Cockroachplant

Have not grown this plant. Cockroachplant (Haplophyton crooksii, synonym: Haplophyton cimicidum) is also commonly known as Arizona Cockro...Read Moreach, Hierba de la Cucaracha, Raiz de la Cucaracha, Atempatli and Actimpatli. It can be found growing natively on rocky slopes and canyons in desert scrub and desert grasslands in the Trans-Pecos (3 counties in far west Texas); Arizona and southern New Mexico; southward to Sonora, Chihuahua, and Durango and Oaxaca, Mexico; to Guatemala and perhaps to Cuba. Its milky sap mixed with molasses has been used for centuries in Mexicao and Guatemala as a cockroach poison and/or as lotion or infusion to repel mosquitos, lice and fleas. It is toxic to the orange fruit fly, grasshoppers, Mexican beetles and codling moths. Some of the alkaloids found in this plant are similar in structure to the ant-tumor vinca alkaloids so it may have some pharmacological potential. Derivatives are being studied to determine if stroke patients may benefit from these chemicals due to their effects on the neurological system. More study is needed.

Cockroachplant is a small perennial shrub or subshrub with slender stems that are herbaceous above and woody near the base which typically is1 to 2 feet (30 to 61 cm) tall. The green, alternate (sometimes opposite), non-glandular, lanceolate leaves are stippled with white hairs. They are up to 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) long and 4-8 mm wide. Its 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide, bright yellow, showy blooms have 5, oval, overlapping petals. They are solitary (rarely paired) in the upper leaf axils. When opening from summer through fall, they resemble pinwheels.

Note: Haplophyton crooksii (synonym: Haplophyton cimicidum) is listed in the U.S. Food & Drug Administration's Poisonous Plants Database. Its toxicity to humans needs further study.