Rangiora
Brachyglottis repanda
[brak-ee-GLOT-iss
REP-an-duh]
Family: Compositae
Names: Bushman’s toilet
paper
Description: A New Zealand
shrub, with fine foliage, deeply toothed; of a deep
green, mottled with dark purple on the upper side
and silvery-white beneath. As many of the leaves on
a shrub invariably display their undersides, the
sharp contrast between the white and the deep green
is striking. The leaves are nearly a foot in length
and 8 inches in breadth. In the small state they are
ivory-white on both sides. White or creamy flowers
in large drooping panicles.
Flowers prolifically and
very fragrant. Height up to 20 feet. It is
hardy to zone 9 and is frost tender.
Cultivation: Requires a
good well-drained loamy soil in a sunny position or
partial shade. Plants are quite frost-tender. The
seed is probably best sown on the surface of a
freely draining compost in the greenhouse as soon as
it is ripe. Stored seed can be surface sown in the
greenhouse in early spring. Do not allow the compost
to dry out. When they are large enough to handle,
prick the seedlings out into individual pots and
grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their
first winter. Plant them out into their permanent
positions in late spring or early summer, after the
last expected frosts. Cuttings of half-ripe wood,
July/August in a frame. Cuttings of mature wood of
the current season's growth, November in a frame.
Constituents:
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids, including senecionine,
senkirkine, and brachyglottine
Properties: Hypnotic,
Antihalitosis.
Medicinal Uses: A gum
obtained from the plant is chewed to sweeten the
breath. Main use is in homeopathic medicine
Culinary Uses: A gum is
obtained from the plant and is used for chewing. It
should not be swallowed, however, and in light of
the warning on toxicity perhaps it should not even
be chewed.
Toxicity: Because of the
presence of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, rangiora has
both hepatotoxic an dcarinogenic actions. Severe
liver damage and even death have been observed in
domestic animals fed on this plant
Other Uses: The plant has
large sage-green leaves with a white, hairy
underside. They are used as a substitute for toilet
paper.
