Cuphea ignea

Abstract: Use of controlled-release fertilizers (CRF) has been recommended to the landscape service industry as a best management practice for establishing landscape plants. However, application practices vary considerably among professionals and recommendations are lacking for the appropriate type (tablet vs. granular), application rate, and timing of CRF to establish herbaceous perennials. In this study, cigar plant (Cuphea ignea), daylily (Hemerocallis ‘Stella de Oro’), gaura (Gaura lindheimeri ‘Siskiyou Pink’), lantana (Lantana camara ‘New Gold’), mexican heather (Cuphea hyssopifolia), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), and rudbeckia (Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’) were fertilized with granular CRF (GF) 15N–3.9P–10K (8 to 9 month) at 0, 1, 2, or 4 lb/1000 ft nitrogen (N) at transplant (no fertilization, GF1, GF2, and GF4, respectively), a split application of GF with 1 lb/1000 ft N applied at transplant and 1 lb/1000 ft N applied 5-months later (GF2-split), or tablet CRF 16N–3.5P–10K (8 to 9 months) at two tablets per plant (7.5 g) at transplant (TF2). Plant size and visual quality (VQ) at 5 months after transplant (MAT) were improved by fertilization for all perennials except ‘Stella de Oro’ daylily. Compared to GF2, GF4 improved the growth of perennials of larger size and greater biomass production (i.e., cigar plant), but did not further improve their VQ. All perennials grown with TF2 had similar size and quality as those grown with GF2 at 5 MAT. At 15 MAT, no difference was found among fertilizer treatments for surviving perennials except cigar plant. Split application (GF2-split) did not improve overwinter survival or second-year plant growth and quality for most species when compared with GF2. On the basis of these results, we recommend applying two tablets (7.5 g) of 16N–3.5P–10K per plant at transplant to establish the perennials tested in this study.

Abstract: The genus Cuphea (Lythraceae) includes approximately 250 species of annual, evergreen perennials and short shrubs native to Central and South America. During the springs of 2003 and 2004, 10% of the nursery stock of approximately 12,000 potted cigar-flowers (C. ignea A. DC) grown in a screenhouse at a commercial ornamental nursery near Piedimonte Etneo, Sicily, had symptoms of wilt, defoliation, and rapid collapse of the entire plant. These foliar symptoms were associated with a reduced root system, browning of the collar, and dark brown discolored roots. A Phytophthora species was consistently recovered by plating small pieces of rotted roots of symptomatic plants onto selective medium (3); pure cultures were obtained by single-hypha transfers. On potato dextrose-agar (PDA), cardinal temperatures for growth were 10 to 35°C and the optimum was 28 to 30°C. Sporangiophores were umbellate or in a close monoclasial sympodium and mean dimensions of sporangia were 52 × 26 mm, with a mean length/width ratio of 2:1. Sporangia produced on V8 juice agar (VJA) were ellipsoid, fusiform, or limoniform with a tapered base. They were papillate, occasionally bipapillate, caducous, with a long pedicel (as much as 150 μm). All isolates were mating type A1 determined by pairing with A2 reference isolates of P. palmivora (Butl.) Butl. and P. nicotianae Breda de Haan. Oogonia with amphigynous antheridia were formed on VJA after 10 to 15 days at 24°C in the dark. Occasionally, 10 of 15 isolates formed small chlamydospores on VJA. Electrophoretic patterns of total mycelial proteins and four isozymes (acid and alkaline phosphatase, esterase, and malate dehydrogenase) on polyacrylamide slab gels (3) of all Cuphea isolates were very similar to those of reference isolates of P. tropicalis M. Aragaki & J. Y. Uchida from Convolvulus cneorum L. (IMI 391714) and Rhamnus alaternus L., respectively. In addition, the Cuphea isolates were clearly distinct from reference isolates of other species including P. capsici Leon., P. citricola Sawada, P. citrophthora (R. E. Smith & E. H. Smith) Leon., P. nicotianae, and P. palmivora. On the basis of morphological cultural characters and the electrophoretic phenotype, the isolates were identified as P. tropicalis. Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of rDNA sequences (2) confirmed the identification. Koch's postulates were fulfilled by testing three cigar-flower isolates, including isolate IMI 391709, on 10 6-month-old potted cuttings of Cuphea inoculated by applying a 10-ml zoospore suspension (2 × 104 zoospores/ml) to the crowns, incubated for 24 h at 100% relative humidity, and maintained in the greenhouse at 20 to 24°C. After 10 days, crowns and stems were brown and all plants wilted within 20 days. Ten control plants treated with water remained healthy. P. tropicalis was reisolated from infected tissues. The test was repeated with similar results. In Europe, P. tropicalis has been reported on Cyclamen persicum Mill. in Germany (4) and C. cneorum and R. alaternus in Italy (1), indicating a broad host range and spreading in ornamental nurseries. References: (1) S. O. Cacciola et al. Boll. Acc. Gioenia Sci. Nat. 31:57, 1999. (2) S. O. Cacciola et al. For. Snow Landsc. Res. 76:387, 2001. (3) D. C. Erwin and O. K. Ribeiro. Pages 39-41, 138-139 in: Phytophthora Diseases Worldwide. The American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul MN. 1996. (4) W. W. P. Gerlach and A. Schubert. Plant Dis. 85:334, 2001.

Abstract: Phenolic metabolite profiling using two dimensional paper chromatographic analysis (2 DPC) was used for assaying the complex mixture of phenolics of an aqueous ethanol aerial part extract of Cuphea ignea (Lytheraceae). A coumarin with a rare structure, namely, 7-hydroxy 3-methoxy coumarin 5-O-β-glucopyranoside was isolated from the investigated extract. The structure was elucidated by conventional methods and spectral analysis, including one and two dimensional NMR (1D and 2D NMR), as well as by interpretation of the spectra obtained by high resolution electrospray ionization mass technique (HRESIMS). The rare coumarin significantly inhibited reactive oxygen species production with an ED50 value of 6.31±1.64 μg/ml and 5.78±0.66 μg/ml as determined by the the free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and the oxygen radical absorption capacity (ORAC) assay respectively. The isolated coumarin presented a cytotoxic activity assessed by using the neutral red assay (NRU) against lung cancer cell line (H23) with IC50 of 40.38±2.75 μg/ml.

Abstract: Cuphea ignea A. DC. is an ornamental plant belonging to family Lythraceae distributed in the tropics and temperate zones. Some Cuphea members are traditionally used in treatment of hypertension. The aim of this research was to study the antihypertensive activity of the plant by applying a bio-guided fractionation scheme of the leaves, stems, and flowers using in vitro angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and renin inhibition assays to identify the active organ and its respective active fractions. The aqueous extract and the n-butanol fraction of the leaves showed the highest ACE inhibition activity with IC50 values 0.491 and 0.084 mg/mL, respectively. The renin inhibition activity showed that the alcoholic extract of the leaves had the highest percentage of inhibition (94.82%). Meanwhile, the methylene chloride fraction of the stems showed the highest renin inhibition activity (98.14%) followed by the ethyl acetate fraction of the leaves (93.09%). The antioxidant activity was tested using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and oxygen radical absorbance activity assays. Correlation studies of the antioxidant activity showed moderate correlation with the phenolic content and strong correlation with the flavonoid content. The renin inhibition activity showed significant positive correlation with the phenolic and flavonoid contents with r values (0.777 and 0.629, respectively).