Biology:Diphylleia grayi

Short description: Species of flowering plant

Skeleton flower
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Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Ranunculales
Family:	Berberidaceae
Genus:	Diphylleia
Species:	D. grayi
Binomial name
Diphylleia grayi F.Schmidt

Diphylleia grayi, also known as the skeleton flower, is a species of perennial plant in the family Berberidaceae. It is native to northern and central Japan.

Other regions and languages have common names for this plant; In Japan, it is commonly referred to as Japanese: サンカヨウ, romanized: sankayō, lit. 'lotus of mountain'. In China, it is commonly referred to as Chinese: 冰莲, romanized: bīng lián, lit. 'ice lotus'.

Description

File:サンカヨウ - cropped.jpg

Wet flowers with transparent petals

The plant grows up to 0.4 m (1.3 ft). The flowers are white, pedicellate, with six obovate petals and bloom from May to July. After it flowers, it bears dark blue/purple fruit with a white powdery coating from June to August. Its stems are terete and grow 30–60 cm (12–24 in) long. Its rhizomes are stout and knotty. The plant is known to have petals that become transparent when in contact with water, giving it its common name. After they dry, the petals return to their white coloration.

Distribution and habitat

The plant is distributed from north to central Honshu, Hokkaido, Mount Daisen, and Sakhalin. It grows in slightly moist places in the woods of high mountains.

Medical uses

In the 1960s, botanist Yanagi Kimura discovered that D. grayi crude extracts contain substances similar to but more powerful than podophyllin and colchicine. The extract had anti-tumor effects on transplantable animal tumors.

Gallery

• 
  Fruit
• 
  Close-up of fruit
• 
  Young fruits
• 
  Flowers
• 
  Bud
• Seeds in a split fruit
  Seeds in a split fruit

See also

• Gymnosiphon suaveolens

References

Wikidata ☰ Q4156126 entry