Hypericum russeggeri

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Hypericum russeggeri
Hypericum russeggeri.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. Adenotrias
Species:
H. russeggeri
Binomial name
Hypericum russeggeri
Synonyms [1]
  • Adenotrias kotschyi Jaub. & Spach
  • Adenotrias phrygiaJaub. & Spach
  • Elodes russegeri(Fenzl) Walp.
  • Hypericum empetrifolium Kotschy ex Jaub. & Spach
  • Triadenia russeggeriFenzl

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 .

Contents

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. [2] The specific epithet russeggeri is in honor of Austrian geologist Joseph Russegger who worked in Anatolia. [3]

Description

Hypericum russeggeri is a small shrub that has a great number of branches that twist and bend. These spread outwards and across the ground, and either ascend upwards at the end or lie entirely on the ground. The plant completely lacks hairs and dark glands. [3] It has a chromosome number of n=10. [4]

Hypericum russeggeri has many similarities to Hypericum aegypticum. It can be told apart from that species by the shape of its leaves, its deciduous petals and stamens, and that two ovules are found in its placentae. [5] It is also related to H. aciferum, but that species has narrower leaves, fewer flowers, petals with less curling, and fewer stamens in each bundle. [5]

Foliage

The stems of Hypericum russeggeri have four longitudinal lines and have a flattened cross-section when young, but become two-lined when mature. The length of stem between sets of leaves is usually shorter than the length of the leaf blade. [3]

The leaves are directly connected to the stem, or have a very short petiole. They remain on the plant until its second season, then become deciduous. The leaf blades are 0.4–2.0 centimeters long by 0.15–0.3 cm wide, and are the shape of a narrow lance with the tip pointing towards the stem. Their top and bottom sides are the same color, and they have a blunt tip. The midrib vein is sometimes prominently visible from the bottom. [3]

Flowering structures

The flower clusters usually have 3–7 flowers, but can have up to 9. The bracts appear the same as the normal foliage leaves, and the bracteoles are small and scale-shaped. The peduncle is 1–2 cm long and the pedicel is 0.15–0.25 cm long. The flowers themselves are about 1 cm wide, and are an oval shape when budding. [3]

The sepals are green and overlap one another; they are of varying sizes and shapes. The petals are a quite pale yellow color, and are deciduous. Each petal is 0.6–0.9 cm long and 0.3–0.45 cm wide and they are a similar shape to the leaves. They curve outwards to create a corolla that is somewhat tubular. Each flower has around 30 stamens, the longest of which grow up to 0.5 cm. Inside the ovary is a placenta that has two ovules attached to it. The ovules hold a small seed capsule, with longitudinal valves. Inside the capsule are black-brown seeds about 0.2 cm in length. [5]

In the protective layer of the tegmen in the seed, angular crystals of calcium oxalate are present. While the cells of the tegmen have slight undulations in their cell walls, they are much less pronounced than in other species like Hypericum confertum . This means that the cells appear almost rectangular when viewed. [6]

Chemistry

The first assessment of the phytochemistry of Hypericum russeggeri was undertaken in 2016. [7] Most of its phytochemicals are present in the flowering structures; these include hypericin, pseudohypericin, hyperforin, hyperoside, isoquercetin, quercitrin, avicularin, amentoflavone, and catechin. In the leaves, neochlorogenic and dihydroxybenzoic acid can be found. [8] The concentrations of these chemicals is generally lower in Hypericum russeggeri than in the similar species H. hircinum , H. lanugisonum , and H. pallens . The only compounds present in H. russeggeri in greater concentrations than some of the similar species are neochlorogenic acid, hyperoside, quercitrin, and epicatechin. [9]

Taxonomy

Original description of the species by Eduard Fenzl in 1842 under the synonym Triadenia russeggeri Triadenia russeggeri description.png
Original description of the species by Eduard Fenzl in 1842 under the synonym Triadenia russeggeri

Plants of the species were first collected in 1836 by botanists Theodor Kotschy and Ernest Coquebert de Montbret  [ fr ]. While the collection locations for many of Kotschy's specimens are ambiguous, some of them state that they were found near Antioch; this agrees with Montbret's collections from the Hatay province of Turkey and from northwestern Syria, and establishes that region as its type locality. [3]

In 1842, Eduard Fenzl used Kotschy's specimens to describe the new species as Triadenia russeggeri in the plant family "Hypericineae" (now Hypericaceae). He noted its very branchy and prostrate growth habit, its occurrence in Syria, and its similarity in appearance to Triadenia thymifolia (now Hypericum aegypticum subsp. webbii). [10] [11] Later that year, it was proposed that the species should be placed in the genus Elodea (which would give the new combination Elodea russeggeri). Also, new specimens from near the type locality were described as Adenotrias phrygia and A. kotschyi. These plants were later determined to be specimens of Hypericum russeggeri and the new names were synonymized. [3]

