botanical record · discovered
Climbing Onion
Bowiea volubilis
Climbing Onion · Zulu Potato · cebola-do-mar · cebola-trepadeira · climbing-onion · climbing-potato · zulu-potato
At a glance
Origin / distribution: Africa, Africa(Xosa), Africa(Fingu), BR, CD, ZA
Cultural traditions: not documented
Recorded uses: Cardiotonic, Dropsy, Fatality, Purgative
Science studied: BOVOCRYPTOSIDE, BOVOCYANOTOXIN, BOVOGENINS, BOVOPURPUROSIDE
Research volume: 0 indexed records · volume only · methodology ↗
Legal status: Varies by jurisdiction; not assessed in this record.
Names and identity
Family: Liliaceae
Scientific name: Bowiea volubilis
Common names: Climbing Onion, Zulu Potato, cebola-do-mar, cebola-trepadeira, climbing-onion, climbing-potato, zulu-potato
History
The source record documents this plant in Africa, Africa(Xosa), Africa(Fingu), Elsewhere, BR, CD, ZA.
It records these historical or traditional applications:
- Cardiotonic
- Dropsy
- Fatality
- Purgative
- Poison
- Sterility
This summary is limited to the cited source record.
Origins and distribution
- Africa
- Africa(Xosa)
- Africa(Fingu)
- Elsewhere
- BR
- CD
- ZA
Documented cultural uses
- Cardiotonic
- Dropsy
- Fatality
- Purgative
- Poison
- Sterility
Contemporary uses
Contemporary practice is not documented separately in this record.
Scientific research
Indexed records indicate research activity; they do not establish efficacy or safety.
Indexed research records
- <i>Bowiea volubilis</i>: From "Climbing Onion" to Therapeutic Treasure-Exploring Human Health Applications. · 2023 source ↗
- Ethnobotany, therapeutic value, phytochemistry and conservation status of Bowiea volubilis: A widely used bulbous plant in southern Africa. · 2015 source ↗
- A comparison of the pharmacological properties of garden cultivated and muthi market-sold Bowiea volubilis · 2013 source ↗
Scientific compounds
Chemical presence is not evidence of clinical efficacy.
- BOVOCRYPTOSIDE
- BOVOCYANOTOXIN
- BOVOGENINS
- BOVOPURPUROSIDE
- BOVOSIDES
- BOVOSIDE-A
- BOVOSIDE-C
- GLUCOBOVOSIDE-A
- HELLEBRIGENIN
- KILIMANDSCHAROGENIN-A
- KILIMANDSCHAROTOXIN
- NABOGENIN
- SCILLIGLAUCOSIDIN
- BOVOEOLOTOXIN
- BOVOCHRYSOID
- BOVOERYTHROTOXIN
show 6 more documented entries
- BOVORUBOSIDE
- BUFODIANOLIDE
- KILIMANDSCHAROGENIN-B
- SINISTRIN
- BOVOXANTHOTOXIN
- BOVOSIDE-B
Legality
Country-specific legal status is not documented in this record.
Consult the CITES species checklist for international trade protections and listings. This is not a complete statement of local law.
Reference images
Sources
Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases · CC0
GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0
show claim source mapping
CC0 · Dr. Duke raw CSV archive
Contributions and revisions
No published revisions are documented for this record. Community submissions enter review and retain attribution before any published change.
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