Pseudowintera colorata
Encyclopedia
Pseudowintera colorata is a species
of woody evergreen
flowering
tree
s and shrub
s, part of family Winteraceae
. The species is endemic to New Zealand
. All Winteraceae are magnoliids, associated with the humid Antarctic flora
of the southern hemisphere
.
shrub or small tree (1–2.5 m) commonly called pepperwood because its leaves have a hot taste. It is also known as the NZ pepper tree, winter's bark, or red Horopito. It is so named because early taxonomists recognized the similarity between horopito and the South American Drimys winteri that provided the herbal remedy "winter's bark." They are both members of the Winteraceae family, which are mainly found on the land masses that once made up the great southern continent of Gondwana - South America, Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea. Its yellowish-green leaves are blotched with red, with new leaves in the spring being bright red. It is distributed within lowland forests up to higher montane
forests from 36° 30' South as far southward as Stewart Island/Rakiura
. A characteristic plant association for P. colorata is within the podocarp forests of Westland, where alliant understory
plants such as Rumohra adiantiformis
, Ascarina lucida
, Pseudopanax colensoi
, Pseudopanax edgerleyi
and Blechnum discolor
are found.
The reproductive parts of the Winteraceae family are primitive, reflecting their origin among the first flowering plants. In New Zealand, Horopito appears in the fossil record for more than 65 million years. It is particularly unusual in that its flowers come directly off the older stems rather than from among the leaves. It is a very slow growing plant that lacks the specialist water conducting tubes found in nearly all other flowering plants.
The evergreen horopito plant is continually exposed to attack by various insects and parasites and its occurrence in high rainfall areas makes it particularly susceptible to attack by fungi. This has led to efficient built in defence mechanisms. Consequently Horopito has a rich source of secondary metabolites that have an interesting range of biologically active properties.
(Maori – Haha, Haka) is documented as once being a major cause of death of Maori babies, due to their being fed an "unsatisfactory diet." The juice of Horopito leaves were placed straight in the mouth, or alternatively leaves of Horopito were steeped in water to extract the juice and this decoction was in an effort to treat what we now understand as candidiasis
(oral thrush).
Early European settlers to New Zealand also used Horopito for medicinal purposes. For internal use, leaves were either chewed or prepared as a tea. "The leaves and bark are aromatic and pungent; the former are occasionally used by settlers suffering from diarrhoeic complaints." A decoction of the leaves was taken for stomach ache and was known as "Maori Painkiller" and "Bushman's Painkiller."
There are accounts of the bark being used in the 19th century as a substitute for quinine: "The stimulating tonic and astringent properties of which are little inferior to winter's bark." A French nun, Mother Aubert, went to live among the Maori at the end of the 19th century, and the native plant remedies she later created became commercially available and widely used throughout the colony of New Zealand. Horopito was one of the two ingredients in her patent medicine, Karana. In a letter to the French Consul dated 2 December 1890, she described it as "superior to Quinquina [quinine] in the treatment of chronic stomach sickness. It has been very useful to me in cases of anaemia of debility, of continuous diarrhoea etc,., etc and in recovery from temperatures".
Horopito leaves and an extract from the leaves are now used in a number of commercial antifungal products.
. The chewed Horopito leaf has a characteristically sharp, hot peppery taste. This is primarily due to polygodial which causes pungency on the tongue in concentrations as low as 0.1 µg.
An ex vivo study used a horopito and aniseed mixture (Kolorex) to inhibit the growth of C. albicans in the oral cavity. This research concluded that the antifungal action of Kolorex was constant against all species tested (including C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata, C. guilermonii, C. parapsilosis and C. krusei) with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 1:20 (diluted with sterilised distilled water) of Kolorex.
