Taxon: Gomphocarpus physocarpus E. Mey.

Common names:

• balloon cottonbush   (Source: Noxweed Aust ) – English
  
• bladderbush   (Source: P. V. Bruyns, p.c.) – English
  
• wild cotton   (Source: Websters Dict [as Asclepias physocarpus]) – English
  
• paina-de-seda   (Source: J. Fontella P., p.c.) – Portuguese
  

Economic importance:

• Medicines: folklore   (fide F ChinaEng)
  
• Vertebrate poisons: mammals   (fide Kellerman et al., as Asclepias physocarpa; Econ Pl Aust, as Asclepias fruticosus)
  
• Weed   (fide P. V. Bruyns, pers. comm. 1996)
  

More:

View toxicology references for Gomphocarpus physocarpus from FDA Poisonous Plant Database

View ethnobotanical data from Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases

Distributional range:

• AFRICA
  East Tropical Africa: Kenya; Tanzania
  South Tropical Africa: Mozambique
  Southern Africa: South Africa - Cape Province, KwaZulu-Natal, Transvaal; Swaziland

• naturalized in w. Africa, Mauritius, India, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Australia, & West Indies

References:

• Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica. (F Jam) [= Asclepias].
• Arnold, T. H. & B. C. De Wet, eds. 1993. Plants of southern Africa: names and distribution. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa no. 62. (Pl SAfr) [= Asclepias].
• Backer, C. A. & R. C. Bakhuizen van den Brink, Jr. 1963–1968. Flora of Java. (F Java)
• Bruyns, P. V. 1996. pers. comm. [re. common names].
• Cufodontis, G. 1953–1972. Enumeratio plantarum aethiopiae: Spermatophyta. (F EthiopCuf)
• Dassanayake, M. D. & F. R. Fosberg, eds. 1980–. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon. (F Ceylon)
• Fontella P., J. 1996. pers. comm. [re. common names].
• Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. (Dict Gard) [= Asclepias].
• Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper. 1953–1972. Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2. (F WT Afr)
• Lazarides, M. & B. Hince. 1993. CSIRO Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia. (Econ Pl Aust)
• Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. (Hortus 3) [= Asclepias].
• Nicholas, A. 2001. pers. comm. [via email to J. R. Hosking on 21 Apr 1999 (recvd. 28 Feb 2001)].
• Parsons, W. T. & E. G. Cuthbertson. 1992. Noxious weeds of Australia. (Noxweed Aust)
• Reitz, R., ed. 1965–. Flora ilustrada catarinense. (F SCatarin)
• Schijff, H. P. van der. 1969. A check-list of the vascular plants of the Kruger national park. (L Kruger)
• St. John, H. 1973. List and summary of the flowering plants in the Hawaiian islands. (L Hawaii)
• Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994–. Flora of China (English edition). (F ChinaEng) [cultivated].
• Webster's third new international dictionary. (Websters Dict) [= Asclepias physocarpus].

More:

Search AGRICOLA article citation database for citations referencing Gomphocarpus physocarpus.

Search NCBI's Entrez search engine for PubMed citations referencing Gomphocarpus physocarpus. Note: Defaults to a search by genus or species epithet if species binomial not found.

Synonyms:

• (≡) Asclepias physocarpa (E. Mey.) Schltr.
  

Check other databases for Gomphocarpus physocarpus E. Mey.:

• Flora of China: Online version from Harvard University
• SIBIS: South African National Biodiversity Institute's (SANBI) Integrated Biodiversity System
• Mansfeld: Mansfeld's World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops
• ePIC: Electronic Plant Information Centre of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• AGRICOLA: Article Citation Database or NAL Catalog of USDA's National Agricultural Library
• Entrez: NCBI's search engine for PubMed citations, GenBank sequences, etc.
  Note: Defaults to a search by genus or species epithet if species binomial not found.

Images:

• Disseminule drawings: U.S. National Seed Herbarium drawing
• Embryo drawing: U.S. National Seed Herbarium drawing

More:

• Check PlantSystematics.org for additional images
• Images Note: Be advised that their identity may be inaccurate. Proper identification of a plant may require specialized taxonomic knowledge or comparison with properly documented herbarium material.

Abbreviations & symbols in GRIN Taxonomy

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