Cazahuate (Ipomea murucoides) is a tree with dense and thin branches, a sinuous trunk of dark color that grows quickly and reaches heights between 5-10 m. The young stems are usually tomentose with small fine, tangled hairs that offer the sensation of velvet. After the third year they are glabrescent, likewise the wood of the tree produces a white latex. The dark green leaves have an oval or lanceolate shape; medium 8-20 cm long and 2-8 cm wide. During the juvenile stage the leaves are covered by abundant velvet-like hairiness.The white bisexual flowers of approximately 5-8 cm in diameter are funnel-shaped with profuse hairiness on the margins. They grow in multiple flower clusters of 2 to 5 (Vázquez, 2019).
It is a species that is distributed in Mexico and Guatemala at altitudes between 600 and 2450 m. It blooms in the dry season, from October to March (Heike, 2011).
It has medicinal properties. Standley (1920-1926) mentions that the cooking of the wood is used during the bath to remedy the paralysis. The ashes are considered excellent for making soap in Guatemala and insecticidal activity is also attributed to this plant. (Heike, 2011).
Taxonomy:
Family | Convolvulaceae |
Genus | Ipomea |
Species | Ipomea murucoides |
Synonyms | Convolvulus macranthus Kunth, Ipomoea macrantha (Kunth) G. Don |
Common name | Cazahuate, Siete camisas, Siete pellejos |
PDF, Articles, Books on Ipomea murucoides
- 2012
- Biología floral y polinización de Ipomoea murucoides Roem. & Schult. (Convolvulaceae) en Ixtapan del Oro, Estado de México (México). Anales de Biología 34: 65-76.
Downloadable Online:
www.um.es/analesdebiologia/numeros/34/PDF/34_2012_11.pdf
- 1998
- Una especie nueva de Ipomea (Convolvulaceae) de los Estados de Guanajuato, Hidalgo y Queretaro, México. Acta Botánica Mexicana, 45: 31-42.
Downloadable Online:
www.redalyc.org/pdf/574/57404502.pdf
- 2008
- Diversidad del género Ipomea L. (Convolvulaceae) en el Estado de Michoacán, México. Flora de bajío y de regiones adyacentes. Fascículo complementario XXI.
Downloadable Online:
http://inecolbajio.inecol.mx/floradelbajio/documentos/fasciculos/complementarios/ComplementarioXXIII.pdf
- 2013
- Modulators of antibiotic activity from Ipomoea murucoides. Phytochemistry, Vol. 95, Pages 277-283.
Available Online:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031942213002616
- 2011
- Uso medicinal del cazahuate (Ipomoea murucoides Roem. et Schult). Tlahui - Medic No. 32, II.
Available Online:
www.tlahui.com/medic/medic32/cazahuate.htm
- 2012
- Alcaloides totales y actividad antioxidante de extractos
metanólicos de hojas de Ipomoea murucoides (casahuate). Tesis para obtener el título de Ingeniero en Alimentos. Universidad Tecnológica de la Mixteca. 78 pages.
Downloadable Online:
http://jupiter.utm.mx/~tesis_dig/11616.pdf
- 1946 - 1976
- Flora de Guatemala. EE. UU. Chicago Natural Museum. Fieldiana botany
Suggested webpages with photos and information on Catopsis berteroniana
www.biodiversidad.gob.mx/Difusion/cienciaCiudadana/aurbanos/ficha.php?item=Ipomoea%20murucoides
Botanical information and photos
http://bio.uaq.mx/municipioQro/fichas.php?idA=171
Botanical description
www.conabio.gob.mx/malezasdemexico/convolvulaceae/ipomoea-murucoides/fichas/ficha.htm
Data sheet
www.lifeder.com/cazahuate/
Complete information
www.naturalista.mx/taxa/194204-Ipomoea-murucoides
Useful photos
http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Ipomoea+murucoides
General information
Note: The ashes of the plant are used as a soap for washing clothes
First posted October, 2021
Written by Vivian Hurtado, FLAAR Mesoamerica