Species
+

Hippobroma longiflora (L.) G.Don

Ahoudifadi, Cipril, Horse Poison, Jumbie Plant

Climate known 60 photographs
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Hippobroma longiflora, also called Star of Bethlehem or madamfate, is a flowering plant in the family Campanulaceae. It is the only species in the genus Hippobroma. It is endemic to Jamaica in the West Indies, but has become naturalised across the American tropics, Madagascar, southern and southeastern Asia, and Oceania.

Text from Wikipedia, “Hippobroma”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Hippobroma

Hippobroma longiflora, also called Star of Bethlehem or madamfate, is a flowering plant in the family Campanulaceae. It is the only species in the genus Hippobroma. It is endemic to Jamaica in the West Indies, but has become naturalised across the American tropics, Madagascar, southern and southeastern Asia, and Oceania.

Text from Wikipedia, “Hippobroma”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Campanulaceae
Described by
(L.) G.Don
Native to
Jamaica
Wild records
30 in range· 10 open

At a glance

Warmest month
29°C
Jul, mean day; nights 24 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1887mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Oct 291 mm (CHELSA)
Light
28–43DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: a sharp rainy season, April to June and August to November at the habitat (not shifted); the temperature curve is flat (3.3 °C of range), so no growing season is inferred. Habitat rain 1887 mm a year, wettest October at 291 mm, driest February at 70 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 28 to 43 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 20.3 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Isotoma longiflora (L.) C.Presl; Isotoma longiflora (L.) K.Presl; Isotoma longiflora subsp. runcinata (Hassk.) Panigrahi, P.Daniel & M.V.Viswan.; Isotoma longiflora var. runcinata (Hassk.) Panigrahi, P.Daniel & M.V.Viswan.; Isotoma runcinata Hassk. and 8 more.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a sharp rainy season, April to June and August to November at the habitat (not shifted); the temperature curve is flat (3.3 °C of range), so no growing season is inferred.

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a sharp season: 70% of the year's rain (1396 mm of 1887 mm) falls in April to June and August to November. The temperature curve is flat, 3.3 °C between the warmest and coldest month, so the growing-season rule does not infer a growing season from it. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; with a flat temperature curve there is no season to reverse, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1887 mm a year, wettest October at 291 mm, driest February at 70 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1887 mm a year at the habitat, 1396 mm of it April to June and August to November. Wettest month October at 291 mm, driest February at 70 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 1595 mm to 2249 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 28 to 43 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 28 to 43 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 27, the highest 90th-percentile month 43).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 20.3 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 20.3 °C, the absolute minimum 17.1 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 29.6 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 20.5 °C in February (across the envelope cells 17.5 °C to 23.0 °C), warmest day 29.3 °C in July (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 20.3 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 64 to 69% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 26 °C in Jan to 29 °C in Jul; mean night from 21 °C in Feb to 24 °C in Aug. The cold quarter, Jan to Mar, is the three months around the coldest night. 1887 mm of rain a year, most in Oct. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 22 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 17.1 °C and the 99th-percentile day 29.6 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.15°20°25°30°35°29.6° 99th-percentile day (undated)17.1° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400mm rainDLI 28–43RH 64–69 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 22 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C26 / 24–2726 / 25–2827 / 25–2827 / 26–2928 / 27–2929 / 27–3029 / 28–3029 / 28–3029 / 27–3028 / 27–2927 / 26–2826 / 25–27
Night °C21 / 18–2321 / 18–2321 / 18–2321 / 19–2422 / 20–2523 / 21–2524 / 21–2624 / 21–2623 / 21–2523 / 20–2522 / 20–2521 / 18–24
Rain mm88 / 54–12970 / 47–10397 / 69–107134 / 95–157248 / 208–275150 / 119–194123 / 85–169168 / 139–199232 / 206–254291 / 240–342173 / 141–247113 / 73–198
DLI30 / 28–3134 / 33–3539 / 38–4043 / 41–4341 / 40–4242 / 41–4343 / 42–4341 / 40–4238 / 36–3933 / 31–3429 / 28–3128 / 27–30
RH %67 / 64–6865 / 64–6764 / 63–6765 / 63–6767 / 65–6967 / 64–7065 / 63–6866 / 64–6867 / 66–6969 / 68–7169 / 67–7167 / 65–69

