The name Triosteum is a compound of the Greektria 'three' and osteon 'bone', in reference to the three hard pyrenes in each drupe - giving the meaning 'having three pits bone'.
Description
Triosteum spp. are perennial, herbaceous plants of rich woods. Each plant typically consists of at least one erect, round, hairy, fistular stem, 1 to 4 feet high, with opposite ovate-lanceolate entire leaves, and whitish to purplish flowers presented either in axillary whorls or terminal racemes. The fruit is a drupe. It may be white, yellow, orange, or red, depending on the species.
Species
Five species and one variety are currently accepted by The Plant List and a sixth species by the Online Flora of China:
Triosteum aurantiacum var. illinoense E.J. Palmer & Steyerm..
Triosteum himalayanum Wallich. - 穿心莛子藨 chuan xin ting zi biao, native to China, Bhutan, Nepal, and India N.B. Species name listed as 'Invalid' by The Plant List.
Triosteum perfoliatum L. - feverwort, Native to the eastern United States
Triosteum pinnatifidum Maxim., 莛子藨 ting zi biao, native to China and Japan
Triosteum sinuatum Maxim., 腋花莛子藨 ye hua ting zi biao, native to east Asia
N.B. A problem exists in relation to the name Triosteum himalayanum Wallich., which has been applied to a specimen of the Lasianthus hirsutus belonging to the genus Lasianthus of the family Rubiaceae : see link below to species pages in Online Flora of China 'Triosteum himalayanum ' and 'Lasianthus hirsutus'.
Ornamental Value
Certain species in the genus are sometimes cultivated for their colorful fruits, although the plants have been characterised as 'somewhat weedy perennials' and their flowers are, in general smaller and less showy than those of the related genus Lonicera, the Honeysuckles.
Uses
American species : the dried and roasted fruits have been occasionally used as a substitute for coffee; but they are chiefly valued for their medicinal properties, the roots having been used as an emetic and mild cathartic. The drug is sometimes called Tinker's root, after Dr. Tinker, who first brought it to notice. Asiatic species : The ripe fruits of Triosteum himalayanum Wallich. have been used for 'blood purification' in the Himalayas. The concept of a medicinal plant that 'purifies the blood' is not one recognised by modern medicine, although the effects of plants believed in folk medicine and more recently in alternative medicine to possess such a property are often cholagogue, laxative and / or diuretic.
Chemistry
Five monoterpeneindole alkaloids, vincosamide, strictosamide, strictosidine, and 5-5-carboxystrictosidine ), two monoterpene diglycosides and 4-4-hydroxyurceolide ) and 10iridoids, have recently been isolated from the roots of Triosteum pinnatifidum Maxim. Most of the iridoids in question were derived from loganin or secologanin with a glucose moiety at C-1 position and these findings indicate a close relationship between the genera Triosteum and Lonicera, and support the viewpoint that the iridoids derived from loganin or secologanin could be considered chemotaxonomic markers for the family Caprifoliaceae.
