If you would like to support this site, please consider Donating.
Useful Tropical Plants

Handroanthus subtilis

(Sprague & Sandwith) S.O.Grose

Bignoniaceae

+ Synonyms

Tabebuia subtilis Sprague & Sandwith

Common Name:

No Image.

General Information

Handroanthus subtilis is a tree that can grow up to 15 metres tall[
2095
Title
Bignoniaceae: Part II (Tribe Tecomeae)
Publication
Flora Neotropica Monograph Vol. 25, No. 2 pp 1-370
Author
Gentry A.H.
Publisher
The New York Botanical Garden, New York
Year
1992
ISBN
0-89327-368-6
Description
 
].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

2095
Title
Bignoniaceae: Part II (Tribe Tecomeae)
Publication
Flora Neotropica Monograph Vol. 25, No. 2 pp 1-370
Author
Gentry A.H.
Publisher
The New York Botanical Garden, New York
Year
1992
ISBN
0-89327-368-6
Description
 

Range

Northern S. America - Guyana, southeast Venezuela

Habitat

Forest margins and in upland savannah gallery forest; at elevations from 420 - 1,700 metres[
2095
Title
Bignoniaceae: Part II (Tribe Tecomeae)
Publication
Flora Neotropica Monograph Vol. 25, No. 2 pp 1-370
Author
Gentry A.H.
Publisher
The New York Botanical Garden, New York
Year
1992
ISBN
0-89327-368-6
Description
 
].

Properties

Medicinal Rating *  *
HabitTree
Height12.00 m
Cultivation StatusWild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

The bark is scraped, soaked in water overnight and the liquid drunk as a purgative[
348
Title
Medicinal Plants of the Guianas
Publication
 
Author
DeFilipps, R. A.; Maina, S. L.; & Crepin, J.
Website
http://botany.si.edu/bdg/medicinal/index.html
Publisher
Smithsonian Museum
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
A down-loadable PDF document of a book in pre-publication awaiting illustration. An excellent, if rather terse, guide to the traditional medicinal uses of the plants of the region
].

We have no further specific information for this species, but the inner bark of the various Handroanthus species has been shown to contain several pharmacologically active compounds. In particular, the bark has astringent and anti-inflammatory properties and several species are used to treat skin disorders, fungal infections, wounds etc, as well as a various inflammatory diseases, cancer etc[
238
Title
Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses.
Publication
 
Author
Bown. D.
Publisher
Dorling Kindersley, London.
Year
1995
ISBN
0-7513-020-31
Description
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
,
254
Title
The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants
Publication
 
Author
Chevallier. A.
Publisher
Dorling Kindersley. London
Year
1996
ISBN
9-780751-303148
Description
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.
].
The bark contains the naphthoquinones lapachol and beta-lapachone. These compounds have a range of medicinal activities, including antitumor activity, but when isolated from the whole bark and used in the quantities required to treat conditions such as cancer, they have also shown unacceptable levels of toxicity towards the body.

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -
Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2024-12-12. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Handroanthus+subtilis>

Add a Comment:

If you have any useful information about this plant, please leave a comment. Comments have to be approved before they are shown here.