Hagenia abyssinica
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Rosales Family: Rosaceae Subfamily: Rosoideae Tribe: Sanguisorbeae Subtribe: Agrimoniidae Genus: Hagenia J.F.Gmel. Species: H. abyssinica
Binomial name
Hagenia abyssinica Willd.

Hagenia abyssinica is a species of flowering plant native to the high-elevation Afromontane regions of central and eastern Africa, with a disjunct distribution in the high mountains of East Africa from Sudan and Ethiopia in the north, through Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania, to Malawi and Zambia in the south. Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Divisions Green algae Chlorophyta Charophyta Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta—liverworts Anthocerotophyta—hornworts Bryophyta—mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) †Rhyniophyta—rhyniophytes †Zosterophyllophyta—zosterophylls Lycopodiophyta—clubmosses †Trimerophytophyta—trimerophytes Pteridophyta—ferns and horsetails Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta—seed ferns Pinophyta—conifers Cycadophyta—cycads Ginkgophyta—ginkgo Gnetophyta—gnetae Magnoliophyta—flowering plants... It has been suggested that Angiospermae, and Anthophyta be merged into this article or section. ... Magnoliopsida is the botanical name for a class: this name is formed by replacing the termination -aceae in the name Magnoliaceae by the termination -opsida (Art 16 of the ICBN). ... Families Barbeyaceae Cannabaceae (hemp family) Dirachmaceae Elaeagnaceae Moraceae (mulberry family) Rosaceae (rose family) Rhamnaceae (buckthorn family) Ulmaceae (elm family) Urticaceae (nettle family) For the Philippine municipality, see Rosales, Pangasinan. ... Subfamilies Rosoideae Spiraeoideae Maloideae Amygdaloideae or Prunoideae The Rosaceae or rose family is a large family of plants, with about 3,000-4,000 species in 100-120 genera. ... Genera Aphanes Dryas - mountain avens Filipendula Fragaria - strawberry Geum - avens Kerria Potentilla - cinquefoil Rhodotypos Rosa - rose Rubus - bramble fruit Waldsteinia The rose subfamily Rosoideae includes many shrubs and perennial herbs. ... Johann Friedrich Gmelin (August 8, 1748 - November 1, 1804) was a German naturalist and botanist. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... It has been suggested that Angiospermae, and Anthophyta be merged into this article or section. ... Afromontane is a term used to describe the plant and animal species common to the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. ... For other uses, see Africa (disambiguation). ...

It is known in English as African redwood, brayera, cusso, hagenia, or kousso, in Amharic as kosso, and in Swahili as mdobore or mlozilozi. It is the sole species of genus Hagenia, and its closest relative is the Afromontane genus Leucosidea. Synonyms include Banksia abyssinica, Brayera anthelmintica, Hagenia abyssinica var. viridifolia and Hagenia anthelmintica. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Phil is a Punda. ... See genus (mathematics) for the use of the term in mathematics. ... In scientific classification, synonymy is the existence of multiple systematic names to label the same organism. ...

It is a slender tree up to 20 m in height, with a short trunk, thick branches, and thick, peeling bark. The leaves are up to 40 cm long, compound with 7-13 leaflets, each leaflet about 10 cm long with a finely serrated margin, green above, silvery-haired below. The flowers are white to orange-buff or pinkish-red, produced in panicles 30-60 cm long. For other uses, see Tree (disambiguation). ... “Foliage” redirects here. ... A Phalaenopsis flower Rudbeckia fulgida A flower, (<Old French flo(u)r<Latin florem<flos), also known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Magnoliophyta, also called angiosperms). ... White-fruited Rowan (Sorbus glabrescens) corymb; note the branched structures holding the fruits. ...

It is generally found from 2000-3000 m elevation, in areas receiving 1000-1500 mm of rainfall annually. It can be found growing in mixed afromontane forest with Podocarpus, Afrocarpus, and other trees, and in drier afromontane forests and woodlands where Hagenia is dominant, or in mixed stands of Hagenia and Juniperus procera. species 105 species (Farjon 1998); see list Podocarpus is a genus of conifers, the most numerous and widely distributed of the podocarp family Podocarpaceae. ... Species Afrocarpus dawei Afrocarpus falcatus Afrocarpus gaussenii Afrocarpus gracilior Afrocarpus mannii Afrocarpus usambarensis Afrocarpus is a genus of conifers belonging to the podocarp family Podocarpaceae. ... Binomial name Juniperus procera Hochst. ...

