Calotropis gigantea

Crown flower ( Calotropis gigantea )

The Crown Flower ( Calotropis gigantea ), also called Madar shrub is a plant species in the subfamily of the milkweed family ( Asclepiadoideae ) within the family of the dogbane family ( Apocynaceae ).

Occurrence

Calotropis gigantea is native to Africa and Southeast Asia. Today, the crown flower is wild in many countries of the world, for example in South America or in the Caribbean. Especially the crown flower is found in the Barrens for example on former sugar cane fields in Caribbean- South America.

Description

Calotropis gigantea When there is a shrub or small tree that can reach the stature heights of over three meters. The decussate, sessile or short- stalked leaves are simple, hairy tomentose, silvery- green, 9 to 15.8 cm long and 4.5 to 9.5 cm wide.

The flowers are borne in this complicated inflorescences. The hermaphrodite flowers are radial symmetry and fünfzählig. The five free sepals are 3-7 mm long. The five petals are fused at their bases 15 to 17 mm long. It's just a circle with five stamens present. The stamens are fused to each other to form a tube, with a stamp and with the petals. The fleshy corona has a length of 11 to 12 mm and a diameter of 6 to 6.5 mm ( in this kind of Calotropis procera is different in it is shorter ). Two carpels are fused into a superior ovaries. The two pens are fused at their tips.

It formed pale green, soft-shelled follicles, which have a length of 70 to 100 mm and a diameter of up to 40 mm. They released at maturity many hairy seeds that are spread by the wind.

Use

The sticky milky sap of the plant is slightly toxic due to the cardiac glycoside -like effect on people and has also been used as an arrow poison. In homeopathy, the crown flower is used against obesity.

The leaves were added to the Damascus steel. The bast fibers of the plant are used for ropes, fishing nets or paper. The seeds are used as fibers such as Akon used as life jackets and fillings are suitable for textile applications.