Hog's Fennel / Bergseldery

Description:

Notobubon galbanum reclassified from Peucedanum galbanum in 2008.

Habitat:

Distribution and habitat Widespread in moist fynbos vegetation from Elands Bay to the Cape Peninsula and east to the Langeberg Mountains in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Derivation of name and historical aspects The species of Notobubon were previously placed within the large predominantly Eurasian genus Peucedanum L. However, recent studies of the African Peucedanum species (Winter et al. 2008) revealed that they were not related to their supposed Eurasian relatives and were therefore separated into six African endemic genera, namely Afroligusticum C.Norman, Afrosciadium P.J.D.Winter, Cynorhiza Eckl. & Zeyh., Lefebvrea A.Rich., Nanobubon Magee, and Notobubon B.E-van Wyk. The twelve currently recognized species of Notobubon can be distinguished from the previously mentioned African genera by the shrubby habit, the permanent woody branches, the evergreen leathery leaves and the smaller fruit. The root of the name Notobubon, reflects the fact that many of the species of this genus were once part of the genus Bubon L. (see e.g. Sonder 1862).The Greek prefix “ noto ” means southern and alludes to the genus's southern African origin (Magee et al. 2009). The specific epithet, “ galbanum ” indicates that at the time of its description this species was erroneously considered to be the species from which one of the oldest recorded medicines, galbanum, was obtained. Ecology The flowers of Notobubon galbanum attract a wide range of insect visitors and the plant is also a host to the citrus swallowtail, Papilio demodocus (Kroon, 1999). Notobubon galbanum is probably best known for causing severe blistering of human skin, hence the common name blisterbush (Smith 1966). This phototoxic condition manifests only several hours after contact with the leaves (Van Wyk et al . 2002) and is due to a reaction, in the presence of sunlight (ultraviolet light), between the furanocoumarins of the plant and the DNA of the skin. As mentioned by Marloth (1925) the blistering effect of N. galbanum is quite variable. This variation may depend on the extent of tissue damage to the plant (i.e. from herbivores), as well as the degree of exposure of the affected skin to sunlight subsequently. The fruits are also unusual in that the seed is surrounded by an almost continuous ring of oil canals, called vittae (indicated by arrows in the figure below, which shows a fruit in transverse section). These canals contain phenolic compounds, including coumarins, and probably serve to protect the nutrient-rich seed from insect damage. (From http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantnop/not...)