Hagenia is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Turnip Moth. A larva (Latin; plural larvae) is a juvenile form of animal with indirect development, undergoing metamorphosis (for example, insects or amphibians). ... Superfamilies Butterflies Hesperioidea Papilionoidea Moths Acanthopteroctetoidea Alucitoidea Axioidea Bombycoidea Calliduloidea Choreutoidea Cossoidea Drepanoidea Epermenioidea Eriocranioidea Galacticoidea Gelechioidea Geometroidea Gracillarioidea Hedyloidea Hepialoidea Heterobathmioidea Hyblaeoidea Immoidea Incurvarioidea Lasiocampoidea Lophocoronoidea Micropterigoidea Mimallonoidea Mnesarchaeoidea Neopseustoidea Nepticuloidea Noctuoidea Palaephatoidea Pterophoroidea Pyraloidea Schreckensteinioidea Sesioidea Simaethistoidea Thyridoidea Tineoidea Tischerioidea Tortricoidea Urodoidea Whalleyanoidea Yponomeutoidea Zygaenoidea The order Lepidoptera... Binomial name Agrotis segetum Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775 The Turnip Moth (Agrotis segetum) is a moth of the family Noctuidae. ...

Medicinal uses

Kosso, kousso or cusso is a drug which consists of the panicles of the pistillate flowers of Hagenia. At the time of the eleventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the drug was imported "in the form of cylindrical rolls, about 18 inches in length and 2 inches in diameter, and comprises the entire inflorescence or panicle kept in form by a band wound transversely round it." The active principle is koussin or kosin, C₃₁H₃₃O₁₀, which is soluble in alcohol and alkalis, and may be given in doses of two grammes. Kosso is also used in the form of an unstrained infusion of the coarsely powdered flowers, which are swallowed with the liquid. It is considered to be an effective anthelmintic for pork tapeworm (Taenia solium). In its anthelmintic action it is similar to Male Fern (Dryopteris filix-mas). ... Functional group of an alcohol molecule. ... In chemistry, an alkali (from Arabic: al-qalyالقلوي, القالي ) is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or alkali earth metal element. ... Anthelmintics (in the U.S., antihelminthics) are drugs that expel parasitic worms (helminthes) from the body or kill them. ... Binomial name Taenia solium Linnaeus, 1758 Taenia solium, also called the pork tapeworm, is a cyclophyllid cestode in the family Taeniidae. ... Male fern, Dryopteris felix-mas is one of the commonest ferns of Northern temperate regions, indeed one of the commonest ferns of the British Isles. ...

Use of Kosso was borrowed from Ethiopia, where into the 19th century tapeworm infestations of humans was endemic due to widespread consumption of dishes containing raw beef, such as kitfo and gored gored, and frequent doses of kosso, about once every two months, was the common cure. Richard Pankhurst cites numerous examples of this practice, noting that "the two-monthly event virtually constituted a holiday for the patient, who withdrew from all normal activity, the statement 'the master has taken his kosso,' being synonymous with 'he cannot receive you today.' Kosso-drinking in fact served as an excuse or justification for not keeping appointments, being used by the debtor who did not wish to meet his creditor, by the accused who wished to avoid going to court, and by the official who sought to delay answering the Emperor's summons."^[1] Kitfo (sometimes ketfo) is a dish consisting of raw beef eaten in Ethiopia and Eritrea. ... Gored gored is a raw beef dish eaten in Eritrea and Ethiopia. ...

Notes

Further reading and external links

• Hagenia abyssinica at the AgroForestry Tree Database (World Agroforestry Centre)
• Eriksson, T., Hibbs, M. S., Yoder, A. D., Delwiche, C. F., & Donoghue, M. J. (2003). The Phylogeny of Rosoideae (Rosaceae) Based on Sequences of the Internal Transcribed Spacers (ITS) of Nuclear Ribosomal DNA and the TRNL/F Region of Chloroplast DNA. International Journal of Plant Science 164(2): 197–211 (PDF version).
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.