Rotheca myricoides, also known as the Blue Butterfly Bush or Blue Glory Bower, is a beautiful flowering plant from the mint family (Lamiaceae). It’s native to the mountains of East and Southern Africa, from Eritrea to South Africa, and has spread to many other parts of the world, including Trinidad and Tobago, Australia, and Brazil.
This plant gets its name from its striking flowers, which bloom from June to September. The blossoms really do look like tiny blue butterflies in flight! Their colors range from light blue to violet-blue or even white, with delicate petals and curved stamens that resemble wings and antennae.
Beyond its beauty, Rotheca myricoides has long been used in traditional medicine. In parts of Kenya, it’s used to help manage diabetes, and in other regions, people use it to treat a variety of ailments such as coughs, malaria, arthritis, and even snakebites.
藍蝴蝶是唇形科的美麗開花植物。它原產於東非和南部非洲的山區，從厄立特里亞到南非均有分佈，現已傳播到世界許多其他地區，包括特立尼達和多巴哥、澳洲和巴西。
這種植物因其引人注目的花朵而得名，花期從六月到九月。這些花看起來真的像是翩翩飛舞的小藍蝴蝶！它們的顏色從淺藍色到紫藍色，甚至白色不等，精緻的花瓣和彎曲的雄蕊宛如翅膀和觸角。
除了美觀之外，藍蝴蝶長期以來一直被用於傳統醫學。在肯亞的一些地區，它被用於輔助治療糖尿病；而在其他地區，人們則用它來治療各種疾病，例如咳嗽、瘧疾、關節炎，甚至蛇咬傷。
Notes 筆記
- Rotheca myricoides is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae. Other common names include Blue Butterfly Bush, Blue Glory Bower, Butterfly Bush, Clerodendrum ugandense, and Clerodendrum myricoides.
- It is native to the mountains from Eritrea to South Africa and is widely cultivated elsewhere. The species has been introduced to Trinidad and Tobago, Australia, and Brazil.
- The genus name Rotheca is reportedly a Latinization of the Malaysian words cheriga (meaning “small”) and thekku (meaning “teak”). The specific epithet myricoides comes from the French word myriades (“ten thousand”) and is a Latinized form of the Greek suffix –oides, meaning “resembling” or “like.”
- Showy, five-petaled flowers bloom from June to September. The flowers are said to resemble a butterfly in flight, hence the common name Blue Butterfly Bush. Flower color is variable, ranging from blue to violet-blue to white. Each flower has four light blue lateral petals (resembling butterfly wings), a fifth dark blue lower petal (resembling the butterfly’s head, thorax, and abdomen), and showy, curved, outward-arching purple stamens (resembling antennae). Black fleshy fruit follows the spring blooms.
- Rotheca myricoides is used in traditional medicine to manage diabetes in the lower eastern region of Kenya. It is also used to treat epilepsy, arthritis, typhoid, cough, eye problems, tonsillitis, rheumatism, gonorrhea, cancer, malaria, dysmenorrhea, sterility, and impotence. In both European and African traditional practices, the powdered bark of the plant is used medicinally; a teaspoon of the powder is reportedly administered to treat snakebites.
- 藍蝴蝶是唇形科的一種開花植物。其他常見名稱包括紫蝴蝶、花蝴蝶、楊梅葉大青。
- 它原產於從厄立特里亞到南非的山區，並在其他地區廣泛栽培。該物種已被引入特立尼達和多巴哥、澳大利亞和巴西。
- 屬名 Rotheca 是馬來語 cheriga（意為「小的」）和 thekku（意為「柚木」）的拉丁化形式。種加詞 myricoides 源自法語單字 myriades（意為「一萬」），是希臘文字尾 -oides 的拉丁化形式，意為「類似」或「像」。
- 它的花朵艷麗，五瓣，花期從六月到九月。據說花朵形似翩翩飛舞的蝴蝶，因此得名「藍蝴蝶」。花色多變，從藍色到紫藍色到白色不等。每朵花有四片淺藍色的側瓣（形似蝴蝶翅膀），一片深藍色的下瓣（形似蝴蝶的頭部、胸部和腹部），以及艷麗的、彎曲向外伸展的紫色雄蕊（形似蝴蝶的觸角）。春季花期過後，會結出黑色的肉質果實。
- 在肯亞東部低地地區，人們使用藍蝴蝶這種植物的傳統醫學來治療糖尿病。它也被用於治療癲癇、關節炎、傷寒、咳嗽、眼疾、扁桃體炎、風濕病、淋病、癌症、瘧疾、經痛、不孕症和陽痿。在歐洲和非洲的傳統醫學中，人們會使用這種植物的樹皮粉末入藥；據說，服用一茶匙樹皮粉末可以治療蛇咬傷。
References 參考資料
- Wikipedia: Rotheca myricoides
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Rotheca myricoides 'Ugandense'
Plants Posts 植物的帖子
Comments