Camptotheca: taxon details and analytics

Domain
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Tracheophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida
Order
Cornales
Family
Nyssaceae
Genus
Camptotheca
Species
Scientific Name
Camptotheca

Summary description from Wikipedia:

Camptotheca

Camptotheca (happy tree, cancer tree, or tree of life) is a genus of medium-sized deciduous trees growing to 20 metres (66 ft) tall, native to southern China and Tibet. The genus is usually included in the tupelo family Nyssaceae, but sometimes included (with the tupelos) in the dogwood family Cornaceae.

The name "happy tree" is a direct translation of the Chinese name xǐ shù (Simplified Chinese:喜树).

There are two species:

  • Camptotheca acuminata Decne.
  • Camptotheca lowreyana S.Y.Li

The bark and stems of C. acuminata contain the alkaloid camptothecin. Several chemical derivatives of camptothecin are under investigation for or used as drugs for cancer treatment, including irinotecan, topotecan, rubitecan.

C. acuminata also contains the chemical compounds trifolin and hyperoside.

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Camptotheca in languages:

Chinese
喜樹屬
English
Happy Trees
Russian
Камптотека

Images from inaturalist.org observations:

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Camptotheca
©isfs0000562, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)
Camptotheca
©korotkov, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)
Camptotheca
©Patrick M. Lydon, some rights reserved (CC-BY)
Camptotheca
©Patrick M. Lydon, some rights reserved (CC-BY)