Ethnobotanical Documentation of Medicinal Plants Used by the Indigenous in Lambunao, Iloilo, Philippines.

The is a group of indigenous peoples living in the interior highlands of Panay Island in Western Visayas, Philippines. Little is known about their ethnobotanical knowledge due to limited written records, and no recent research has been conducted on the medicinal plants they used in ethnomedicine. This study aims to document the medicinal plants used by the indigenous in Lambunao, Iloilo, Panay Island.

Fly Pollination of Kettle Trap Flowers of (Ceropegieae-Anisotominae): A Generalized System of Floral Deception.

Elaborated kettle trap flowers to temporarily detain pollinators evolved independently in several angiosperm lineages. Intensive research on species of and recently illuminated how these specialized trap flowers attract particular pollinators through chemical deception. Morphologically similar trap flowers evolved in ; however, no data about floral rewards, pollinators, and chemical ecology were available for this plant group.

Phylogenetic relationships in the southern African genus (Ruschioideae, Aizoaceae).

Background: , the only genus of the tribe Drosanthemeae, is widespread over the Greater Cape Floristic Region in southern Africa. With 114 recognized species, together with the highly succulent and species-rich tribe Ruschieae, constitute the 'core ruschioids' in Aizoaceae. Within , nine subgenera have been described based on flower and fruit morphology.

Quantitative ethnopharmacological documentation and molecular confirmation of medicinal plants used by the Manobo tribe of Agusan del Sur, Philippines.

Background: The Philippines is renowned as one of the species-rich countries and culturally megadiverse in ethnicity around the globe. However, ethnopharmacological studies in the Philippines are still limited especially in the most numerous ethnic tribal populations in the southern part of the archipelago. This present study aims to document the traditional practices, medicinal plant use, and knowledge; to determine the relative importance, consensus, and the extent of all medicinal plants used; and to integrate molecular confirmation of uncertain species used by the Agusan Manobo in Mindanao, Philippines.

Flower scent of Ceropegia stenantha: electrophysiological activity and synthesis of novel components.

In specialized pollination systems, floral scents are crucial for flower-pollinator communication, but key volatiles that attract pollinators are unknown for most systems. Deceptive Ceropegia trap flowers are famous for their elaborate mechanisms to trap flies. Recent studies revealed species-specific floral chemistry suggesting highly specialized mimicry strategies.

The diversity and evolution of pollination systems in large plant clades: Apocynaceae as a case study.

Background And Aims: Large clades of angiosperms are often characterized by diverse interactions with pollinators, but how these pollination systems are structured phylogenetically and biogeographically is still uncertain for most families. Apocynaceae is a clade of >5300 species with a worldwide distribution. A database representing >10 % of species in the family was used to explore the diversity of pollinators and evolutionary shifts in pollination systems across major clades and regions.

Ixora (Rubiaceae) on the Philippines - crossroad or cradle?

Background: The Philippine archipelago is globally one of the most important model island systems for studying evolutionary processes. However, most plant species on this archipelago have not yet been studied in sufficient detail. The main aim of this study is to unravel the evolutionary history and biogeographic relationships of the Philippine members of the pantropical genus Ixora.

Ceropegia sandersonii Mimics Attacked Honeybees to Attract Kleptoparasitic Flies for Pollination.

Four to six percent of plants, distributed over different angiosperm families, entice pollinators by deception [1]. In these systems, chemical mimicry is often used as an efficient way to exploit the olfactory preferences of animals for the purpose of attracting them as pollinators [2,3]. Here, we report a very specific type of chemical mimicry of a food source.

Fly pollination in Ceropegia (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae): biogeographic and phylogenetic perspectives.

Background And Aims: Ceropegia (Apocynaceae subfamily Asclepiadoideae) is a large, Old World genus of >180 species, all of which possess distinctive flask-shaped flowers that temporarily trap pollinators. The taxonomic diversity of pollinators, biogeographic and phylogenetic patterns of pollinator exploitation, and the level of specificity of interactions were assessed in order to begin to understand the role of pollinators in promoting diversification within the genus.

Methods: Flower visitor and pollinator data for approx.

The chemical nature of fetid floral odours in stapeliads (Apocynaceae-Asclepiadoideae-Ceropegieae).

By emitting strong fetid scents, sapromyiophilous flowers mimic brood and food sites of flies to attract them as pollinators. To date, intensive comparative scent analyses have been restricted to sapromyiophilous Araceae. Here, we analysed flower volatiles of fetid stapeliads to improve our understanding of the floral biology of fly pollinated species, and to learn whether mimicry types comparable to those found in Araceae exist.

Generic delimitations in tuberous Periplocoideae (Apocynaceae) from Africa and Madagascar.

Background And Aims: The number of genera included in Apocynaceae subfamily Periplocoideae is a matter of debate. DNA sequences are used here as an independent dataset to clarify generic relationships and classification of the tuberous periplocoid genera and to address the question of the phylogenetic interpretation of pollinia formation in Schlechterella.

Methods: Representatives of nearly all African and Malagasy genera of Periplocoideae possessing root tubers were analysed using ITS and plastid DNA sequence characters.