Hypericum hircinum

Last updated

Hypericum hircinum
Hypericum-hircinum-flowers.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Hypericaceae
Genus: Hypericum
Section: Hypericum sect. Androsaemum
Species:
H. hircinum
Binomial name
Hypericum hircinum
L.
Synonyms
  • Androsaemum hircinum

Hypericum hircinum is a species of perennial flowering plant in the St John's wort family, Hypericaceae. It is known as goat St John's wort and stinking tutsan; both names refer to the plant's distinctive odor. The species is a bushy shrub that can grow up to 1.5 meters tall, is many-stemmed, and has golden yellow flowers with conspicuous stamens. The plant has been well-documented in botanical literature, with mentions dating back to at least 1627. Carl Linnaeus described H. hircinum several times, including in his 1753 Species Plantarum which established its binomial. At one point the plant was placed into the defunct genus Androsaemum , but it was returned to Hypericum by Norman Robson in 1985.

Contents

Hypericum hircinum is continuously distributed across the Mediterranean and parts of the Middle East. It has also been cultivated throughout Europe, and has become naturalized in several places where it escaped captivity. The species is highly variable in appearance, but its lack of geographic separation means that five subspecies have been established to account for its diversity. H. hircinum has been hybridized with the closely related H. androsaemum to produce the fertile nothospecies H. × inodorum, which lacks the goat-like smell of H. hircinum.

While Hypericum hircinum lacks the high concentrations of several phytochemicals found in other members of its genus, it still has a highly active and useful chemical profile. Extracts from the species contain the highest levels of chemicals when taken from the flowering structures during the fruiting period of the plant. They have been used in folk medicine to treat respiratory diseases by ingestion, and it is also applied topically to treat burns and muscle ailments. Modern evaluations have demonstrated the plant's effectiveness as an antioxidant, anti-collagenase (for cosmetic care), and antimicrobial agent.

Description

Hypericum hircinum is a perennial shrub that usually grows 0.6–0.9 meters tall, but can reach heights of 1.5 meters. It is bushy in shape, with many stems. [1]

Vegetative structures

The base of the plant does not have exposed roots, but does branch directly from the ground. The stems vary in their arrangement, and can grow straight up, reach outwards, or droop to the ground. They are flat when the plant is young, but become more cylindrical as it matures. Their bark has long grooves and is grey-brown in color. The distance between each leaf is 0.2–0.9 centimeters long. [1]

The leaves are directly connected to the stem without a stalk, and sometimes envelop the stem. Their blades are a wide triangular lance-like shape with a rounded point. They are paler in color on their undersides and have a leathery or papery texture. There are several pairs of main lateral veins on the blade, and the many small tertiary veins are visible from either side of the leaf. There are small glands on the leaf, which are most dense near the edges of the blade. [1]

Flowering structures

Hypericum hircinum in fruit Bokkenkruid (Hypericum hircinum L. Ascyrum Cret. Vulgo) Hortus Botanicus Leiden (NL)2.jpg
Hypericum hircinum in fruit

There are usually around three clusters of flowers on each plant with roughly twenty flowers each. The structure of the flower cluster is a wide pyramid. The flowers themselves are 2–4 cm in diameter, and are more or less globe-shaped when they are budding. The sepals around the flowers vary in size, and are lance-like in shape. They grow larger during the flowering period, but fall off before the fruit ripens. They have glands both on their surface and more densely along their edges. [1]

The flower petals are golden yellow without any tint of red. They are 1.1–2.1 cm long and 0.4–0.9 cm wide, and they are roughly 3–4 times as large as the sepals. The stamens are bundled together in groups of around twenty, the longest of which are 1.2–2.2 cm long; this is conspicuously longer than the petals. The ovary is ellipse-shaped, and has upright styles that are 3–5 times its length. The seed capsule changes from green to dull brown as the plant matures, and the seeds are an orange to reddish brown color. [1]

Chemistry

While most species of Hypericum contain high concentrations of the phytochemicals hypericin and pseudohypericin, Hypericum hircinum may contain only trace amounts of them, and only in its flowers. However, it does contain high concentrations of other compounds that are not found in large amounts in related species, especially amentoflavone. Other isolated compounds include chlorogenic, caffeic, and neochlorogenic acid, smaller amounts of hyperforin and adhyperforin, and dihydroxybenzoic acid. [2] The species' characteristic goat-like smell is caused by the presence of caproic acid in its leaves. [3]

