| Calycanthus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Calycanthus floridus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Magnoliids |
| Order: | Laurales |
| Family: | Calycanthaceae |
| Genus: | Calycanthus L. [1] |
| Species | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
List
| |
Calycanthus, called sweetshrub, [2] is a genus of flowering plants in the family Calycanthaceae. The genus includes two to four species depending on taxonomic interpretation; three are accepted by most 21st century sources.
Calycanthus plants are deciduous shrubs, growing to 4 m (13 ft) tall. The leaves are opposite and undivided. The plants are aromatic. [3] [4] [5] [6] The flowers are typical of the family Calycanthaceae in lacking distinct sepals and petals, but instead having spirals of tepals. [7] Flowers are produced from spring onwards, until October in the case of C. occidentalis . [8] The flowers of the two North American species are scented, 4–7 cm (1.6–2.8 in) across, with numerous dark red to burgundy to purplish brown tepals. C. chinensis has broader tepals, the outer ones white flushed with pink, the inner ones mostly yellow with purple marks at the base. [5] The fruit is an elliptical dry capsule, containing numerous seeds.[ citation needed ]
C. floridus and C. occidentalis are pollinated by beetles. Their flowers produce small protein-rich growths that feed beetle pollinators. [9] C. occidentalis has been shown to produce chemicals that mimic fermenting fruits that attract beetles in the families Nitidulidae and Staphylinidae. [10]
The genus Calycanthus was created by Carl Linnaeus in 1759, [11] with the sole species Calycanthus floridus. [12] In 1762, he added Calycanthus praecox, now treated as Chimonanthus praecox . [13]
A 2006 molecular phylogenetic study of the family Calycanthaceae found that the three widely recognized species of Calycanthus formed a monophyletic group. Relationships among the three species differed depending on whether chloroplast or nuclear data was used. A cladogram obtained by combining the two is shown below. [9]
| Calycanthaceae |
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The family Calycanthaceae may have had a Gondwanan origin. The sole Australian representative, Idiospermum australiense , would then represent an ancient relic, probably having diverged in the Cretaceous. There are no extant South American members of the family, although fossils are known. Calycanthus may have migrated into North America from eastern Asia, or may have originated in South America, moved northwards and then spread to eastern Asia. [9]
As of February 2020 [update] , Plants of the World Online accepted four species: [1]
C. chinensis has a confused taxonomic history. It was first described in 1963 as Calycanthus chinensis by W.C. Cheng and S.Y. Chang, but invalidly because two different collections were both given as holotypes. The authors then described it validly in 1964 in their new genus Sinocalycanthus. In 1979, P.T. Li rejected the genus Sinocalycanthus, and validated the original name Calycanthus chinensis. [5]
Calycanthus species are cultivated as ornamental plants by plant nurseries, including in the United States and England.
Calycanthus floridus is planted in gardens, as a specimen shrub, or for hedges. [21] [22] The English naturalist Mark Catesby drew it as the support for the bird he called "Garrulus Carolinensis The Chatterer" (now Bombycilla cedrorum ) in a work published from 1731 onwards. He described the shrub as growing in "remote and hilly parts" and having bark "as odoriferous as cinnamon". [23] The colonial planters of the Carolinas transplanted it into their gardens, and the botanist Peter Collinson described it to Linnaeus and imported it into England from Charleston in the Province of South Carolina around 1756. [24] [ page needed ]
Calycanthus occidentalis is planted in traditional, native plant, and wildlife gardens, and for natural landscaping and habitat restoration projects, primarily in California and the Western United States. [25] [26] It was introduced into cultivation in 1831. [8]
Calycanthus chinensis was introduced into cultivation in both the United States and the United Kingdom from the Shanghai Botanical Garden in the 1980s. [7] [5] It has since been used extensively in the breeding of cultivars. [7]
Several hybrids and hybrid cultivars have been produced, with the intention of combining the larger flower size of C. chinensis with the colour and scent of the two North American species, as well as their greater hardiness. The hybrid between C. chinensis and C. floridus has been named C. × raulstonii. It combines the larger flowers of C. chinesis with the flower color of C. floridus. The original cross has been given the cultivar name 'Hartlage Wine' after the student, Richard Hartlage, who made the first crosses. Further crosses have been made. 'Venus' involves C. occidentalis as well. [5] [7]
Hybrid cultivars include: [7]
Calycanthus floridus and C. occidentalis were both used as a traditional medicinal plant by Native Americans. The indigenous peoples of California also used C. occidentalis in basketweaving and for arrow shafts. [28] [29]
Calycanthus oil, distilled from the flowers, is an essential oil used in some quality perfumes. [30]
Philadelphus (mock-orange) is a genus of about 60 species of shrubs from 3–20 ft tall, native to North America, Central America, Asia and (locally) in southeast Europe.
Cytisus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to open sites in Europe, western Asia and North Africa. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae, and is one of several genera in the tribe Genisteae which are commonly called brooms. They are shrubs producing masses of brightly coloured, pea-like flowers, often highly fragrant. Members of the segregate genera, Calicotome, Chamaecytisus, and Lembotropis are sometimes included in Cytisus.
