Cleistanthus collinus

Cleistanthus collinus^[2] is a plant species first described by Roxburgh, with its current name after Bentham and Hooker; it is included in the family Phyllanthaceae.^[3][4] The IUCN categorizes this species as vulnerable.^[1] No subspecies are listed in the Catalogue of Life.^[3]

Cleistanthus collinus
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 2.3)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Malpighiales
Family:	Phyllanthaceae
Genus:	Cleistanthus
Species:	C. collinus
Binomial name
Cleistanthus collinus (Roxb.) Benth. ex Hook.f.
Synonyms
Lebidieropsis orbiculata var. lambertii Lebidieropsis orbiculata var. collina Lebidieropsis orbiculata (Roth) Müll.Arg. Lebidieropsis collina (Roxb.) Müll.Arg. Emblica palasis Buch.-Ham. Bridelia collina (Roxb.) Hook. & Arn. Andrachne orbiculata Roth Andrachne cadishaco Roxb. ex Wall. Amanoa collina (Roxb.) Baill.

Properties

Cleistanthus collinus (Karra) contains a plant poison also called oduvan (Tamil), kadise (Kannada), Vadisaku (Telugu), Oduku (Malayalam) and Gaja Madara (Sinhala) . Ingestion of its leaves or a decoction of its leaves causes hypokalemia (kaliuresis and cardiac arrhythmias),^[5] metabolic acidosis, hypotension and hypoxia^[6] probably due to distal renal tubular acidosis, ARDS and toxin induced vasodilatation respectively.^[7][8][9] Hypokalemia and acidosis probably also induces rhabdomyolysis resulting in myoglobinuric kidney failure and neuromuscular weakness.^[10] Its effects are probably mediated by injury to the distal renal tubules, pulmonary epithelium and peripheral blood vessels due to glutathione depletion^[11] (animal studies have shown benefit with N-acetylcysteine).^[12]

Gallery

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  Karra at fruiting
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