Pollia crispata

Location & distribution maps

Plant  information

Common name:         Pollia

Conservation status: ...

Etymology:   

• The scientific name of the genus is thought to honor Jan van de Poll , a Dutch politician

• According to other sources, it comes from the Greek word πολύς ( polis - one of which there is a lot), due to the strong growth of plants

• Another theories include: from the Latin “pollĭo / pollionis, meaning “polisher, one who shines" 

Flowers

• Collected in a thyrsus composed of two rows , growing apically on the shoot

• The perianth is radial to slightly dorsal

• The three leaves of the outer whorl are free, almost equal in size, shallowly boat-shaped, often enlarged and remaining on the fruit

• The three leaves of the inner whorl are free, equal in size, or the two upper ones, slightly different from the middle one, sometimes short nail-shaped, white, blue, purple or greenish-yellow, sometimes speckled, ovoid-elliptic, ovoid-round or obovate 

• Six stamens of equal size, fertile or three rear ones shorter than the front ones and either fertile or reduced to staminodes

• Stamen filaments free, naked 

• Anthers elongated, splitting lengthwise 

• The heads of the staminobacteria are triangular-lanceolate or sagittal 

•  Three-chambered ovary

Fruit:                            

• Berry-like , spherical, hard and crusty, indehiscent, three-chambered

• Usually shiny and metallic blue; the fruits of P. condensata are considered to be the most intensely shiny living objects on Earth

•  The fruits contain (1-)3-8(-11) seeds in each chamber 

• The seeds are purple-gray, slightly flattened

Leaves:         

• Twisted foliage

• Petiole leaf blades

Stem & branches: 

• Shoots are horizontal, long rhizome 

• Stems erect or rising, usually straight 

Roots:         

• Fibrous roots

• The plant creates adventitious roots at the shoot nodes

Habit:        

• Perennial herbaceous plants 

• Spreading through rhizomes or stolons 

• Reaching 100 cm in height

Habitat:   

• It occurs on the banks of streams in rainforests , in moist rocky areas on forest edges and in the forest understory

• From near sea level to 1,800 m above sea level

Distribution:                  

• Occurring in the intertropical and subtropical climate areas of Africa , Asia , Australia and Oceania , and in Central America

Species:                     

• World:            19

• Australia:        2 (P crispata & P  macrophylla)

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  • Asia: 10 species ...ranging from the Indian Peninsula to Japan and Southeast Asia

  • Melanesia and Australia: 2 species ...P. secundiflora and P. macrophylla

  •  New Guinea: 2 endemic species ... P. papuana and P. verticillata 

  •  Eastern Australia 1 species ...P. crispata 

  • Africa 5 species  (2 endemic to Madagascar)

  • American continent 1 species ...P americana (endemic to Panama in Central America)

Additional notes:     

• Some species are used as medicinal plants 

• Biology and ecology 

  • Research on Pollia crispata has shown that this plant is capable of self-pollination , and its population can expand vegetatively through stolons 

  • The insects that pollinate the flowers of this species are mainly hoverflies , slender bees and stingless bees of the species Tetragonula carbonaria 

  • Pollination studies of P. japonica also showed the presence of beetles of the genus Protaetia and Chlorophorus among the pollinators 

• Genetics

  • Number of chromosomes 2n = 10?, 30, 32, 38

• Physico-chemical properties

  • Considered to be nature's most lustrous, the metallic blue fruits of P. condensata contain no blue pigment

  • The cell walls are made of tightly wound cellulose fibers , creating regular structures on the fruit's surface

  • Light waves falling on the fruit are subject to repeated interference , which leads to the phenomenon of iridescence , which is responsible for the intense, rainbow shine of the fruit

• Systematic position

  • A genus from the tribe Commelineae of the subfamily Commelinoideae in the family Commelinaceae

• List of species 

  • Pollia americana 

  • Pollia bracteata 

  • Pollia condensata 

  • Pollia crispata 

  • Pollia gracilis 

  • Pollia hasskallii 

  • Pollia japonica 

  • Pollia macrobracteata 

  • Pollia macrophylla 

  • Pollia mannii 

  • Pollia miranda 

  • Pollia papuana 

  • Pollia pentasperma 

  • Pollia sambiranensis 

  • Pollia secundiflora 

  • Pollia subumbellata

  • Pollia sumatrana 

  • Pollia thyrsiflora 

  • Pollia verticillata 

• Hybrids [3]

  • Pollia ×horsfieldii ( P. secundiflora × P. thyrsiflora )

  • Pollia ×zollingeri ( P. hasskarlii × P. secundiflora )

• Extinct species [15]

  • † Pollia tugenensis Jacobs and Kabuye , known from 12.2 million-year-old fossil material discovered in volcanic tuff in the Ngorora Formation , Kenya

• Use 

  • In Congo, the fruits of Pollia condensata are rubbed for back pain

  • In India, water extract from P. hasskarlii shoots is used in the form of eye drops in case of pain

  • Two species: P. japonica and P. miranda are used in traditional Chinese medicine 

  • An infusion of whole P. japonica plants is used for back pain, stomach pain and headaches, and externally in the event of a snake bite 

  • An infusion of whole P. miranda plants is used for lumbago , cuts, swelling, stomach pain and dysuria

  • Externally, fresh, crushed plants are applied to bites, boils and rectal prolapse 

Sources of information:

• https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollia (Jan 2024)