The concentration and composition of essential oils varies by the part of the plant. For example, the major hydrocarbons in the leaves and flowers are sesquiterpenes, while those of the flowers are monoterpenes. Some dominant compounds of the oil include guaiene, selinene, limonene, and pinene. The most active and useful oil components have the highest concentrations when harvested while the plant is fruiting. [4]

Taxonomy

The species in Hortus Eystettensis. The inscriptions read (from left to right): Androsaemum foeditum seu Tragodes, Siciliana, Hypericon. Hortus Eystettensis, 1640 (BHL 45339 265) - Classis Aestiva 113.jpg
The species in Hortus Eystettensis . The inscriptions read (from left to right): Androsaemum foeditum seu Tragôdes, Siciliana, Hÿpericon.

The plant today known as Hypericum hircinum was well-studied and documented before the modern system of botanical nomenclature was established. For example, the plant may have been mentioned under the name "Ascyroides" as early as 1627 in Prospero Alpini's De plantis exoticis . [5] Additionally, it was depicted in the 1640 volume of Hortus Eystettensis , a book of botanical illustrations. In the codex, the plant was noted to be from Sicily, of the grouping Hÿpericon (an early version of Hypericum), and called "Androsaemum foeditum" or "Tragôdes". [6] In Carl Linnaeus' early work Hortus Cliffortianus, the name "Ascyroides" was synonymized with several others, [7] and Linnaeus gave the species the following polynomial description: [8]

Hypericum floribus trigynis, staminibus petalo longioribus caule fruticoso.
St John's wort with trigynous flowers on a bushy stem, and petals longer than the stamens.

In his later work Species Plantarum , which established the modern system of binomial nomenclature for plants, Linnaeus again described the species. This time, he did so using the currently accepted two-part name Hypericum hircinum. He refined its short description, and noted several previous names for the plant, including variations of Androseamum foetidum, Hypericum foetidum, and Tragium. [9] After its original Linnaean treatment, there was only one time when a synonym for Hypericum hircinum arose. In 1836, Édouard Spach created the new genus Androsaemum (Androsème in French) out of several species from Hypericum. The specific epithet hircinum was retained, creating the new combination Androsaemum hircinum for the species. [10]

"Androsaemum‑group"
Cladogram showing the phylogeny and relationships of H. hircinum within the "Androsaemum-group" based on a 2013 study [11]

The species was brought back to Hypericum by Norman Robson in his monograph of the genus. Robson did not recognize Androsaemum as a genus-level taxon and reduced it to one of 36 new sections within Hypericum. Thus, Hypericum hircinum was assigned to Hypericum sect. Androsaemum in 1985. [12]

A 2013 study used Bayesian inference to establish the phylogeny and close relations of Hypericum species. Section Androsaemum, including Hypericum hircinum, was placed into an "Androsaemum-group" with several other sections. The study also determined that H. hircinum was most closely related to Hypericum foliosum . [11]

Etymology

The genus name Hypericum is possibly derived from the Greek words hyper (above) and eikon (picture), in reference to the tradition of hanging the plant over religious icons in the home. [13] The specific epithet "hircinum" comes from the Latin word "hircīnus" and refers to something "of or relating to a he-goat". [14] Another term used by early botanists to name the species was "foetidum", which comes from the Latin word "foetĭdus" and means a foul or fetid odor. [15]

In the United Kingdom, the species is known as stinking tutsan. [16] It is also called goat St John's wort. Both are in reference to the distinctive goat-like and foul smell of the plant. [17]

Subspecies

While Carl Linnaeus did not denote any subspecies in his descriptions of Hypericum hircinum, it was later determined that he described specimens of the subspecies obtusifolium, which was later designated as the type subspecies hircinum. [18] In addition to his specific description of Hypericum hircinum, Norman Robson also streamlined its infraspecific organization. He determined that the ancestral form of the species could be found in the eastern Mediterranean and Saudi Arabia, while more modern subspecies are present on the Mediterranean islands, in Greece, and in Morocco. Because of the species' high variability in appearance but lack of geographic discontinuity, Robson acknowledged that there are at least five subspecies of H. hircinum. [19]

