Triphyophyllum

Triphyophyllum
Climbing adult Triphyophyllum with hooked leaves
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)1
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Embryophytes
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Spermatophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Dioncophyllaceae
Genus:	Triphyophyllum Airy Shaw
Species:	T. peltatum
Binomial name
Triphyophyllum peltatum (Hutch. & Dalziel) Airy Shaw
Triphyophyllum is native to Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Sierra Leone2
Synonyms2
Dioncophyllum peltatum Hutch. & Dalziel

Triphyophyllum peltatum is a facultatively carnivorous,³ up to 60 m (200 ft) tall vine⁴ in the monotypic genus Triphyophyllum /ˌtrɪfioʊˈfɪləm/ in the family Dioncophyllaceae native to tropical western Africa, in Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Sierra Leone⁵ where it grows in tropical rainforest.⁴

It is a facultatively carnivorous, heterophyllous,⁶ up to 60 m (200 ft) tall vine with glabrous, terete stems.⁷ It has a three-stage lifecycle, each with a different shaped leaf, as indicated by its Greek name. In the first stage, T. peltatum forms a rosette of simple lanceolate Dracaena-like leaves about 18 cm (7.1 in) in length with undulate margins. At times when there is insufficient phosphorus in the soil⁸⁹ it develops long, slender, glandular, circinate leaves up to 35 cm (14 in) in length and bearing two sorts of glands, and resembling those of the related Drosophyllum, which capture insects; there being one to three of these leaves in each rosette.¹⁰ In the plant's adult liana form it has short non-carnivorous leaves bearing a pair of "grappling hooks" ¹¹ at their tips on a long twining stem which can become 50 metres (160 ft) in length and 10 centimetres (3.9 in) thick.¹²¹³ T. peltatum is the largest of all confirmed carnivorous plants in the world, but its carnivorous nature did not become known until 1979, over 50 years after the plant's scientific description.⁶

The axillary,¹⁴¹⁵ branched,¹⁶ cymose, few-flowered¹⁵ or many-flowered inflorescence bears up to 80 small, ephemeral,¹⁶ fragrant,¹⁴ white to pink,¹⁶ bisexual, actinomorphic, pedicellate flowers.¹⁵ The pedicel is up to 3 cm long. The flower has 5 triangular, 2 mm long sepals, and 5 obovate, 13 mm long petals.¹⁵ The androecium consists of 10 stamens.¹⁵⁷ The style is very short.⁷ The up to 4 cm wide, 1-seeded,¹⁵ 4–5-valved capsule fruit⁷¹⁵ bears discoid, papery,¹⁵ flat, winged, circular, pink to red,¹⁴ 5–8⁷(–10) cm wide seeds¹⁷¹⁴ with an up to 5.5 cm (2.2 in) long funiculus extending beyond the fruit.¹⁵ Most of the seed's development occurs outside the fruit.¹⁸ The seeds are wind-dispersed.⁷¹⁹

The chromosome count is 2n = 24,⁷¹⁵ 36.¹⁵

Triphyophyllum peltatum was first described as Dioncophyllum peltatum Hutch. & Dalziel by John Hutchinson and John McEwan Dalziel in 1927.² It was moved to a new monotypic genus Triphyophyllum Airy Shaw as Triphyophyllum peltatum (Hutch. & Dalziel) Airy Shaw by Herbert Kenneth Airy Shaw in 1952.⁵²

The generic name Triphyophyllum is derived from triphyes meaning of threefold form,²⁰ and phyllum meaning leaf.²¹ It refers to the three growth stages of the plant with three different types of leaves.⁸ The specific epithet peltatum means shield-like²² and refers to the discoid seeds,¹⁹ which have a long stalk that extends the seed beyond the capsule fruit.¹⁵

Triphyophyllum is found in Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Sierra Leone,⁵ where it occurs in primary⁷ and old secondary dry evergreen rainforests. The habitat has a 6–7 month dry season. The acid, nutrient-poor soil is shallow.⁶

It is a rare and endangered species,⁸ classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.¹ Its population is declining, primarily due to habitat destruction from logging and mining.¹

Triphyophylum peltatum is difficult to cultivate.⁸²³ It is cultivated in several botanical gardens: Würzburg, Hannover,²⁴ Abidjan, Bonn, Cambridge University and is exceedingly rare in private collections.

Triphyophyllum peltatum is traditionally used in folk medicine in the treatment of elephantiasis¹⁵⁷ and malaria.⁷ It produces many pharmaceutically active secondary metabolites, some of which have been found to have strong antiplasmodial activity. Some metabolites were found to have antitumoral and anti-multiple myeloma activity.⁸ The stems are used as tying material.¹⁵