Tabebuia impetiginosa
Encyclopedia
Tabebuia impetiginosa, Pink Ipê or Pink Lapacho
is a native Bignoniaceae
tree of America
, distributed from northern Mexico south to northern Argentina. It is a common tree in Argentina's northeastern region, as well as in southeastern Bolivia
. It is said to be indigenous to Trinidad and Tobago.
It is a conspicuous and well-known species with a long history of human use. Consequently it has a range of local names ipê-cavatã, ipê-comum, ipê-reto, ipê-rosa, ipê-roxo-damata, lapacho negro, pau d'arco-roxo, peúva or piúva. The timber
is sometimes traded as "brazilwood
", which properly refers to the unrelated Pernambuco Tree (Caesalpinia echinata).
The Pink Lapacho is a rather large deciduous
tree, with trunks sometimes reaching 8 dm width and 30 m height. Usually a third of that height is trunk, and two thirds are its longer branches. It has a large, globous, but often sparse canopy
. The tree has a slow growth rate. Leaves are opposite and petiolate
, 2 to 3 inches long, elliptic and lanceolate, with lightly serrated margins and pinnate venation. The leaves are palmately compound with usually 5 leaflets.
Its bark is brownish grey, tough and hard to peel. The wood is of a pleasant yellowish colour, barely knotted and very tough and heavy (0,935 kg/dm³). It's rich in tannin
s and therefore very resistant to weather and sun. It is not very useful for furniture since it is so hard to work by hand. It can be found as beams or fulfilling other structural uses where needed outdoors.
Pink Lapacho flowers between July and September, before the new leaves appear. In India, the flowering season is December to January, after the leaves are shed. The flower is large, tubular shaped, its corolla is often pink or magenta, though exceptionally seen white, about 2 inches long. There are 4 stamens and a staminode
. The fruit consists of a narrow dehiscent capsule
containing several winged seeds.
The flowers are easily accessible to pollinator
s. Some hummingbird
s - e.g. Black Jacobin
(Florisuga fusca) and Black-throated Mango
(Anthracothorax nigricollis) - seem to prefer them over the flowers of other Tabebuia
species, while for others like the Stripe-breasted Starthroat
(Heliomaster squamosus) it may even be a mainstay food source.
Tabebuia impetiginosa, as well as other species of this genus, are trees naturally found in the wild of central to South American forests. It is also used as a honey plant, and widely planted as ornamental tree in landscaping gardens, public squares and boulevards due to its impressive and colorful appearance as it flowers. Well-known and popular, it is the national tree
of Paraguay. It is also planted as a street tree in cities of India, like in Bangalore.
The inner bark
of Tabebuia impetiginosa is used medicinally. It is dried, shredded, and then boiled, making a bitter brownish-colored tea known as Lapacho
or Taheebo. The unpleasant taste of the extract is lessened when taken in pill form, or as tincture
s. Lapacho bark is typically used during flu and cold season and for easing smoker's cough. It apparently works by promoting the lungs to expectorate and free deeply embedded mucus and contaminates during the first three to ten days of treatment.
One study has shown that recurrence of anal condylomata after surgical treatment is reduced by an admixture of the plants Echinacea
, Uncaria
, Tabebuja (sic), papaya
, grapefruit
and Andrographis.
In ethnomedicine
Lapacho plays an important role for several South American indigenous peoples. In the past decades it has been used by herbalist
s as a general tonic, immunostimulant and adaptogen
. About the 1980s, its was touted as having "almost unbelievable properties" and said to improve quality of life for cancer
and immunodepressed
patients
However, the main active compound lapachol
has since turned out to be toxic enough to kill fetuses in pregnant rats and reduce the weight of the seminal vesicle in male rats in doses of 100 mg/kg of body weight. Still, lapachol has strong antibiotic
and disinfectant properties, and may be better suited for topical
applications. Lapachol
induces clastogenic
effects in rats. Beta-lapachone has a direct cytotoxic effect and the loss of telomerase
activity in leukemia
cells in viro.
Note that ethnomedical use of Lapacho and other Tabebuia teas is usually short-term, to get rid of acute ailments, and not as a general tonic. Usefulness as a short-term antimicrobial and disinfecting expectorant, e.g. against PCP
in AIDS
patients, is yet to be scientifically studied.
Tabebuia Impetiginosa inner bark seems to have anti Helicobacter pylori
activity. and has some effects on other human intestinal bacteria.
Lapacho
Lapacho or Taheebo is a herbal tea made from the inner bark of Pink Ipê, Tabebuia impetiginosa. It is also sold under more ambiguous and possibly misleading names like "Ipes", "Ipê", "Pau d'arco", "Ipe Roxo", or "Trumpet Bush"....
is a native Bignoniaceae
Bignoniaceae
The Bignoniaceae, or Trumpet Creeper Family, is a family of flowering plants comprising about 650-750 species in 116-120 genera. Members of the family are mostly trees and lianas , shrubs and more rarely herbaceous plants. As climber plants, they are twine climbers or tendril climbers, and rarely...
tree of America
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, distributed from northern Mexico south to northern Argentina. It is a common tree in Argentina's northeastern region, as well as in southeastern Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
. It is said to be indigenous to Trinidad and Tobago.
