Triosteum

Triosteum, commonly known in American English as horse-gentian or, less commonly, feverwort, and, in Standard Chinese as (, is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Caprifoliaceae. A genus of six species in total, it has three species native to North America, and three more in eastern Asia.
Derivation of Genus Name.
The name "Triosteum" is a compound of the Greek "tria" 'three' and "osteon" 'bone', in reference to the three hard pyrenes ( pips / pits ) in each drupe ( berry ) - giving the meaning 'having three pits ( as hard as ) bone'.
Description.
Triosteum spp. are perennial, herbaceous plants of rich woods. Each plant typically consists of at least one erect, round, hairy, fistular stem, 1 to 4 feet (0.3 to 1.2m) high, with opposite ovate-lanceolate entire leaves, and whitish to purplish flowers presented either in axillary whorls or terminal racemes. The fruit is a drupe. It may be white, yellow, orange, or red, depending on the species.
Species.
Five species and one variety are currently accepted by The Plant List and a sixth species by the Online Flora of China:
N.B. A problem exists in relation to the name "Triosteum himalayanum" Wallich., which has been applied to a specimen of the ( unrelated ) "Lasianthus hirsutus" belonging to the genus Lasianthus of the family Rubiaceae : see link below to species pages in Online Flora of China 'Triosteum himalayanum ' and 'Lasianthus hirsutus'.
Ornamental Value.
Certain species in the genus are sometimes cultivated for their colorful fruits, although the plants have been characterised as 'somewhat weedy perennials' and their flowers are, in general smaller and less showy than those of the related genus Lonicera, the Honeysuckles.
Uses.
American species : the dried and roasted fruits have been occasionally used as a substitute for coffee; but they are chiefly valued for their medicinal properties, the roots having been used as an emetic and mild cathartic. The drug is sometimes called Tinker's root, after Dr. Tinker, who first brought it to notice.
Asiatic species : The ripe fruits of "Triosteum himalayanum" Wallich. have been used for 'blood purification' in the Himalayas. The concept of a medicinal plant that 'purifies the blood' is not one recognised by modern medicine, although the effects of plants believed in folk medicine and more recently in alternative medicine to possess such a property are often cholagogue, laxative and / or diuretic.
Chemistry.
Five monoterpene indole alkaloids (vincosamide-6′-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (1), vincosamide (2), strictosamide (3), strictosidine (4), and 5(S)-5-carboxystrictosidine (5)), two monoterpene diglycosides ( see Glycoside ) (urceolide (6) and 4(S)-4-hydroxyurceolide (7)) and 10 iridoids, ( triohimas A–C, naucledal, secologanin dimethyl acetal, grandifloroside, sweroside, loganin, vogeloside and (E)-aldosecologanin ) have recently been isolated from the roots of "Triosteum pinnatifidum" Maxim. Most of the iridoids in question were derived from loganin or secologanin with a glucose moiety at C-1 position and these findings indicate a close relationship between the genera Triosteum and Lonicera, and support the viewpoint that the iridoids derived from loganin or secologanin could be considered chemotaxonomic markers for the family Caprifoliaceae.