CYTOTAXONOMIC STUDIES ON EBEEBUBULE (Crassocephalum sp) OF THE BENIN SPEAKING PEOPLE OF EDO STATE- SOUTHERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Ebeebubule is used by Ohens (traditional doctors) of the Benin speaking people of Edo state for curing fibroid and other female fertility problems. The plants with the same morphological features were collected from different parts of Southern Nigeria. They were identified using International Standard of Nomenclature to belong to the genus Crassocephalum of the tribe Senecioneae and family Asteraceae. Cytological and morphological studies were carried out on 14 taxa belonging to 8 different species. Meiosis was normal with regular bivalent pairing revealing that the plants were stable. Chromosome counts of 3 species C. baoulense (n = 10), C. bougheyanum (n = 12), C. sarcobasis (n = 16), and Crassocephalum sp. are reported for the first time. While 2 species differed from earlier reports i.e. n=12 for C. rubens (pink and white varieties) and n = 24 in C. montuosum. New base numbers of 6 and 8 have been suggested for the genus thus Crassocephalum, is a polybasic genus. Achene morphology of all the species studied have been drawn and described for the first time. The distribution maps of all the taxa are provided for the first time. Fats and oils were present in all the species studied