The plant remains

https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/141176/1/Journal_of_Ethnopharmacology_2017_accepted-manuscript.pdf

The genus Lycium as food and medicine: A botanical, ethnobotanical and historical review.

The nightshade family Solanaceae holds exceptional economic and cultural importance. The early diversification of Solanaceae is thought to have occurred in South America during its separation from Gondwana, but the family’s sparse fossil record provides few insights. We report 52.2-million-year-old lantern fruits from terminal-Gondwanan Patagonia, featuring highly inflated, five-lobed calyces, as a newly identified species of the derived, diverse New World genus Physalis (e.g., groundcherries and tomatillos). The fossils are considerably older than corresponding molecular divergence dates and demonstrate an ancient history for the inflated calyx syndrome. The derived position of these early Eocene fossils shows that Solanaceae were well diversified long before final Gondwanan breakup.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/355/6320/71.full.pdf

Eocene lantern fruits from Gondwanan Patagonia and the early origins of Solanaceae

Physalis is an American plant genus that includes species of economic importance for their edible fruit. Consumption of this fruit is a historic tradition in Mexico. Physalis philadelphica is one of the most abundant species, which can grow under wild, weedy or cultivated conditions. It presents high morphological variability in terms of vegetative and reproductive traits; however, no study has been made of its genetic diversity or the impact of human activity on its diversity and differentiation patterns. We determined genetic parameters in nine populations representing a management gradient, including three wild, three weedy and three cultivated populations, using 88 inter-simple sequence repeat markers. The diversity of the total gene pool was high (Ht = 0.292, HT
 B
  = 0.319) and did not decrease with the intensity degree of management. Reproductive system, life form and the wide distribution determined the genetic variation of the taxon. AMOVA revealed high variation within the total gene pool (44.3 %) and among populations (46.7 %). This was influenced by pollinator behavior, dispersal form, geographic discontinuity of the studied populations and human selection. Variation among population management categories was lower (9 %), indicating that this variable has little effect, most likely due to the broad gene pool of the taxon. However, analysis of genetic distance and Bayesian assignment distinguished two groups: cultivated and wild, with weedy populations interspersed between. This result suggests that selection for agricultural and morphological attributes of P. philadelphica contributes to this differentiation. Future studies could address the evolutionary dynamics of the wild–weedy–domesticated complex.

Diversity and genetic structure of the husk tomato (Physalis philadelphica Lam.) in Western Mexico

Antiproliferative withanolides from several solanaceous species

The Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology of Wild Tomatillos, Physalis longifolia Nutt., and Related Physalis Species: A Review. The wild tomatillo, Physalis longifolia Nutt., and related species have been important wild-harvested foods and medicinal plants. This paper reviews their traditional use as food and medicine; it also discusses taxonomic difficulties and provides information on recent medicinal chemistry discoveries within this and related species. Subtle morphological differences recognized by taxonomists to distinguish this species from closely related taxa can be confusing to botanists and ethnobotanists, and many of these differences are not considered to be important by indigenous people. Therefore, the food and medicinal uses reported here include information for P. longifolia, as well as uses for several related taxa found north of Mexico. The importance of wild Physalis species as food is reported by many tribes, and its long history of use is evidenced by frequent discovery in archaeological sites. These plants may have been cultivated, or “tended,” by Pueblo farmers and other tribes. The importance of this plant as medicine is made evident through its historical ethnobotanical use, information in recent literature on Physalis species pharmacology, and our Native Medicinal Plant Research Program’s recent discovery of 14 new natural products, some of which have potent anti-cancer activity.

The Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology of Wild Tomatillos, Physalis longifolia Nutt., and Related Physalis Species: A Review

The KU Native Medicinal Plant Research Program A central goal of the Native Medicinal Plant Research Program (2012) is to identify naturally occurring medicinal compounds in plants native to Kansas and the Great Plains. Much of the program’s research echoes Sayre’s by focusing on the chemical analysis of native plants traditionally used for medicinal purposes. Primary funding for the program comes from Heartland Plant Innovations Inc., one of the Kansas Bioscience Authority Centers of Innovation.

Kirsten Bosnak

Papers

The Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology of Wild Tomatillos, Physalis longifolia Nutt., and Related Physalis Species: A Review

The Lucius Sayre Legacy: Reviving the Study of Medicinal Plants of the Plains