Calotropis procera
| Calotropis procera | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Gentianales |
| Family: | Apocynaceae |
| Genus: | Calotropis |
| Species: | C. procera |
| Binomial name | |
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Calotropis procera (Aiton) W.T.Aiton |
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| Synonyms | |
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Asclepias procera Aiton |
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Asclepias procera Aiton
Calotropis procera is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae that is native to North Africa, Tropical Africa, Western Asia, South Asia, and Indochina. The green globes are hollow but the flesh contains a toxic milky sap that is extremely bitter and turns into a gluey coating resistant to soap.
Common names for the plant include apple of Sodom,Sodom apple, stabragh, kapok tree,king's crown,rubber bush, or rubber tree. The name apple of Sodom derives from the Hebrew Tapuah Sdom.
The fruit is described by the Roman Jewish historian Josephus, who saw it growing near Sodom: "...as well as the ashes growing in their fruits; which fruits have a color as if they were fit to be eaten, but if you pluck them with your hands, they dissolve into smoke and ashes." (Whiston 1737: Book IV chapter 8 section 4)
In his Biblical Researches in Palestine, Edward Robinson describes it as the fruit of the Asclepias gigantea vel procera, a tree 10–15 feet high, with a grayish cork-like bark called osher by the Arabs. He says the fruit resembled a large, smooth apple or orange, hanging in clusters of three or four. When pressed or struck, it exploded with a puff, like a bladder or puff-ball, leaving in the hand only the shreds of the thin rind and a few fibers. It is filled chiefly with air, which gives it the round form. In the center a small slender pod runs through it which contains a small quantity of fine silk, which the Arabs collect and twist into matches for their guns. The plant, however, is not native solely to Palestine. It is known to occur throughout the tropical belt and is also common in the West Indies (e.g. Jamaica), where the locals know it as "pillow cotton". When the ripe "apples" burst, the fibrous contents are ejected along with the seeds. The former are collected by the Jamaicans and used for filling pillows.
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Wikipedia