Hypericum hircinum subsp. hircinum is the type subspecies, and was previously named subsp. obstusifolium or described as vartiety minus or pumilum. It is found on the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, but has also been cultivated in Holland and Britain. Today, the taxon is considered to be rare. H. h. subsp. majus is the most common subspecies, found around the Mediterranean and naturalized in Britain. It grows larger than other plants of the species, up to 1.5 meters tall. H. h. subsp. cambessedesii was once considered its own species in the defunct genus Androsaemum. It has smaller leaves and flowers than the other subspecies. H. h. subsp. albimontanum is only found on Cyprus and several Greek islands, including Crete. [20] H. h. subsp. metroi is very similar in appearance to subsp. majus, but lacks the distinct goat-like smell of the species. [21]

Hybridization

Hypericum hircinum can be crossed with Hypericum androsaemum to produce the fertile hybrid Hypericum × inodorum. This hybrid differs in appearance in that its sepals remain on the flower through its period of fruiting. It also lacks the goat-like smell of H. hircinum, hence the specific epithet inodorum from the Latin word "inodōrus" which indicates a lack of fragrance. [22]

Ecology

Carl Linnaeus noted the presence of Hypericum hircinum in Sicily, Calabria, and Crete in the 18th century; [9] Édouard Spach stated in 1836 that it was found in "southern Europe and the East". [10] Today, the species is recorded as native in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Spain, and Morocco. It has also been introduced to the Balkans, Portugal, and the British Isles. [23] Its habitat is in areas that are damp and shady along riversides, generally at elevations of 300–1200 meters. [24]

Hypericum hircinum has been cultivated across much of Europe. The species is highly prone to escaping from this cultivation, and has become integrated into the native ecosystems of numerous areas, especially in Spain, France, and Sicily. [24]

Uses

The use of Hypericum hircinum as an ornamental plant dates back to at least 1836. [10] The species is also frequently used in folk medicine, especially for the treatment of respiratory diseases. For example, it is used in Italy to treat persistent colds, asthma, and coughing. The plant is also used topically, with its oil applied to skin burns and its extracts used to relieve rheumatism and other muscular ailments. [25]

Formal scientific studies have confirmed some of Hypericum hircinum's medicinal properties. It has greater antioxidant capabilities than the well-studied Camellia sinensis , due largely to the presence of flavonols, flavanones, and caffeoylquinic acids. It also contains anti-collagenase components, which could lead to future use in cosmetic products. [26] The antimicrobial properties of the species have also been validated, and it is particularly effective against various Candida fungus species and the bacterium Streptococcus mutans. [4] [27] H. hircinum is also effective against other species of fungi, and lacks the cytotoxic effects in humans that other antifungal treatments may cause. [28]

Related Research Articles

<i>Hypericum perforatum</i> Flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum perforatum, commonly known as St John's wort, is a flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae. It is a perennial plant that grows up to one meter tall, with many yellow flowers that have clearly visible black glands around their edges, long stamens, and three pistils. Probably a hybrid between the closely related H. attenuatum and H. maculatum that originated in Siberia, the species is now found worldwide. It is native to temperate regions across Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of North and South America. In many areas where it is not native, H. perforatum is considered a noxious weed. It densely covers open areas to the exclusion of native plants, and is poor grazing material. As such, methods for biocontrol have been introduced in an attempt to slow or reverse the spread of the species.

<i>Hypericum</i> Genus of flowering plants known as St. Johns worts

Hypericum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Hypericaceae. The genus has a nearly worldwide distribution, missing only from tropical lowlands, deserts and polar regions. Many Hypericum species are regarded as invasive species and noxious weeds. All members of the genus may be referred to as St. John's wort, and some are known as goatweed. The white or pink flowered marsh St. John's worts of North America and eastern Asia are generally accepted as belonging to the separate genus TriadenumRaf.

<i>Hypericum calycinum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum calycinum is a species of prostrate or low-growing shrub in the flowering plant family Hypericaceae. Widely cultivated for its large yellow flowers, its names as a garden plant include rose-of-Sharon in Britain and Australia, and Aaron's beard, great St-John's wort, creeping St. John's wort and Jerusalem star. Grown in Mediterranean climates, widely spread in the Strandzha Mountains along the Bulgarian and Turkish Black Sea coast.

