|This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2013)|
|Branch during day (left) and night (right)|
(Houtt.) H. Ohashi
Many, see text
Codariocalyx motorius (though often placed in Desmodium), 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 its leaves, stems[verification needed] and roots, 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 light by tracking the sun. Each leaf is equipped with a hinge that permits it to be moved to receive more sunlight, but the weight of these leaves means the plant must expend a lot of energy in moving it. To optimise its movement, 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 three to five 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).
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
- "Codariocalyx motorius". International Legume Database & Information Service. November 2005. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
- Trout’s Notes on the Genus Desmodium Chemistry, ethnomedicine, pharmacology, synonyms and miscellany (pdf)