It is a conspicuous and well-known species with a long history of human use. Consequently it has a range of local names ipê-cavatã, ipê-comum, ipê-reto, ipê-rosa, ipê-roxo-damata, lapacho negro, pau d'arco-roxo, peúva or piúva. The timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
is sometimes traded as "brazilwood
Brazilwood
Caesalpinia echinata is a species of Brazilian timber tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. Common names include Brazilwood, Pau-Brasil, Pau de Pernambuco and Ibirapitanga . This plant has a dense, orange-red heartwood that takes a high shine, and it is the premier wood used for making bows for...
", which properly refers to the unrelated Pernambuco Tree (Caesalpinia echinata).
Description
Deciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
tree, with trunks sometimes reaching 8 dm width and 30 m height. Usually a third of that height is trunk, and two thirds are its longer branches. It has a large, globous, but often sparse canopy
Canopy (forest)
In biology, the canopy is the aboveground portion of a plant community or crop, formed by plant crowns.For forests, canopy also refers to the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns and including other biological organisms .Sometimes the term canopy is used to refer to the extent...
. The tree has a slow growth rate. Leaves are opposite and petiolate
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...
, 2 to 3 inches long, elliptic and lanceolate, with lightly serrated margins and pinnate venation. The leaves are palmately compound with usually 5 leaflets.
Its bark is brownish grey, tough and hard to peel. The wood is of a pleasant yellowish colour, barely knotted and very tough and heavy (0,935 kg/dm³). It's rich in tannin
Tannin
A tannin is an astringent, bitter plant polyphenolic compound that binds to and precipitates proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.The term tannin refers to the use of...
s and therefore very resistant to weather and sun. It is not very useful for furniture since it is so hard to work by hand. It can be found as beams or fulfilling other structural uses where needed outdoors.
Pink Lapacho flowers between July and September, before the new leaves appear. In India, the flowering season is December to January, after the leaves are shed. The flower is large, tubular shaped, its corolla is often pink or magenta, though exceptionally seen white, about 2 inches long. There are 4 stamens and a staminode
Staminode
In botany, a staminode is an often rudimentary, sterile or abortive stamen. This means that it does not produce pollen. Staminodes are frequently inconspicuous and stamen-like, usually occurring at the inner whorl of the flower, but are also sometimes long enough to protrude from the...
. The fruit consists of a narrow dehiscent capsule
Capsule (fruit)
In botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. A capsule is a structure composed of two or more carpels that in most cases is dehiscent, i.e. at maturity, it splits apart to release the seeds within. A few capsules are indehiscent, for example...
containing several winged seeds.
The flowers are easily accessible to pollinator
Pollinator
A pollinator is the biotic agent that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma of a flower to accomplish fertilization or syngamy of the female gamete in the ovule of the flower by the male gamete from the pollen grain...
s. Some hummingbird
Hummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds that comprise the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm Bee Hummingbird. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings...
s - e.g. Black Jacobin
Black Jacobin
The Black Jacobin , previously placed in the monotypic Melanotrochilus, is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found in or near Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil, Uruguay, eastern Paraguay, and far north-eastern Argentina...
(Florisuga fusca) and Black-throated Mango
Black-throated Mango
The Black-throated Mango is a mainly South American hummingbird species.-Description:It is 10.2 cm long and weighs 7.2g. The longish black bill is slightly decurved. The tail in both sexes has dark central feathers, the outer tail being wine-red tipped with black.The male has glossy bright...
(Anthracothorax nigricollis) - seem to prefer them over the flowers of other Tabebuia
Tabebuia
Tabebuia is a neotropical genus of about 100 species in the tribe Tecomeae of the family Bignoniaceae. The species range from northern Mexico and southern Florida south to northern Argentina, including the Caribbean islands of Hispaniola and Cuba...
species, while for others like the Stripe-breasted Starthroat
Stripe-breasted Starthroat
The Stripe-breasted Starthroat is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family.It is found only in regions of eastern and southeastern Brazil. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former...
(Heliomaster squamosus) it may even be a mainstay food source.
Uses
Floral emblem
In a number of countries, plants have been chosen as symbols to represent specific geographic areas. Some countries have a country-wide floral emblem; others in addition have symbols representing subdivisions. Different processes have been used to adopt these symbols - some are conferred by...
of Paraguay. It is also planted as a street tree in cities of India, like in Bangalore.
The inner bark
Bark
Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...
of Tabebuia impetiginosa is used medicinally. It is dried, shredded, and then boiled, making a bitter brownish-colored tea known as Lapacho
Lapacho
Lapacho or Taheebo is a herbal tea made from the inner bark of Pink Ipê, Tabebuia impetiginosa. It is also sold under more ambiguous and possibly misleading names like "Ipes", "Ipê", "Pau d'arco", "Ipe Roxo", or "Trumpet Bush"....
or Taheebo. The unpleasant taste of the extract is lessened when taken in pill form, or as tincture
Tincture
A tincture is an alcoholic extract or solution of a non-volatile substance . To qualify as a tincture, the alcoholic extract is to have an ethanol percentage of at least 40-60%...
s. Lapacho bark is typically used during flu and cold season and for easing smoker's cough. It apparently works by promoting the lungs to expectorate and free deeply embedded mucus and contaminates during the first three to ten days of treatment.