<i>Hypericum socotranum</i> Species of flowering plant

Hypericum socotranum is a species of flowering plant in the Hypericaceae family which is endemic to the island of Socotra in Yemen. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and rocky areas.

<i>Hypericum androsaemum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum androsaemum, the shrubby St. John's wort, is a flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae. Commonly called tutsan or sweet-amber, the species is cultivated as an ornamental plant because of its striking red-tinted foliage, bright yellow petals, and its large clusters of fruit. Cultivars like 'Albury Purple' and 'Golden Tutsan' which have leaves with more pronounced purple and golden coloring, respectively.

<i>Hypericum mutilum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum mutilum is a species of St. John's wort known by the common name dwarf St. John's wort. It is native to parts of North America and is present in other parts as an introduced species. It is an annual or perennial herb taking a multibranched erect form up to about 60 centimeters tall. The oval green leaves are one or two centimeters long and are covered in tiny glands. The inflorescence is a compound cyme of tiny flowers. H. mutilum subsp. mutilum and subsp. boreale have a diploid number of 16, and H. mutilum subsp. boreale can have a diploid number of 18.

<i>Hypericum olympicum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum olympicum, commonly known as the Mount Olympus St. John's wort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae found in the Balkans and Turkey and introduced to western Europe. It has been widely cultivated for centuries because of its large, showy flowers, which are far larger than those of most other species in Hypericum.

<i>Hypericum grandifolium</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum grandifolium, the large-leaved St John's wort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae. The plant is a bushy shrub that can grow to almost 2 meters tall. It has large leaves, golden yellow petals, and seed capsules that split open. H. grandifolium is native to the Canary Islands and Madeira in Macaronesia, but has become invasive in other regions, including California, after escaping from cultivation as an ornamental plant. It is parasitized by wasps and fungi, and is capable of reproducing through its rhizomes.

<i>Hypericum aegypticum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum aegypticum is a species of flowering plant of the St. John's wort family (Hypericaceae) which is native to the Eastern Mediterranean. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in the second volume of his Species Plantarum in 1753, who named it after Egypt despite it not being distributed there. The plant is commonly known as shrubby St. John's wort or Egyptian St. John's wort in English. Like other members of section Adenotrias, it is found among limestone rocks in coastal areas. While it has been evaluated as threatened on the island of Malta, the species has no legal protections.

<i>Hypericum bupleuroides</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum bupleuroides is a species of perennial flowering plant in the St John's wort family, Hypericaceae. It grows 45–80 centimeters tall, and notably has perfoliate leaves that are fused at the stem. It has pyramid-shaped flower clusters of 1 to 25 flowers with yellow petals in a star-shaped arrangement. The species is found along the Black Sea coast near the Turkish–Georgian border. Hypericum bupleuroides has a small distribution and specific habitat requirements that make it vulnerable to environmental pressures.

<i>Hypericum <span style="font-style:normal;">sect.</span> Androsaemum</i> Group of flowering plants

Androsaemum, commonly called tutsan, is a section of flowering plants in the family Hypericaceae. It is made up of Hypericum androsaemum, H. foliosum, H. grandifolium, and H. hircinum, as well as the hybrid H. × inodorum. When it was first described, it was considered its own independent genus, but was later placed under Hypericum and demoted to a section. It is also the namesake of an "Androsaemum-group" of related taxa that includes several other sections of Old World species. The Latin name Androsaemum comes from a Greek work to describe plants with red sap, and literally means "blood-man".

<i>Hypericum foliosum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum foliosum, the shining St John's wort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae. It is a bushy shrub endemic to the Portuguese Azores Islands with golden yellow petals and many stems. The species was described by William Aiton in 1789 and was later placed into section Androsaemum of the genus Hypericum by Norman Robson in 1984. It has a diverse essential oil profile made up mostly of monoterpene hydrocarbons, and significant concentrations of various medicinally useful phenols and carotenoids. Populations of the plant are small in number, but quick to colonize cleared areas like groves, landslide areas, and volcanic ash deposits. It is parasitized by fungus and by moth species, but is not considered endangered by the IUCN. H. foliosum is used in traditional medicine on the Azores for diuretic, hepatoprotective, and antihypertensive purposes. It also has in vitro antibiotic and antioxidizing capabilities.