Grevillea, commonly known as spider flowers, is a genus of about 360 species of evergreen flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. Plants in the genus Grevillea are shrubs, rarely trees, with the leaves arranged alternately along the branches, the flowers zygomorphic, arranged in racemes at the ends of branchlets, and the fruit a follicle that splits down one side only, releasing one or two seeds.
Juniperus chinensis, the Chinese juniper is a species of plant in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to China, Myanmar, Japan, Korea and the Russian Far East. Growing 1–20 metres tall, it is a very variable coniferous evergreen tree or shrub.
Magnolia sieboldii, or Siebold's magnolia, also known as Korean mountain magnolia and Oyama magnolia, is a species of Magnolia native to east Asia in China, Japan, and Korea. It is named after the German doctor Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796–1866).
Idiospermum is a monotypic genus in the family Calycanthaceae. The sole included species is Idiospermum australiense − commonly known as idiotfruit, ribbonwood, or dinosaur tree − which is found only in two small areas of the tropical rainforests of northeastern Queensland, Australia. It is a relic of the ancient forests of Gondwana, surviving in very localised refugia for 120 million years, and displaying features that are almost identical to fossil records from that time. As such it provides an important insight into the very early evolution of flowering plants.
The University of Delaware Botanic Gardens are botanical gardens and an arboretum located on the campus of the University of Delaware, in Newark, Delaware, United States. The gardens are open to the public without charge.
Weigela is a genus of between six and 38 species of deciduous shrubs in the family Caprifoliaceae, growing to 1–5 m (3–15′) tall. All are natives of eastern Asia. The genus is named after the German scientist Christian Ehrenfried Weigel.
Chimonanthus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Calycanthaceae, native to China, but is also cultivated elsewhere in Asia, including Iran. The genus includes three to six species depending on taxonomic interpretation; six are accepted by the Flora of China. The name means winter flower in Greek.
The Calycanthaceae are a small family of flowering plants in the order Laurales. The family contains three genera and only 10 known species, restricted to warm temperate and tropical regions:
Lindera benzoin is a shrub in the laurel family. It is native to eastern North America, ranging from Maine and New York to Ontario in the north, and to Kansas, Texas, and northern Florida in the center and south. Within its native range it is a relatively common plant where it grows in the understory in moist, rich woods, especially those with exposed limestone.
Calycanthus floridus, or commonly known as the eastern sweetshrub, Carolina all spice, or spicebush, is a species of flowering shrub in the family Calycanthaceae. It is identifiable by its dark red flowers and fragrant scent. It is non-invasive and is found in the Southeastern United States region. The Nature Conservancy considers its conservation status to be G5, indicating it is at low risk of extinction.
Rosa chinensis, known commonly as the China rose, Chinese rose, or Bengal rose, is a member of the genus Rosa native to Southwest China in Guizhou, Hubei, and Sichuan Provinces. The first publication of Rosa chinensis was in 1768 by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin in Observationum Botanicarum, 3, p. 7 & plate 55.
Calycanthus occidentalis, commonly called spice bush or western sweetshrub, is a species of flowering shrub in the family Calycanthaceae that is native to California and, according to some sources, Washington state. It grows along streams and moist canyons in the foothills of mountains.
Chimonanthus praecox, also known as wintersweet and Japanese allspice, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Chimonanthus of the family Calycanthaceae, native to China. The plant is known as làméi in Chinese. The plant is also grown in Iran, where it is called gol-e yakh or "ice flower" in Persian.
Hydrangea paniculata, or panicled hydrangea, is a species of flowering plant in the family Hydrangeaceae native to southern and eastern China, Korea, Japan and Russia (Sakhalin). It was first formally described by Philipp Franz von Siebold in 1829.
Stachyurus chinensis (中国旌节花), Chinese stachyurus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Stachyuraceae, native to China and Taiwan. It is a spreading deciduous shrub growing to 2.5 m (8 ft) tall by 4 m (13 ft) wide. Stiff, pendent racemes of bell-shaped, greenish-yellow flowers are borne on glossy, dark brown branches in winter and spring. It flowers two weeks later than the related S. praecox. The flowers are followed by simple ovate leaves which colour to pink and red before falling in autumn.
Calycanthus chinensis, known as Chinese sweetshrub, is a species of flowering plant in the family Calycanthaceae, native to Southeast China. It was first given a valid scientific name in 1964. It is cultivated as an ornamental flowering shrub, and has been hybridized with two other species in the genus Calycanthus to combine its larger and broader tepalled flowers with their scented and more colourful ones.
Lindera praecox, the February spicebush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lauraceae, native to southern China, and Japan. A deciduous shrub typically 4.5 to 7.5 m tall, it is hardy to USDA Zone 8. In the wild it is found in thickets on the slopes of hills and mountains, and on the banks of streams and lakes. It is occasionally available from specialty nurseries.
