Wigandia caracasana

Wigandia caracasana
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: (unplaced)
Family: Boraginaceae
Subfamily: Hydrophylloideae
Genus: Wigandia
Species: W. caracasana
Binomial name
Wigandia caracasana
Kunth

Wigandia caracasana, the Caracus wigandia, is a species of ornamental plant. It is an evergreen that grows to a height of up to 3 metres (10 ft). It has purple flowers in large clusters from spring to autumn. Some sources treat it as a variety of the species Wigandia urens. Native to Central America, it is thought to be naturalized in southern California as a garden escape. It is commonly grown in gardens, and thrives best in a mixture of loam and peat. Cuttings in sand will strike if placed under glass and in heat.[1]

The caracus wigandia can cause severe contact dermatitis.[2] A substance that it secretes, 2,3-dimethoxy-geranyl- 1,4-benzoquinone (consisting of a quinonoid ring with a 10 or 11 carbon-membered side chain) is a remarkably strong sensitizer, which is found nowhere else in the plant kingdom. It has been described as approximating an "ideal allergen".[3]

References

  1. ↑ Pink, A. (2004). Gardening for the Million. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.
  2. ↑ Anderson, P., & Ayres, S. (1931). Dermatitis venenata due to Wigandia caracasana: A hitherto unrecognized cause. California and Western Medicine, 34, 278-279
  3. ↑ Hausen, B. M., Heitsch, H., Borrmann, B., Koch, D., Rathmann, R., Richter, B., & Konig, W. A. (1995). Structure-activity-relationships in allergic contact-dermatitis: 1. Studies on the influence of side-chain length with derivatives of primin. Contact Dermatitis, 33, 12-16.

Further reading


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