<i>Hypericum canadense</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum canadense, known as Canadian St. Johns-wort, lesser St. John's wort, and lesser Canadian St. Johnswort, is a flowering plant in the genus Hypericum. It is a yellow-flowering annual or perennial herb native to North America and introduced to Ireland and The Netherlands. The specific epithet canadense means "Canadian".

<i>Hypericum <span style="font-style:normal;">sect.</span> Adenosepalum</i> Group of flowering plants

Hypericum sect. Adenosepalum is one of 36 sections in the genus Hypericum. Its type species is Hypericum montanum.

<i>Hypericum majus</i> Species of flowering plant

Hypericum majus, the greater Canadian St. John's wort, is a perennial herb native to North America. The specific epithet majus means "larger". The plant has a diploid number of 16.

<i>Hypericum aucheri</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum aucheri, also known as Koramanotu in Turkish, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the St. John's wort family Hypericaceae.

<i>Hypericum russeggeri</i> Species of flowering plant

Hypericum russeggeri is a species of flowering plant in the St John's wort family Hypericaceae. The plant is a small shrub with many branches that spread across the ground, and it has many small flowers with pale yellow petals. It is found only among calcareous rocks along the coast and in the foothills of the Nur Mountains of eastern Turkey and northern Syria. While H. russeggeri has an array of phytochemicals present in its flowering structures and leaves, these are found in lower concentrations than other species of Hypericum. The species was first described in 1842 as Triadenia russeggeri, and it has been placed into various defunct genera including Elodea and Adenotrias. It is now known as Hypericum russeggeri and is the type species of Hypericum section Adenotrias, a small section that also includes H. aegypticum and H. aciferum.

<i>Hypericum <span style="font-style:normal;">×</span> inodorum</i> Nothospecies of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum × inodorum, called tall tutsan or the tall St John's wort, is a bushy perennial shrub with yellow flowers native to Western Europe. It has been known since 1789, but confusion around its name, identity, and origin persisted throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

<i>Hypericum orientale</i> Species of Hypericaceae

Hypericum orientale, the Ptarmic-leafed St. John's wort or Eastern St. John's wort, is a flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae. It is distributed across northern Turkey, Georgia, the Caucasus, and Dagestan. The species can be found on stony sloped amidst volcanic rocks in the mountains and in light woodlands at elevations of up to 2,300 m (7,500 ft). It flowers from May to June and July to August. The plant has small, bright yellow flowers and grows across the ground in a creeping pattern. It prefers full sun and is ideal for rock gardens, and is hardy down to -30°F.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Robson 1985, pp. 308–309.
  2. ↑ Odabas et al. 2016, p. 195-196.
  3. ↑ "Stinking tutsan". Earth.com. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  4. 1 2 Maggi et al. 2010, p. 3.
  5. ↑ Turland 1995, pp. 127, 146.
  6. ↑ Besler 1640, p. 265(folio 113)
  7. ↑ Turland 1995, p. 146.
  8. ↑ Linnaeus 1708, p. 380.
  9. 1 2 Linnaeus 1753, p. 784.
  10. 1 2 3 Spach 1836, p. 419.
  11. 1 2 Meseguer, Aldasoro & Sanmartín 2013, p. 386.
  12. ↑ Robson 1985, p. 308.
  13. ↑ Coombes 2012, p. 172.
  14. ↑ Charles & Marchant 1927, p. 252.
  15. ↑ Charles & Marchant 1927, p. 229.
  16. ↑ "UK Wildflowers - Hypericaceae - Hypericum Hircinum, Stinking Tutsan". www.uksouthwest.net. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  17. ↑ Maggi et al. 2010, p. 1.
  18. ↑ Robson 1985, p. 310.
  19. ↑ Robson 1985, p. 176.
  20. ↑ Bean, William Jackson (1916). "Hypericum hircinum". Bean's Trees and Shrubs Online. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  21. ↑ Robson 1985, p. 298.
  22. ↑ "Hypericum x inodorum (St. John's Wort, Tutsan)". North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  23. ↑ "Hypericum hircinum L." Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  24. 1 2 Robson 1985, p. 309.
  25. ↑ Mandrone et al. 2015, p. 403.
  26. ↑ Mandrone et al. 2015, p. 406-408.
  27. ↑ Tocci et al. 2018, p. 5.
  28. ↑ Tocci et al. 2018, p. 8.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.