Anthoxanthum

vernal grasses
Anthoxanthum odoratum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Anthoxanthum
L.
Type species
Anthoxanthum odoratum
L.[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Flavia Heist. ex Fabr.
  • Ataxia R.Br.
  • Xanthonanthos St.-Lag.

Anthoxanthum, the vernal grasses or vernalgrasses, is a genus of plants in the grass family.[3][4][5]Jepson Manual Treatment

The members of Anthoxanthum are widespread in temperate and subtropical parts of Africa and Eurasia, with a few species in tropical mountains. Some species have become naturalized in Australia, New Zealand, and the Americas. Anthoxanthum odoratum is a common species of acidic grassland and bogs in northern Europe. All the species reportedly contain the compound coumarin, used medicinally in many countries.[6][7]

The genus Hierochloe is included in Anthoxanthum by some recent authors. Others, however, continue to treat them as separate genera, and we provisionally treat them as such here pending further research.[8][2]

Species[2][9]
  1. Anthoxanthum aethiopicum - Ethiopia
  2. Anthoxanthum amarum - Spain, Portugal
  3. Anthoxanthum aristatum - Mediterranean and neighboring areas from Madeira and the Canary Islands to the Aegean
  4. Anthoxanthum borii - India
  5. Anthoxanthum dregeanum - Cape Province of South Africa
  6. Anthoxanthum ecklonii- South Africa, Lesotho, Malawi
  7. Anthoxanthum gracila - Mediterranean from Morocco to the Aegean
  8. Anthoxanthum hookeri - Guizhou, Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan, Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Myanmar
  9. Anthoxanthum horsfieldii - Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Assam, Taiwan, Guizhou
  10. Anthoxanthum japonicum - Honshu
  11. Anthoxanthum madagascariense - Madagascar
  12. Anthoxanthum nivale - mountains of central Africa (Zaïre, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania)
  13. Anthoxanthum odoratum - widespread from Iceland to the Canary Islands to Mongolia; naturalized in North and South America, South Africa, Japan, East Asia, and various islands
  14. Anthoxanthum ovatum - Mediterranean from Spain to the Aegean
  15. Anthoxanthum pallidum - Sichuan, Yunnan
  16. Anthoxanthum sikkimense - Nepal, Yunnan, Sikkim, Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh
  17. Anthoxanthum tongo - Cape Province of South Africa
formerly included[2]

numerous species now considered better suited to other genera. Most important is Hierochloe; others include Centotheca Crypsis Dichelachne Dimeria Festuca Perotis Saccharum

See also

References

  1. ↑ lectotype designated by Cope in Jarvis et al., Regnum Veg. 127: 19 (1993)
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  3. ↑ Linnaeus, Carl von. 1753. Species Plantarum 1: 28 in Latin
  4. ↑ Watson L, Dallwitz MJ. (2008). "The grass genera of the world: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval; including synonyms, morphology, anatomy, physiology, phytochemistry, cytology, classification, pathogens, world and local distribution, and references". The Grass Genera of the World. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  5. ↑ Tropicos, Anthoxanthum L.
  6. ↑ Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 336 黄花茅属 huang hua mao shu Anthoxanthum Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 28. 1753
  7. ↑ Altervista Flora Italiana, genere Anthoxanthum
  8. ↑ Hope, Tom, & Gray, Alan, Grasses of the British Isles: BSBI Handbook No. 13, Botanical Society of the British Isles, 2009, p 312. ISBN 978-0-901158-42-0.
  9. ↑ The Plant List search for Anthoxanthum
Wikisource has the text of the 1905 New International Encyclopedia article Vernal Grass.
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