Cipura campanulata

Cipura campanulata is widely distributed in Mexico, the Greater Antilles, Central America, and in South America south to Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and Peru.

Flowers of Cipura campanulata open early in the morning or a little later if it is cloudy.

In Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, Cipura campanulata is found in Mayan medicinal gardens, where the plant is used to treat vaginal hemmorrages and the mancha blanca, or "white spot," probably the vitiligo skin condition.

The genus name Cipura is New Latin presumably based on a local common name for the species upon which the genus was based. Jean Baptiste Christophore Fusée Aublet, who in 1775 named the genus, is one of the pioneers of the science of ethnobotany and many of his genus names appear to be based on local plant names. In French or French Guianese Creole his Cipura collection was known as La cipure des marais ("marsh cipure"). His formal description was accompanied by an illustration, his Planche 13 (Plate 13), on which the plant was designated Cipura paludosa, thus introducing the genus Cipura. Aublet's manner of assigning generic names is well documented and commented on. The species name campanulata is New Latin based on the Late Latin campana, for "bell-shaped." Pictures on this page show the bell-shaped corolla of Cipura campanulata.

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