Rivina humilis is a species of flowering plant in the family Petiveriaceae. It was formerly placed in the pokeweed family, Phytolaccaceae. It can be found in the southern United States, the Caribbean, Central America, and tropical South America. Common names include dogblood, pigeonberry, rougeplant, baby peppers, bloodberry, and coralito. The specific epithet means "dwarfish" or "lowly" in Latin, referring to the plant's short stature.
Description Pigeonberry is an erect, vine-like herb, reaching a height of . The leaves of this evergreen perennial are up to long and wide, with a petiole in length. Flowers are on racemes long with a peduncle in length and pedicels long. Sepals are in length and white or green to pink or purplish. The fruit is a glossy, bright red berry in diameter.
Habitat Rivina humilis can be found in forests, thickets, shell middens, hammocks, roadsides, and disturbed areas at elevations from sea level to . It requires less than partial sun and is tolerant of full shade. It is also tolerant of salt spray and saline soils.
It is considered invasive in New Caledonia, where it was likely introduced in 1900. It is considered a weed in Queensland, Australia where it has naturalised, and is also naturalised on Cocos Islands, Réunion, Norfolk Island, Fiji, Tonga, French Polynesia, Hawaii, India and the Galapagos Islands.
Uses Pigeonberry is cultivated as an ornamental in warm regions throughout the world and is valued as a shade-tolerant groundcover. It is also grown as a houseplant and in greenhouses.
The juice made from the berries was used as a dye and ink at one time. The berries contain a pigment known as rivianin or rivinianin, which has the IUPAC name 5-O-β-D-Glucopyranoside, 3-sulfate, CAS number 58115-21-2, and molecular formula C24H26N2O16S. It is very similar to betanin, the pigment found in beets. The fruit also contains the betaxanthin humilixanthin.Humilixanthin a new betaxanthin from Rivina humilis. Dieter Strack, Doris Schmitt, Hans Reznik, Wilhelm Boland, Lutz Grotjahn and Victor Wray, Phytochemistry, 1987, Volume 26, Issue 8, Pages 2285–2287,
The juice of the berries have been tested in male rats and are reported to be safe to consume.Food Chem. Toxicol., December 2011, volume 49, issue 12, pages 3154-3157
Ecology R. humilis is a host plant for the caterpillars of Goodson's greenstreak (Cyanophrys goodsoni)
References
External links Rivina humilis can also be found in the Philippines from the Int'l Society for Taxonomic Explorations by Isidro A. T. Savillo