Ageratina

Ageratina
Sticky Snakeroot (Ageratina adenophora)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Subfamily:	Asteroideae
Tribe:	Eupatorieae
Genus:	Ageratina Spach
Species
About 250, see text

Ageratina (snakeroot) is a genus of about 250^[1][2]–290^[3] perennials and rounded shrubs in the family Asteraceae.

These plants grow mainly in the warmer regions of the Americas and West Indies. Over 150 species are native to Mexico.^[4] Some flourish in the cooler areas of the eastern United States. Two Mexican species have become a pest in parts of Australia and Taiwan.^[3] Ageratina used to belong to the genus Eupatorium, but it has been reclassified.

Description

The inflorescence consists of multiple fluffy, red or pinkish-white capitula in clusters. These lack the typical ray flowers of the composites.

They have multiple, much-branched woody stems. The petioles are rather long. The leaves are triangular, serrate and opposite with a foul-smelling, musky scent.

Species

Ageratina adenophora Ageratina altissima Ageratina amblyolepis Ageratina areolaris Ageratina aromatica Ageratina atrocordata Ageratina beamanii Ageratina bellidifolia Ageratina blepharilepis Ageratina brandegeana Ageratina brevipes Ageratina calaminthifolia Ageratina calophylla Ageratina campylocladia Ageratina capillipes Ageratina cardiophylla Ageratina cerifera Ageratina chazaroana Ageratina chiapensis Ageratina choricephala Ageratina collodes Ageratina concordiana Ageratina conspicua Ageratina crassiramea Ageratina cremastra Ageratina cronquistii Ageratina cuencana Ageratina cylindrica Ageratina deltoidea Ageratina dendroides Ageratina dolichobasis Ageratina enixa Ageratina espinosarum

Ageratina etlensis Ageratina flourensifolia Ageratina geminata Ageratina gentryana Ageratina glabrata Ageratina glauca Ageratina glischra Ageratina gonzalezorum Ageratina grashoffii Ageratina gypsophila Ageratina halbertiana Ageratina havanensis Ageratina hasegawana[4] Ageratina helenae Ageratina henzium Ageratina herbacea Ageratina heterophylla Ageratina huahuapana[4] Ageratina hyssopina Ageratina irrasa Ageratina isolepis Ageratina jaliscensis Ageratina jalpana Ageratina jolotepecana Ageratina josepaneroi Ageratina jucunda Ageratina kochiana Ageratina lasia Ageratina lasioneura Ageratina leiocarpa Ageratina lemmonii Ageratina leptodictyon Ageratina liebmannii Ageratina ligustrina

Ageratina luciae-brauniae Ageratina lucida Ageratina macbridei Ageratina macdonaldii Ageratina macvaughii Ageratina mairetiana Ageratina malacolepis Ageratina manantlana Ageratina megacephala[4] Ageratina miahuatlana Ageratina moorei Ageratina muelleri Ageratina neohintonorium Ageratina nesomii Ageratina oaxacana Ageratina occidentalis Ageratina oligocephala Ageratina oreithales Ageratina ovilla Ageratina ozolotepecana[4] Ageratina palmeri Ageratina parayana Ageratina paupercula Ageratina pazcuarensis Ageratina pendula Ageratina pelotropha Ageratina petiolaris Ageratina photina Ageratina pichinchensis Ageratina potosina Ageratina pringlei Ageratina prunellifolia Ageratina pseudochilca Ageratina queretaroana

Ageratina ramireziorum Ageratina ramonensis Ageratina resiniflua Ageratina rhomboidea Ageratina rhypodes Ageratina riparia Ageratina robinsoniana Ageratina rothrockii Ageratina rubicaulis Ageratina salicifolia Ageratina saltillensis Ageratina sandersii Ageratina scordonioides Ageratina shastensis Ageratina sodiroi Ageratina sousae Ageratina stricta Ageratina sundbergii Ageratina thyrsiflora Ageratina tomentella Ageratina triangulata Ageratina triniona Ageratina venulosa Ageratina vernalis Ageratina viburnoides Ageratina viejoana Ageratina villarrealii[5] Ageratina viscosissima Ageratina warnockii Ageratina wrightii Ageratina yecorana Ageratina zunilana

Toxicity

Milk from cows that have eaten snakeroot can cause illness if ingested because the milk becomes toxic. Symptoms of milk sickness include vomiting.

Medicinal Use

Ageratina pichinchensis is a traditional Mexican treatment for superficial fungal infections of the skin. These plant extracts contain encecalin which has activity to inhibit and kill the fungus. Studies have compared its effectiveness in treating toenail fungus with ciclopirox.^[6][7][8]

Notes

1. "Ageratina". Flora of North America.
2. Carmen Ulloa Ulloa and Peter Møller Jørgensen. "Ageratina Spach". Arboles y arbustos de los Andes del Ecuador (Trees and shrubs of the Andes of Ecuador).
3. "Ageratina Spach". Flora of Taiwan.
4. Turner, B. L. (2010). Four new species of Ageratina (Asteraceae): Eupatorieae) from Oaxaca, Mexico. Phytologia 92:3 388-99.
5. Turner, B. L. (2010). Ageratina villarrealii (Asteraceae: Eupatorieae), A new species from Sierra de Zapaliname, Coahuila, Mexico Phytologia 92:3 362-65.
6. Snakeroot leaf extract, proven as toenail fungus natural treatment
7. Romero-Cerecero, Ofelia; Román-Ramos, Rubén; Zamilpa, Alejandro; Jiménez-Ferrer, Jesús Enrique; Rojas-Bribiesca, Gabriela; Tortoriello, Jaime (2009). "Clinical trial to compare the effectiveness of two concentrations of the Ageratina pichinchensis extract in the topical treatment of onychomycosis". Journal of Ethnopharmacology 126 (1): 74–78. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2009.08.007. PMID 19683043.
8. Romero-Cerecero, Ofelia; Zamilpa, Alejandro; Jiménez-Ferrer, Jesús; Rojas-Bribiesca, Gabriela; Román-Ramos, Rubén; Tortoriello, Jaime (2008). "Double-Blind Clinical Trial for Evaluating the Effectiveness and Tolerability ofAgeratina pichinchensisExtract on Patients with Mild to Moderate Onychomycosis. A Comparative Study with Ciclopirox". Planta Medica 74 (12): 1430–1435. doi:10.1055/s-2008-1081338. PMID 18671197.

Long used in India to treat snakebite, epilepsy, mental disorders. It was also discovered to be useful in regulating hypertension discovered in 1949, but it causes various side effects. Used to treat schizophrenia due to the alkaloid reserpine it contains.

External links

Media related to Ageratina at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Ageratina at Wikispecies