BIGNONIACEAE — 1
Arrabidaea - Jacaranda

(Bignonia family)

[ * Arrabidaea - Jacaranda * ][ * Kigelia - Stereospermum * ][ * Tabebuia - Zeyheria * ]
[ * References * ]

This predominantly tropical family consists mainly of climbing or twining shrubs, but also trees. There are some 650 species in 120 genera.

Outside the tropics, several species may be found in cultivation as greenhouse ornamentals. Jacaranda mimosaefolia D.Don (syn. Jacaranda ovalifolia R.Br.), for instance, is often grown for its foliage. The Chilean glory flower (Eccremocarpus scaber Ruiz & Pav.) is half-hardy in temperate regions, whilst Campsis radicans Seem. and Catalpa bignonioides Walter are commonly grown in the open in milder areas of Britain and northern Europe.

Many species yield valuable timber.

Many of the timbers derived from members of this family contain any or all of the dermatitic compounds lapachol (formerly known as tecomin), deoxylapachol, and lapachenole (formerly known as lapachonone). The presence of sesamin, which has been shown to be involved in sesame oil contact allergy (Sesamum indicum L., fam. Pedaliaceae), has also been reported from at least one species. Persons working with the wood are therefore at risk.

Arrabidaea chica Verlot

[syn. Bignonia chica Humb. & Bonpl.]

Chica

A red pigment from the leaves has been used as a body paint by South American Indians (Howes 1974).

Bignonia aequinoctialis L.

[syn. Cydista aequinoctialis (L.) Miers]

Garlic Vine

This neotropical vine exhales a strong odour of garlic (Allium sativum L., fam. Alliaceae) when crushed (Standley 1926).

Campsis Lour.

Trumpet Creeper, Cowitch

There are two species in this genus. Campsis radicans Seem. (syn. Tecoma radicans Juss.) is native to south-eastern USA, whilst Campsis chinensis Voss (syns Tecoma grandiflora Lois., Bignonia chinensis Lam.) is indigenous to eastern Asia. The hybrid group between these two species is commonly referred to as Campsis × tagliabuana Rehder (syn. Tecoma tagliabuana Vis.).

A number of texts refer to dermatitis caused by handling the flowers or leaves of Campsis radicans (Pammel 1911, Muenscher 1951, Gardner & Bennetts 1956, McCord 1962, Hardin & Arena 1974) but there appear to be no properly documented case reports.

Catalpa Scop.

This is a genus of 11 species of trees and shrubs, natives of East Africa and of North and South America. Several species are of horticultural value. Some species yield useful timber.

Catalpa bignonioides Walter

[syns Catalpa catalpa H.Karst., Catalpa syringifolia Sims]

Catalpa, Cigartree, Eastern Catalpa, Indian Bean, Zigarrenbaum

The emanations from the fragrant flowers are said to be toxic and to irritate the skin and mucous membranes (White 1887, Pammel 1911, Weber 1937, Hurst 1942, Muenscher 1951), but evidence seems to be inconclusive.

This is the most popular species of Catalpa in cultivation.

Catalpa ovata G.Don

[syn. Catalpa kaempferi Siebold & Zucc.]

The wood from this species has been found to contain deoxylapachol (Inoue et al. 1979), a potent contact allergen (Schulz et al. 1977).

Catalpa speciosa Warder

Western Catalpa

Handling the flowers has reportedly produced dermatitis (Pammel 1911, Muenscher 1951). All listings appear to stem from anecdotal reports received by White (1887).

Crescentia alata Kunth

[syn. Parmentiera alata Miers]

A decoction of the leaves is reported to be used for promoting the growth of the hair (Standley 1926).

Cybistax donnell-smithii Seib.

[syn. Tabebuia dönnell-smittii Rose]

Prima Vera

The wood of this species is known in the trade as white mahogany (Standley 1926). An extract of veneer produced from the wood was found to contain lapachenole as a major constituent. Lapachol was also present, but only as a minor constituent (Burnett & Thomson 1968). Lapachenole is a potent contact allergen (Schulz et al. 1977).

Dolichandrone atrovirens (Roth) K.Schum.

[syns Bignonia crispa Buch.-Ham. ex Roxb., Dolichandrone crispa (Buch.-Ham. ex Roxb.) Seem.]

Wavy Trumpet Flower

Prakash & Singh (1980) report the presence of lapachol in the heartwood of Dolichandrone crispa. Lapachol is a known elictor of contact dermatitis (Schulz et al. 1977).

Handroanthus lapacho (K.Schum.) S.O.Grose

[syns Tabebuia flavescens Benth. & Hook.f. ex Griseb., Tabebuia lapacho (K.Schum.) Sandwith, Tecoma lapacho K.Schum.]

This and other species of Handroanthus Mattos are the source of timber known in the trade as ipê or lapacho.^a Sandermann & Dietrichs (1957) reported the presence of lapachenole and lapachol in timber derived from Tabebuia flavescens; and Orth (1960) obtained both lapachenole and lapachol in the steam distillate from the wood. Lapachenole is a potent contact allergen (Schulz et al. 1977).

It should be noted that World Flora Online^b considers Tabebuia flavescens, [a taxon originally described by A. Grisebach in a work on Argentinan plants],^c to be a synonym of Handroanthus serratifolius (Vahl) S.O.Grose [a Brazilian species].

^a https://www.wood-database.com/ipe/; accessed February 2023
^b http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000808837; accessed February 2023
^c https://www.ipni.org/n/110912-1; https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/39880757; accessed February 2023

Haplophragma adenophyllum Dop.

[syns Heterophragma adenophyllum Seem., Bignonia adenophylla Wall.]

Both the heartwood and the roots of this species contain lapachol (Singh et al. 1972, Joshi et al. 1979), a known elicitor of contact dermatitis (Schulz et al. 1977).

Jacaranda Juss.

Some 50 species are known from Central and South America and the West Indies. Many are highly ornamental.

Unfortunately, the term jacaranda is used for the wood from certain trees in the family Leguminosae such as Dalbergia nigra Allemāo and Machaerium scleroxylon Tul. It is therefore impossible to interpret case reports of dermatitis in which the responsible species was not botanically identified.

The wood of certain Jacaranda species has been used as a substitute for boxwood (see Buxaceae). Jacaranda chelonia Griseb. wood is used in cabinet making.

Krogh (1964), whilst investigating contact allergy to teak dust (Tectona grandis L.f., fam. Labiatae) in workers at a furniture factory, demonstrated contact sensitivity to lapachol, and noted that Jacaranda wood dust also had sensitising properties because of its lapachol content.

Jacaranda acutifolia Humb. & Bonpl.

Jacaranda mimosaefolia D.Don

[syn. Jacaranda ovalifolia R.Br.]

Jacaranda

The wood from these species has been listed as irritant (Schwartz et al. 1957).

Jacaranda brasiliana Pers.

[syn. Bignonia brasiliana Lam.]

Jacaranda

This is one of many species known as jacaranda. It is said to contain lapachol (Krogh 1964), a known elicitor of contact dermatitis (Schulz et al. 1977).

Sandermann & Barghoorn (1956) list Bignonia brasiliana as a species capable of causing contact dermatitis.

[ * Arrabidaea - Jacaranda * ][ * Kigelia - Stereospermum * ][ * Tabebuia - Zeyheria * ]
[ * References * ]

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