One study has shown that recurrence of anal condylomata after surgical treatment is reduced by an admixture of the plants Echinacea
Echinacea
Echinacea is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae. The nine species it contains are commonly called purple coneflowers. They are endemic to eastern and central North America, where they are found growing in moist to dry prairies and open wooded areas. They have...
, Uncaria
Uncaria
Uncaria is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It has about 40 species. Their distribution is pantropical, with most species native to tropical Asia, three from Africa and the Mediterranean and two from the neotropics. They are known colloquially as Gambier, Cat's Claw or Uña de...
, Tabebuja (sic), papaya
Papaya
The papaya , papaw, or pawpaw is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, the sole species in the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae...
, grapefruit
Grapefruit
The grapefruit , is a subtropical citrus tree known for its sour fruit, an 18th-century hybrid first bred in Barbados. When found, it was named the "forbidden fruit"; it has also been misidentified with the pomelo or shaddock , one of the parents of this hybrid, the other being sweet orange The...
and Andrographis.
In ethnomedicine
Ethnomedicine
Ethnomedicine is a sub-field of ethnobotany or medical anthropology that deals with the study of traditional medicines: not only those that have relevant written sources Ethnomedicine is a sub-field of ethnobotany or medical anthropology that deals with the study of traditional medicines: not only...
Lapacho plays an important role for several South American indigenous peoples. In the past decades it has been used by herbalist
Herbalist
An herbalist is:#A person whose life is dedicated to the economic or medicinal uses of plants.#One skilled in the harvesting and collection of medicinal plants ....
s as a general tonic, immunostimulant and adaptogen
Adaptogen
An adaptogen is a herbal product claimed to increase resistance to stress, trauma, anxiety and fatigue. The term is used mainly by herbalists who also refer to adaptogens as rejuvenating herbs, qi tonics, rasayanas, or restoratives...
. About the 1980s, its was touted as having "almost unbelievable properties" and said to improve quality of life for cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
and immunodepressed
Immunodeficiency
Immunodeficiency is a state in which the immune system's ability to fight infectious disease is compromised or entirely absent. Immunodeficiency may also decrease cancer immunosurveillance. Most cases of immunodeficiency are acquired but some people are born with defects in their immune system,...
patients
However, the main active compound lapachol
Lapachol
Lapachol is a natural organic compound isolated from the lapacho tree . Chemically, it is a derivative of naphthoquinone, related to vitamin K....
has since turned out to be toxic enough to kill fetuses in pregnant rats and reduce the weight of the seminal vesicle in male rats in doses of 100 mg/kg of body weight. Still, lapachol has strong antibiotic
Antibiotic
An antibacterial is a compound or substance that kills or slows down the growth of bacteria.The term is often used synonymously with the term antibiotic; today, however, with increased knowledge of the causative agents of various infectious diseases, antibiotic has come to denote a broader range of...
and disinfectant properties, and may be better suited for topical
Topical
In medicine, a topical medication is applied to body surfaces such as the skin or mucous membranes such as the vagina, anus, throat, eyes and ears.Many topical medications are epicutaneous, meaning that they are applied directly to the skin...
applications. Lapachol
Lapachol
Lapachol is a natural organic compound isolated from the lapacho tree . Chemically, it is a derivative of naphthoquinone, related to vitamin K....
induces clastogenic
Clastogenic
Clastogenic is an adjective that describes the ability of an agent or process to act as a clastogen—an agent or process giving rise to or inducing disruption or breakages of chromosomes.-Biology:...
effects in rats. Beta-lapachone has a direct cytotoxic effect and the loss of telomerase
Telomerase
Telomerase is an enzyme that adds DNA sequence repeats to the 3' end of DNA strands in the telomere regions, which are found at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes. This region of repeated nucleotide called telomeres contains non-coding DNA material and prevents constant loss of important DNA from...
activity in leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
cells in viro.
Note that ethnomedical use of Lapacho and other Tabebuia teas is usually short-term, to get rid of acute ailments, and not as a general tonic. Usefulness as a short-term antimicrobial and disinfecting expectorant, e.g. against PCP
Pneumocystis pneumonia
Pneumocystis pneumonia or pneumocystosis is a form of pneumonia, caused by the yeast-like fungus Pneumocystis jirovecii...
in AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
patients, is yet to be scientifically studied.
Tabebuia Impetiginosa inner bark seems to have anti Helicobacter pylori
Helicobacter pylori
Helicobacter pylori , previously named Campylobacter pyloridis, is a Gram-negative, microaerophilic bacterium found in the stomach. It was identified in 1982 by Barry Marshall and Robin Warren, who found that it was present in patients with chronic gastritis and gastric ulcers, conditions that were...
activity. and has some effects on other human intestinal bacteria.