Trema micranthum (sometimes Trema micrantha), the Jamaican nettletree[2] or capulin,[3] is a plant species native to warmer parts of the Western Hemisphere. It has been reported from Mexico, Central America, tropical South America, the Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and southern Florida.[1][4][5]
| Trema micranthum | |
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| In Brasília | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Cannabaceae |
| Genus: | Trema |
| Species: | T. micranthum
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| Binomial name | |
| Trema micranthum (L.) Blume
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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List
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Description
editTrema micranthrum is a shrub or small tree up to 10 m (33 ft) tall. Leaves are egg-shaped, up to 9 cm (3.5 in) long, green on top but covered with white, woolly pubescence underneath. Flowers are greenish-white. Fruits are yellow to bright reddish-range, up to 4 mm (0.16 in) in diameter. [4][6][7]
Uses
editFollowing the recent local extirpation of slow-growing xalama in San Pablito, Mexico due to unsustainable harvesting driven by tourism, the Otomi people now use T. micranthum bark strips as a raw material for making handmade amate paper.[8]
Phytochemicals
editClaims have been made that T. micranthum may contain cannabidiol,[9] a non-psychoactive but medicinally useful component known from Cannabis. However, as with similar claims previously made about the related plant Trema orientale,[10] such claims have not yet been independently replicated by other researchers and are not yet widely accepted by the scientific community.[11]. Also, a more recent publication did not provide conclusive evidence, e.g. in the form of fragmentation spectra or the analysis of isolated compounds by NMR.[12]
References
edit- ^ a b "Trema micranthum (L.) Blume". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
- ^ NRCS. "Trema micratha". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- ^ "Trema micrantha". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
- ^ a b "Trema micrantha". Flora of North America @ efloras.org.
- ^ "rema micrantha (L.) Blume distribution". Tropicos. Missouri Botanical Garden.
- ^ Blume CL (November 1, 1856). Museum botanicum Lugduno-Batavum, sive, Stirpium exoticarum novarum vel minus cognitarum ex vivis aut siccis brevis expositio et descriptio [Botanical Museum of Lyon-Batau, or, a brief exposition and description of new or less known exotic breeds from living or dry] (in Latin). Vol. 2. E.J. Brill.
- ^ von Linné C, Salvius L (November 1, 1759). Caroli Linnaei...Systema naturae per regna tria naturae :secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Vol. 2. Impensis Direct. Laurentii Salvii.
- ^ Peters CM, Rosenthal J, Urbina T (1987). "Otomi bark paper in Mexico: commercialization of a pre-hispanic technology". Economic Botany. 41 (3): 423–432. doi:10.1007/BF02859061. S2CID 21173713.
- ^ Berger JH (4 July 2023). "Medical, but hold the marijuana: new CBD source found in Brazil". phys.org.
- ^ Napiroon T, Tanruean K, Poolprasert P, Bacher M, Balslev H, Poopath M, Santimaleeworagun W (2021). "Cannabinoids from inflorescences fractions of Trema orientalis (L.) Blume (Cannabaceae) against human pathogenic bacteria". PeerJ. 9: e11446. doi:10.7717/peerj.11446. PMC 8126263. PMID 34035994.
- ^ Appendino G, Taglialatela-Scafati O, Muñoz E (2022). "Cannabidiol (CBD) From Non-Cannabis Plants: Myth or Reality?". Natural Product Communications. 17 (5): 1934578X221098843. doi:10.1177/1934578X221098843. S2CID 248734336.
- ^ Ribeiro R, da Silva YC, Finotti R, Carneiro GR, Cardoso Dos Santos GR, Pereira HM, Padilha MC, Veiga-Junior VF (2024). "Trema micranthum (L.) Blume as a new source of cannabinoids". Scientific Reports. 14 (1): 29620. doi:10.1038/s41598-024-80857-6. PMID 39609538.
External links
editMedia related to Trema micrantha at Wikimedia Commons