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Anchusa | |
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Anchusa officinalis | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Boraginales |
Family: | Boraginaceae |
Subfamily: | Boraginoideae |
Genus: | Anchusa L. (1753) |
Type species | |
Anchusa officinalis L. | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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The genus Anchusa belongs to the borage family (Boraginaceae). It includes about 35 species [2] found growing in Europe, North Africa, South Africa and Western Asia. They are introduced in the United States.
They consist of annual plants, biennial plants and perennial plants with the general characteristics of the borage family. They are commonly herbaceous. The leaves are simple or undulate, covered with stiff hairs.
The small radially symmetrical flowers are sapphire blue and retain their colour a long time. The plants show numerous flowers with five sepals, united at their bases, and five petals forming a narrow tube facing upwards. The flowers grow in several axillary cymes, simple or branched, or are clustered at the end. The flowers are much frequented by bees.
The genus Anchusa is commonly used in trough or rock gardens. [2]
The roots of Anchusa (just like those of Alkanna and Lithospermum ) contain anchusin (or alkanet-red), a red-brown resinoid colouring matter. It is insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol, chloroform and ether.
Anchusa species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora pennella .
There are four subgenera: Buglossum, Buglossoides, Buglossellum and Anchusa.
The first two form one subclade, the other two each a separate subclade. The subclade of the subgenus Anchusa (containing Anchusa capensis) is largely unresolved.
If we consider Anchusa s.l., then it includes the subgenus Limbata, which diverges markedly in its floral morphology.
The subgenera Buglossum, Buglossellum and Buglossoides clearly need new independent entities, while the subgenus Anchusa needs a narrower concept. This way taxonomy and phylogeny with respect to Anchusa can become completely analogous.
35 species are accepted. [1]
Calendula is a genus of about 15–20 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae that are often known as marigolds. They are native to southwestern Asia, western Europe, Macaronesia, and the Mediterranean. Other plants known as marigolds include corn marigold, desert marigold, marsh marigold, and plants of the genus Tagetes.
Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus Lonicera of the family Caprifoliaceae. It includes 158 species native to northern latitudes in North America, Eurasia, and North Africa. Widely known species include Lonicera periclymenum, Lonicera japonica and Lonicera sempervirens. L. japonica is a highly invasive species considered a significant pest in parts of North America, Europe, South America, Australia, and Africa.
Boraginaceae, the borage or forget-me-notfamily, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees, and herbs in 146 to 154 genera with a worldwide distribution.
Nonea is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae. Sometimes known as monkswort, these are herbaceous perennials or annual plants, native to Europe, Asia and Africa.
Reseda, also known as the mignonette, is a genus of fragrant herbaceous plants native to Europe, southwest Asia and North Africa, from the Canary Islands and Iberia east to northwest India.
Anthemis is a genus of aromatic flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, closely related to Chamaemelum, and like that genus, known by the common name chamomile; some species are also called dog-fennel or mayweed. Anthemis are native to the Mediterranean region and southwest Asia east to Iran. A number of species have also become naturalized in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world.
Cynoglossum is a genus of small-flowered plants in the family Boraginaceae. It includes 81 species native to Eurasia, Africa, New Guinea, and Australia.
Bugloss is a name used for several plants in the borage family (Boraginaceae):
Pentaglottis is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae. It is represented by a single species, Pentaglottis sempervirens, commonly known as green alkanet or evergreen bugloss, and it is one of several related plants known as alkanet. It is a bristly, perennial plant native to southwestern Europe, in northwest Iberia and France.
Cynoglottis barrelieri, Barrelier's bugloss or false alkanet, is a species of flowering plant in the Boraginaceae family. It is a perennial native to southeastern Europe, Crimea, Turkey, Lebanon, and Syria. It is sometimes used as an ornamental plant.
Anchusa officinalis, also knowns as common bugloss or common alkanet, is a species of flowering plant in the borage family. It is native to Europe and small parts of western Asia, but has been escaped from cultivation to grow in additional locations in Europe and the Americas. The flowers are noted for their popularity with bumblebees due to a large nectar flow. The plants have been used in traditional medicines, but were falling out of favor by the early 1800s. They are still planted in gardens for their popularity with bees and their blue flowers.
Alkanet is the common name of several related plants in the borage family (Boraginaceae):
Boraginoideae is a subfamily of the plant family Boraginaceae s.s, with about 42 genera. That family is defined in a much broader sense in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) system of classification for flowering plants. The APG has not specified any subfamilial structure within Boraginaceae s.l.
Hormuzakia aggregata is a flowering annual plant in the borage family, known by the common names massed alkanet, Arabic: لسان الثور, and Hebrew: לשון-שור מגובבת.
Odontarrhena is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the Alyssum genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some of the genera are nickel (Ni) hyperaccumulators.