was less than 2500 microg/mL for 3 (10%) species, 2500-5000 microg/mL for 9 (30%), 5001-7500 microg/mL for 7 (23%), 7501-10000 microg/mL for 3 (10%), and greater than 10000 microg/mL for 8 (27%) of the species. The members of the orders Santales and Rubiales in general contained species with greater toxicity than any other group. Struthanthus cassythoides (Struthanthus cassythoides Millsp.(Loranthaceae)). (LC50 1574 microg/mL) and Alibertia edulis (Rich.) A. Rich. (Rubiaceae) (LC50 1741 microg/mL) were the most toxic.

Presence/absence tests for alkaloids of 31 medicinal vascular plant species from 31 genera and 26 families of eastern Nicaragua provided a baseline for bioactivity tests. To determine the bioactivity and cytoxicity of aqueous extracts of widely used medicinal species in eastern Nicaragua. Ethnomedicinal applications were obtained from interviews of traditional healers. We used Dragendorff's reagent to test alkaloids and brine shrimp for cytotoxicity of aqueous extracts. Twenty-nine of the 31 species tested positive for alkaloids. The median lethal concentration that kills 50% of the larvae within 24 h of contact with the extract (LC(50) was less than 1000 µg/mL for 4 (13%) species (the usual cytotoxic category), 1001-5000 µg/mL for 23 (74%) species, and between 5001-7500 µg/mL for the remaining 4 (13%) species. Twenty-five of the ethnomedicines contain alkaloids but are not cytotoxic. In contrast to first suppositions, we suggest that this is a good and desirable, and perhaps expected, outcome. Medicinal plants that are cytotoxic may obviously control or kill bacteria or other pathogens, but may also negatively affect the patient; some high alkaloid levels have been associated with carcinogens. Thus, perhaps the majority of effective medicinals should be expected to be noncytotoxic. We suggest that this is a new paradigm for consideration of the overall value and effectiveness of medicinals. Of course, medicinals also can be effective in numerous ways (e.g., organ stimulation or other physiological functions) other than simply as antimicrobials or antipathogens.

Page 1. ETHNOBOTANY OF THE GARfFUNA OF NICARAGUA 1 FELIX G. COE AND GREGORY J. ANDERSON EASTERN Coe, Felix G., and Gregory J. Anderson (Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Box U-43, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-3043). ...

Tropical secondary forests are rich sources of useful species for native and traditional people. Our objective was to conduct a quantitative assessment of useful species in a series of forest stands with different land-use histories. Based on a detailed vegetation inventory of 10 tropical wet forest stands in Sarapiquí, Costa Rica, species were classified into 20 use categories. Classification was based on personal knowledge of uses of these species in SE Nicaragua and NE Costa Rica and from published ethnobotanical sources. ...