Another study concluded that a mixture of horopito (containing polygodial) and aniseed (containing anethole
) protects the gut of mice from colonization and dissemination of Candida albicans. After mice were inoculated with C. albicans and treated with Kolorex, testing of intestinal samples showed that Kolorex treated mice had a much reduced concentration of C. albicans per gram of tissue. The data suggested that the horopito and aniseed product might exert an early competitive effect against colonisation.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of woody evergreen
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
flowering
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s and shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s, part of family Winteraceae
Winteraceae
The Winteraceae are a family of flowering plants. The family includes 120 species of trees and shrubs in 9 genera.The Winteraceae are a mostly southern-hemisphere family associated with the Antarctic flora, found in tropical to temperate climate regions of Malesia, Oceania, eastern Australia, New...
. The species is endemic to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. All Winteraceae are magnoliids, associated with the humid Antarctic flora
Antarctic flora
The Antarctic flora is a distinct community of vascular plants which evolved millions of years ago on the supercontinent of Gondwana, and is now found on several separate areas of the Southern Hemisphere, including southern South America, southernmost Africa, New Zealand, Australia and New Caledonia...
of the southern hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere
The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...
.
Description
P. colorata, or mountain horopito, is an evergreenEvergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
shrub or small tree (1–2.5 m) commonly called pepperwood because its leaves have a hot taste. It is also known as the NZ pepper tree, winter's bark, or red Horopito. It is so named because early taxonomists recognized the similarity between horopito and the South American Drimys winteri that provided the herbal remedy "winter's bark." They are both members of the Winteraceae family, which are mainly found on the land masses that once made up the great southern continent of Gondwana - South America, Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea. Its yellowish-green leaves are blotched with red, with new leaves in the spring being bright red. It is distributed within lowland forests up to higher montane
Montane
In biogeography, montane is the highland area located below the subalpine zone. Montane regions generally have cooler temperatures and often have higher rainfall than the adjacent lowland regions, and are frequently home to distinct communities of plants and animals.The term "montane" means "of the...
forests from 36° 30' South as far southward as Stewart Island/Rakiura
Stewart Island/Rakiura
Stewart Island/Rakiura is the third-largest island of New Zealand. It lies south of the South Island, across Foveaux Strait. Its permanent population is slightly over 400 people, most of whom live in the settlement of Oban.- History and naming :...
. A characteristic plant association for P. colorata is within the podocarp forests of Westland, where alliant understory
Understory
Understory is the term for the area of a forest which grows at the lowest height level below the forest canopy. Plants in the understory consist of a mixture of seedlings and saplings of canopy trees together with understory shrubs and herbs...
plants such as Rumohra adiantiformis
Rumohra adiantiformis
Rumohra adiantiformis is a species of fern in the family Elaphoglossaceae.The fronds of R. adiantiformis contain round sori on the underside of the pinnae unlike many other ferns which have separate specialized reproductive fronds. Many of the sori have peltate indusia and have prominent scales...
, Ascarina lucida
Ascarina lucida
Ascarina lucida, commonly known as Hutu is a species of small tree in the family Chloranthaceae. It is endemic to New Zealand, being common on the West Coast and Nelson regions of the South Island and more rarely found in the North Island...
, Pseudopanax colensoi
Pseudopanax colensoi
Pseudopanax colensoi is a species of evergreen plant. This species is native to New Zealand. An example occurrence in central Westland podocarp/broadleaf forests includes flora associates such as Cyathea smithii and Dicksonia squarrosa, Rumohra adiantiformis, Ascarina lucida, Pseudowintera colorata...
, Pseudopanax edgerleyi
Pseudopanax edgerleyi
Pseudopanax edgerleyi is a species of plant which is native to New Zealand. An example occurrence in Westland District Podocarp/broadleaf forests includes flora associates such as Cyathea smithii, Dicksonia squarrosa and Blechnum discolor....
and Blechnum discolor
Blechnum discolor
Blechnum discolor is a species of fern in the family Blechnaceae. This species is endemic to New Zealand. As noted by C. Michael Hogan, this species is found in a number of forest communities in diverse locations within New Zealand, and is sometimes a dominant understory component.Spores are...
are found.
The reproductive parts of the Winteraceae family are primitive, reflecting their origin among the first flowering plants. In New Zealand, Horopito appears in the fossil record for more than 65 million years. It is particularly unusual in that its flowers come directly off the older stems rather than from among the leaves. It is a very slow growing plant that lacks the specialist water conducting tubes found in nearly all other flowering plants.
