Codariocalyx motorius

Telegraph Plant
Branch during day (left) and night (right)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Genus:	Codariocalyx
Species:	C. motorius
Binomial name
Codariocalyx motorius (Houtt.) H. Ohashi
Synonyms
Many, see text

Codariocalyx motorius (though often placed in Desmodium^[1]), known as the Telegraph Plant or Semaphore Plant, is a tropical Asian shrub, one of a few plants capable of rapid movement; others include Mimosa pudica and the Venus Flytrap.

It is widely distributed throughout Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. It can even be found on the Society Islands, a remote chain of islands in the South Pacific. It produces small purple flowers. Telegraph Plant contains small amounts of tryptamine alkaloids in leaves, stem^{[verification needed]} and root, namely DMT and 5-MeO-DMT.

This plant is famous for its movement of small lateral leaflets at speeds rapid enough to be perceivable with the naked eye. This is a strategy to maximise sunlight by tracking the sun. Each leaf is equipped with a hinge that permits it to be moved in order to receive more sunlight, but the weight of these leaves means the plant must expend a lot of energy in moving it. To optimise movement of large leaves, each large leaf has two small leaflets at its base. These move constantly along an elliptical path, sampling the intensity of sunlight, and directing the large leaf to the area of most intensity.

The common name is due to the rotation of the leaflets with a period of about 3 to 5 minutes; this was likened to a semaphore telegraph, a structure with adjustable paddles that could be seen from a distance, the position of which conveyed a message in semaphore^{[verification needed]}, hence the common names.

The Tamils call this plant ThozhukaNNi (Tamil: தொழுகண்ணி). It has been in use in Siddha medicine for centuries. It is a very useful remedy in adhering the cut ends of flesh and healing it. It is also used in curing snake bite poisons. Hence it is also called snake charmer's root. Hence it is also called Aravaattip pachchilai (Tamil: அரவாட்டிப் பச்சிலை).

The plant is described in detail in Charles Darwin's 1880 The Power of Movement in Plants.

Synonyms

C. motorius has a considerable number of nomenclatural and taxonomic synonyms:

• Codariocalyx gyrans (L. f.) Hassk.
• Desmodium gyrans (L.) DC.
• Desmodium gyrans (L. f.) DC.
• Desmodium gyrans (L.) DC. var. roylei (Wight & Arn.)Baker
• Desmodium motorium (Houtt.) Merr.
• Desmodium roylei Wight & Arn.
• Hedysarum gyrans L. f.
• Hedysarum motorium Houtt.
• Hedysarum motorius Houtt.
• Meibomia gyrans (L. f.) Kuntze

Footnotes

1. ^ ILDIS (2005)

References

• International Legume Database & Information Service (ILDIS) (2005): Codariocalyx motorius. Version 10.01, November 2005. Retrieved 2007-DEC-18.

External links

• Trout’s Notes on the Genus Desmodium Chemistry, ethnomedicine, pharmacology, synonyms and miscellany (pdf)