Each figure is the median across the 22 grid cells holding the 28 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1440:2067 (17.975, -76.625). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 17.1 °C, 1st-percentile night 20.3 °C, 99th-percentile day 29.6 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 22 distinct grid cells holding the 28 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1440:2067 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 18.00_-76.875, lapse-corrected +277 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 415 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeJamaica· introduced: Chagos Archipelago, Comoros, Mauritius, Madagascar, Réunion, Rodrigues, Seychelles, China Southeast, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka, Andaman Is., Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo, Cocos (Keeling) I., Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Sulawesi, Sumatera, New Guinea, Fiji, New Caledonia, Tonga, Cook Is., Marquesas, Society Is., Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Caroline Is., Marianas, Marshall Is., Hawaii, Florida, Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Leeward Is. AB Ant, Puerto Rico, Southwest Caribbean, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is., Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Galápagos, Peru, Brazil West-Central, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil North, Brazil South
Kew's description“perennial or subshrub” · “wet tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker18.25, -77.5 · in the densest population, 30 records (100% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 30 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 10 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 14 km away. 1825 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 2 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 30 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Hippobroma longifloraHippobroma longifloraHippobroma longifloraHippobroma longifloraHippobroma longifloraHippobroma longifloraHippobroma longifloraHippobroma longiflora

Photographs: (c) Ricard Busquets Reverte, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3); (c) Viken, some rights reserved (CC BY) (5).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Hippobroma longiflora, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Piperidine and Tetrahydropyridine Alkaloids fromLobelia siphiliticaandHippobroma longiflora
Julie R. Kesting, Inge-Lise Tolderlund, Anders F. Pedersen, Matthias Witt (2009) · Journal of Natural Products
Bioactivities of forest medicinal plants on kutai ethnic (Indonesia) of tapak leman (Hippobroma longiflora (L) G. Don)
Zarta Abdul Rasyid, Farida Aryani, Salusu Heriad Daud, Suwinarti Wiwin (2020) · GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Phytochemical Screening and Antioxidant Activity of Hippobroma longiflora Extracts
Ni Wayan Martiningsih, I Wayan Mudianta, I A P Suryanti (2021) · IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering
Diphenethylpiperidine alkaloids with tracheal smooth muscle relaxation activity from Hippobroma longiflora (L.) G. Don
Zi-Yang Chan, Kayatri Govindaraju, Premanand Krishnan, Yun‐Yee Low (2019) · Phytochemistry Letters
Hippobroma longiflora L Leaves as a Natural Inhibitor of Cataract Progression: A Comprehensive Study Integrating Ethanol Extract, HPLC, and Molecular Docking Approaches
Eva Imelda, Ulfa Fitria, Ulmiza Putri Mutia, Syahrul Syahrul (2023) · Grimsa Journal of Science Engineering and Technology
Alkaloids and Polyacetylenes from Hippobroma longiflora with Antiangiogenesis Properties
Tzu-Yi Ke, Shih‐Wei Wang, Shu‐Rong Chen, Dongming Huang (2023) · Journal of Natural Products
The potency of endophytic fungi isolated from Hippobroma longiflora (L) G. Don as an antioxidant sources
Hary Wıdjajantı, Muharni Muharni, Elisa Nurnawati, Vina Tripuspita (2022) · IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science
Phytochemical Profiling of Hippobroma longiflora Leaf Extract Using LC-MS/MS Analysis and Pharmacological Potential
Asril Burhan, Diah Ratnadewi, Agus Setiyono, Rika Indri Astuti (2024) · Egyptian Journal of Chemistry
Anticataract activity of ethanolic extract from Hippobroma longiflora (L.) G.Don leaves: Ex vivo investigation
Eva Imelda, Khairan Khairan, Rodiah Rahmawaty Lubis, Pati Kemala (2023) · Journal of Pharmacy & Pharmacognosy Research

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 108 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.