Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
CH
3
H
3
C
N
+
CH
3
OH
O
-
N
CH
3
O
CH
3
H
ephedrine
hypaphorine
SPIRAEA TOMENTOSA
LINNAEUS
Phylum: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Common name: Steeplebush, hardhack
Distribution: North and Central Europe, Eastern North America
Habitat: Wetlands, swamps, pastures, meadows, bogs, lakes, and river margins
Description: This species, which grows to 1.3 m, has an erect and unbranched
stem. The leaves (8 × 3 cm) are alternately arranged and are elliptic-oblong
to ovate-oblong. While the upper surface of the leaves is dark green, their
lower side is pale. The central stem terminates into a dense panicle of pink
lowers (20 × 7 cm) with pink petals.
Compounds and activities: The methanol extracts of seeds of this species have
shown antimicrobial activities against
Staphylococcus aureus
,
Pseudomonas
aeruginosa
,
Escherichia coli
, and
Candida albicans
. The leaves, lowers,
and stem of this plant are used in the preparation of medicinal tea for treat-
ing dysentery, pregnancy sickness, and easing child birth. The antioxidant
activity of the seeds of this species has been tested using trolox extract (TE),
and the value recorded was 141,430 µm TE (Borchardt et al.,
2009).
