Download PDF
Phyllanthus
amarus Schum.
Standardized Common
Name: Phyllanthus
amarus
Other Common Name: Carry-me-seed
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Taxonomy: Phyllanthus
is an enormously complicated genus, with at least 800 species, found in
tropical and subtropical habitats worldwide, that range from small herbs to
large trees. These are classified into numerous sections and subsections. Many
subgroups and geographic areas have been inadequately studied, and the
characters that distinguish species are often tiny, as the flowers are highly
reduced. Most species share a derived form of branching (described below) in
which short side branches with simple leaves appear very much like pinnately
compound leaves. Phyllanthus amarus belongs to Section Phyllanthus,
Subsection Swartziani; it is a cosmopolitan tropical weed.
Description: Erect annual herb,
10–50 cm high. Leaves alternate, stipulate, displaying phyllanthoid branching:
leaves on main stem reduced to acuminate scales <2 mm long, secondary
branchlets deciduous, extending at right angles, with regularly spaced
distichous simple leaves, the whole resembling a pinnately compound leaf with
flowers borne in apparent “leaflet axils.” Branchlets 4–12 cm long. Leaves
15–30 per branchlet, 5–11 mm long, elliptic to somewhat obovate; base obtuse or
rounded, sometimes slightly oblique; apex obtuse or rounded, sometimes
apiculate; margins entire; upper surface green with raised midrib, lower
surface pale with prominent midrib and secondary veins. Inflorescences
1–2-flowered, axillary on secondary branchlets; flowers unisexual; the first
1–2 proximal axils of each branchlet with 1–2 male flowers, other fertile axils
with 1 male and 1 female flower. Male flowers with pedicels to 1.3 mm long;
calyx lobes 5(–6), ovate, acute, 0.3–0.6 mm long; floral disk inside calyx
consisting of 5 rounded segments ca. 0.1 mm across; stamens 3 (2), filaments
fused into column, 0.2–0.3 mm high. Female flowers with pedicels 0.6–2 mm long;
calyx lobes 5(–6), obovate-oblong, to 1.1 mm long, with pale margins; floral
disk inside calyx 5(–7)-lobed; ovary smooth; styles 3, free, 0.1 mm long,
minutely bifid. Fruit a flattened spherical capsule, 3-loculed, 1.9–2.1 mm
broad; seeds usually 2 per locule, 1 mm long, light brown, triangular, with 5–7
longitudinal ribs and with fine lines on back.
Parts
in Commerce:
Whole herb
Identification:
Stems
and leaves
- Phyllanthoid
branching, with secondary branchlets resembling compound leaves; leaves on
main stem reduced to scales
- Stems of
branchlets not strongly angled or winged in cross-section
- Leaves on
branchlets 15–30 per branch, elliptic-oblong to moderately obovate, 5–11
mm long
- Leaf bases
rounded or obtuse, often slightly asymmetrical
- Leaf apices
rounded or obtuse, often with small pointed tip
- Leaf margins
entire
- Upper surface of
leaf green, with midrib raised
- Lower surface of
leaf pale, with midrib and secondary veins raised
- Taste bitter
Flowers
and fruit
- Flowers minute,
axillary; first two internodes of each branchlet bear single male flowers,
remaining internodes bear one male and one female flower
- Calyx 5-parted,
pale; lobes to 0.6 mm long in male flowers, 1.1 mm in female flowers, with
acute apices, broad dry margins and green midribs
- Male flower with
disk consisting of 5 round segments each 0.1 mm broad; stamens 3 (rarely
2), fused into a column 0.2–0.3 mm high
- Female flower
with flat 5-lobed disk (rarely 6–7-lobed); ovary with 3 styles 0.1–0.15 mm
long, erect, not fused
- Fruit a capsule,
straw-colored, spherical, slightly flattened, about 2 mm in diameter,
without conspicuous veins
- Seeds usually 2
per locule, triangular, light brown, to 1 mm long, with 5–6 parallel ribs
on back and with inconspicuous transverse lines
Adulterants: P. amarus is
easily confused with other small weedy Phyllanthus species, some of
which are used medicinally, including P. fraternus G. L. Webster
(which is closely related), P. niruri L., and P. urinaria
L. (see discussion of contaminants in the entry for these taxa). The North
American endemic P. abnormis Baill. is also very closely related to P.
amarus and would be a potential adulterant of material collected in the
United States. It shares the unusual character of bisexual inflorescences, but
its capsule is larger and the calyx of the male flower is 4-lobed. The most
important features to observe in P. amarus, which together distinguish
it from all of those species, include:
- Branchlets in
cross-section not winged or sharply angled
- Most
inflorescences consist of one male and one female flower
- Calyx with 5
acute lobes, not 4 or 6
- Styles not fused
nor over 0.2 mm long
- Disk of female
flower 5-lobed, flat; not an irregular cup shape nor angled
- Capsule <2.1
mm in diameter, without conspicuous veins or warts
Species such as P. fraternus and P.
urinaria are also much less bitter-tasting than P. amarus.
References:
Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association. Indian
Herbal Pharmacopoeia. Revised New Edition 2002. Mumbai, India: Indian Drug
Manufacturers’ Association; 2002.
Webster GL. A monographic study of the West Indian
species of Phyllanthus. J Arnold Arbor. 1956–1958;37:91–122,
217–268, 340–359; 38:51–80, 170–198, 295–373; 39:49–100, 111–212.
Webster GL. A revision of Phyllanthus
(Euphorbiaceae) in the continental United States. Brittonia.
1970;22:44–76.
Figure 53: a–e, Phyllanthus amarus habit, branch, leaf,
male flower and female flower.
|
|