| Pergularia daemia | |
|---|---|
| |
| In Limpopo, South Africa | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Gentianales |
| Family: | Apocynaceae |
| Genus: | Pergularia |
| Species: | P. daemia
|
| Binomial name | |
| Pergularia daemia | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Pergularia daemia, the trellis-vine, is a hispid, perennial vine in the family Asclepiadaceae, with an extensive range in the Old World tropics and subtropics.[citation needed] It has been used traditionally to treat a number of ailments.[citation needed] It is sometimes called atufa.[1]
It occurs from the Malay Peninsula to Burma, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan through Arabia and Egypt to central and southern Africa.[2] It is found along roadsides, in woodland or along riparian forest fringes.[3]
The opposite[citation needed] and broadly ovate to suborbicular leaves are very variable in size, with petioles of varying length. The leaves are almost glabrous above and velvety below.[2]
In the northern hemisphere the flowers appear from mid to late winter, and these are carried on lateral cymes. The flower corolla forms a greenish-yellow or dull white tube.[2] The fruit mature after some 13 to 14 months[citation needed] when they release ovate seeds covered with velvety hairs.[2]
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Terpenoids, flavonoids, sterols and cardenolides are among the chemicals that have been isolated from either the leaves, stems, shoots, roots, seeds or fruit.[citation needed] Traditionally it has been used as an anthelmintic, laxative, antipyretic and expectorant, besides treatment of infantile diarrhoea, malarial intermittent fevers, toothaches and colds.[citation needed] Studies have shown hepatoprotective, antifertility, anti-diabetic, analgesic, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory properties of substances in its aerial parts.[citation needed]
The larvae of the African monarch butterfly (Danaus chrysippus aegyptius) feed on this species.