The evergreen horopito plant is continually exposed to attack by various insects and parasites and its occurrence in high rainfall areas makes it particularly susceptible to attack by fungi. This has led to efficient built in defence mechanisms. Consequently Horopito has a rich source of secondary metabolites that have an interesting range of biologically active properties.
Traditional medicine
Horopito has long been used by the indigenous Maori population of New Zealand both internally and externally for many purposes. As far back as 1848, Horopito is documented in the treatment of skin diseases such as ringworm, or for venereal diseases. “The leaves and tender branches of this shrub are bruised and steeped in water, and the lotion used for ringworm; or the bruised leaves are used as a poultice for chaffing of the skin, or to heal wounds, bruises or cuts". Infection due to Candida albicansCandida albicans
Candida albicans is a diploid fungus that grows both as yeast and filamentous cells and a causal agent of opportunistic oral and genital infections in humans. Systemic fungal infections including those by C...
(Maori – Haha, Haka) is documented as once being a major cause of death of Maori babies, due to their being fed an "unsatisfactory diet." The juice of Horopito leaves were placed straight in the mouth, or alternatively leaves of Horopito were steeped in water to extract the juice and this decoction was in an effort to treat what we now understand as candidiasis
Candidiasis
Thrush redirects here. For the hoof infection see Thrush .Candidiasis or thrush is a fungal infection of any of the Candida species , of which Candida albicans is the most common...
(oral thrush).
Early European settlers to New Zealand also used Horopito for medicinal purposes. For internal use, leaves were either chewed or prepared as a tea. "The leaves and bark are aromatic and pungent; the former are occasionally used by settlers suffering from diarrhoeic complaints." A decoction of the leaves was taken for stomach ache and was known as "Maori Painkiller" and "Bushman's Painkiller."
There are accounts of the bark being used in the 19th century as a substitute for quinine: "The stimulating tonic and astringent properties of which are little inferior to winter's bark." A French nun, Mother Aubert, went to live among the Maori at the end of the 19th century, and the native plant remedies she later created became commercially available and widely used throughout the colony of New Zealand. Horopito was one of the two ingredients in her patent medicine, Karana. In a letter to the French Consul dated 2 December 1890, she described it as "superior to Quinquina [quinine] in the treatment of chronic stomach sickness. It has been very useful to me in cases of anaemia of debility, of continuous diarrhoea etc,., etc and in recovery from temperatures".
Horopito leaves and an extract from the leaves are now used in a number of commercial antifungal products.
Activity of chemical constituents
The main biologically active chemical component isolated from the leaves of P. colorata is polygodialPolygodial
Polygodial is an active constituent of Dorrigo Pepper, Mountain Pepper, Horopito, Canelo, Paracress and Water-pepper.Chemically it is a drimane-type sesquiterpene dialdehyde of formula C15H22O2.It elicits a warm and pungent flavour....
. The chewed Horopito leaf has a characteristically sharp, hot peppery taste. This is primarily due to polygodial which causes pungency on the tongue in concentrations as low as 0.1 µg.
An ex vivo study used a horopito and aniseed mixture (Kolorex) to inhibit the growth of C. albicans in the oral cavity. This research concluded that the antifungal action of Kolorex was constant against all species tested (including C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata, C. guilermonii, C. parapsilosis and C. krusei) with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 1:20 (diluted with sterilised distilled water) of Kolorex.
Another study concluded that a mixture of horopito (containing polygodial) and aniseed (containing anethole
Anethole
Anethole is a phenylpropene, a type of aromatic compound that occurs widely in nature, in essential oils...
) protects the gut of mice from colonization and dissemination of Candida albicans. After mice were inoculated with C. albicans and treated with Kolorex, testing of intestinal samples showed that Kolorex treated mice had a much reduced concentration of C. albicans per gram of tissue. The data suggested that the horopito and aniseed product might exert an early competitive effect against colonisation.