Silene undulata
African dream root ( Silene undulata )
Silene undulata ( isiXhosa: undlela zimhlophe ) also known as the African dream root, is a plant which belongs to the carnation family ( Caryophyllaceae ). It occurs in southern Africa.
Description
Silene undulata grows as a perennial herbaceous plant, reaching heights of growth of up to 60 cm. Many parts of the plants are covered with sticky glands. The basal leaves are spatula - elongated, have a length of up to 15 cm and a width of 2.5 cm and narrowing to a stem. The spread on the stem leaves have a length of up to 8 cm and a width of 2 cm, but are usually smaller and not more than very short -stalked. The leaf margin is smooth curled up sometimes.
The terminal, Rispige, zymöse inflorescence contains only a few flowers and bracts, which are very similar to the upper stem leaves, but are progressive narrower. The flowering period extends from October to April. The flowers smell very fragrant clove, jasmine and bananas. The flower stems are about 0.6 to 2 cm long. The flowers open at night and curl up on day mostly inside one. The hermaphrodite flowers are fünfzählig. The cylindrical, but widespread in fruit ripening cup is zehnrippig, 2.5 to 3.5 cm long and 0.5 cm wide, 5 mm long calyx teeth. The five white or pink petals are cream-colored and deeply lobed with a nail which is about longer than the calyx. The toothed Kronschuppen are about 1.5 mm long. There are two circuits, each provided with five stamens, about 3.5 cm with the longer and the shorter are about 1.7 cm long. The einfächerige ovary is oblong- ovate. The three pens are about 1.5 cm long.
The elongated egg-shaped capsule fruit has a length of 1.2 to 1.8 cm and a diameter of about 0.8 cm. It opens from above with flaps bent back at approximately a length of one third to one half, and contains a lot of seeds. The almost black seeds are about 1.2 × 1 mm in size and kidney-shaped.
Location
The plant is native to Zimbabwe and South Africa. It occurs in open forest and grassland, usually in areas with higher rainfall.
System
Silene undulata was in 1789 by William Aiton in Hort. Kew. , 2, p 96 first described. The type specimen is a cultivated from a seed from the Cape Province plant. Synonyms for Silene undulata Ait. are: Melandrium undulatum ( Ait. ) Rohrb. and Silene capensis Otth.
Traditional use
Shamans and healers of the Xhosa viewing the plant as a medicinal root that they use for healing and divination purposes. For the shamans of the Xhosa, the root is a means to pass through prophetic dreams with his ancestors in conjunction to receive a response to questions or disease causes. The Xhosa name for Silene undulata are: Ubulawu obumhlope, unozitholana, iinkomo yentaba and undlela zimhlophe.