Wildlife Spotting

Pyrostegia venusta (Ker-Gawl) Miers (family, Bignoniaceae) is a neotropic evergreen vine widely distributed in southern Brazil. Native Brazilians use the aerial parts of P. venusta for the treatment of cough and flu. They administer its decoction orally as a general tonic and also as an infusion to treat diarrhoea, vitiligo, and jaundice. Tonics made from the stems of this plant are useful for the treatment of diarrhoea, whereas flower preparations have been shown to attenuate vomiting. Chemical investigations have shown that methanolic extracts of the roots of P. venusta contain allantoin, steroids, several and sugar has been observed in the flowers.