PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: Flores.

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Contra la fiebre y el insomnio nervioso.

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA= Chemical composition: From flowers of C. gilliesii (Leguminosae), the following amino acids were identified: asparagine (yield 1.2%) and minor amts. of proline, hydroxyproline, valine, alanine, and phenylalanine. The following carbohydrates were also found: glucose and arabinose. The flavonoids quercetin, isorhamnetin, kaempferol, luteolin, quercetin 3-O-glucoside, isorhamnetin, 3-O-rutinoside, and kaempferol 3-O-rutinoside were isolated from the leaves. Flavonoid compn. in flowers was identical with that of the leaves.

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone: Uruguay. 

DIVERSIDAD GENÉTICA Y MEJORAMIENTO DE PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants and improvement of medicinal herbs:

Senna (Leguminosae) is a large, widespread genus that includes species with enantiostylous, asym. flowers and species with extrafloral nectaries.  Clarification of phylogenetic relationships within Senna based on parsimony analyses of 3 chloroplast regions (rpS16, rpL16, and matK) provides new insights on the evolution of floral symmetry and extrafloral nectaries.  The results support the monophyly of only one (Psilorhegma) of the 6 currently recognized sections, while Chamaefistula, Peiranisia, and Senna are paraphyletic, and monotypic Astroites and Paradictyon are nested within 2 of the 7 major clades identified by the mol. phylogeny.  Two clades (I, VII) include only species with monosym. flowers, while the remaining clades (II-VI) contain species with asym., enantiostylous flowers, in which either the gynoecium alone or, in addn., corolla and androecium variously contribute to the asymmetry.  The results further suggest that flowers were ancestrally monosym. with 7 fertile stamens and 3 adaxial staminodes, switched to asymmetry later, and reverted to monosymmetry in clade VII.  Fertility of all 10 stamens is a derived state, characterizing the Psilorhegma subclade.  Extrafloral nectaries evolved once and constitute a synapomorphy for clades IV-VII ("EFN clade").  These nectaries may represent a key innovation in plant defense strategies that enabled Senna to undergo large-scale diversification.  

1) GONZALEZ, Matías ; LOMBARDO, Atilio ; VALLARINO, Aida. Plantas de la medicina vulgar del Uruguay. Montevideo : Talleres Gráficos,1937, p.23-24.

2) SUAREZ, S. S.; CABRERA, J. L.; JULIANI, H. R. Flavonoids, amino acids and carbohydrates of Caesalpinia gilliesii (Hook) Benth. (Leguminosae). Anales de la Asociacion Quimica Argentina. 1984, vol.72, nº3, p.261-263.
 
3) MARAZZI, Brigitte, et al.  Phylogenetic relationships within Senna (Leguminosae, Cassiinae) based on three chloroplast DNA regions: patterns in the evolution of floral symmetry and extrafloral nectaries. American Journal of Botany. 2006, vol.93, nº2, p.288-303.