The name Hypericum russeggeri was established by Robert Keller in Adolf Engler's textbook Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien in 1893. [1] The species was moved into Hypericum, and its previous placement in a separate genus was stated to be unwarranted, thus making it the type and only species (at that time) of Hypericum section Adenotrias. [12] Norman Robson affirmed the new name and its designation as section type in the first volume of his monograph of the genus Hypericum in 1977, [13] and the species has continued to be retained in Hypericum since then based on molecular phylogenetics. [14]

Distribution, habitat, and ecology

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The Nur Mountains in Turkey, where Hypericum russeggeri can be found

Hypericum russeggeri is confined to a habitat of calcareous rocks, and it has been found at elevations of up to 100 meters above sea level. It is native to Hatay province in southeastern Turkey, and the northern coast of Syria. Within this distribution, it is found along the coast and in the foothills of the Nur Mountains. At one point, it may have been present near Edremit in western Anatolia, but it is now extinct in that region. [5]

The species is parasitized by Cyphodema rubrica, a capsid bug. It lives as a vagrant on the leaves of the plant and can cause malformations. [15]

Related Research Articles

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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>Triadenum</i> Genus of plants

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

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

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<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.

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

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<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

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

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<i>Hypericum sechmenii</i> Flowering plant of the St Johns wort family

Hypericum sechmenii, or Seçmen's St John's wort, is a rare species of flowering plant of the St John's wort family (Hypericaceae) that is found in the Eskişehir Province of central Turkey. It was first described in 2009 by Turkish botanists Atila Ocak and Onur Koyuncu, who named the species in honor of Özcan Seçmen, a fellow botanist. They assigned the species to the genus Hypericum, and Norman Robson later placed H. sechmenii into the section Adenosepalum.

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

Hypericum huber-morathii is a species of flowering plant in the St John's wort family Hypericaceae. It is a small perennial herb with few stems. It has narrow and brittle stems, thick leaves, flowers in clusters of varying numbers, small yellow petals, around twenty stamens, and three styles. H. huber-morathii is closely related to H. minutum and H. sechmenii, and also shares characteristics with H. lanuginosum. The plant is endemic to Turkey, and is found among limestone rocks in a limited region of southwestern Anatolia. Originally excluded from a comprehensive monograph of Hypericum, the species' placement within the genus is unclear. It has been placed in both section Adenosepalum and section Origanifolium.

<i>Hypericum aciferum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns Wort family

Hypericum aciferum is a species of flowering plant in the St John's wort family Hypericaceae. It is a small shrub endemic to the Greek island of Crete. H. aciferum grows in a mat on the ground and has twisting branches, needle-like leaves, and long golden petals. Its flowers are also heterostylous, which means that the species can exhibit one of two flower types on different plants. This trait is unique within the genus Hypericum to H. aciferum, H. russeggeri, and H. aegypticum, the three species in section Adenotrias.

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

Hypericum heterophyllum is a flowering plant in the Hypericaceae family and is the only species in Hypericum sect. Heterophylla.

Hypericum minutum is a species of flowering plant in the St John's wort family Hypericaceae. It is a small perennial herb that grows in tufts. It has slender and brittle stems, flowers in clusters of one to three, yellow petals with black and amber glands, few stamens, and a seed capsule with narrow grooves. H. minutum is closely related to H. huber-morathii and H. sechmenii and resembles a smaller form of the latter plant. The plant is endemic to Turkey, and is found among limestone rocks in a limited region of southwestern Anatolia. Originally excluded from a comprehensive monograph of Hypericum, the species' placement within the genus is unclear. It has been placed in both section Adenosepalum and section Origanifolium.

<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.

Hypericum iwate-littorale is a species of flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae. It is found in temperate coastal regions of the Iwate Prefecture in Honshu, Japan. The conservation status of H. iwate-littorale is unknown, as it is considered data deficient by the Global Red List of Japanese Threatened Plants.

References

  1. 1 2 "Hypericum russeggeri". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  2. ↑ Coombes 2012, p. 172.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Robson 1996, p. 152.
  4. ↑ Löve 1980, p. 165.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Robson 1996, p. 153.
  6. ↑ Reynaud 1985, p. 87.
  7. ↑ Odabas et al. 2016, p. 194.
  8. ↑ Cirak & Radusiene 2019, p. 202.
  9. ↑ Odabas et al. 2016, p. 195–196.
  10. 1 2 Fenzl 1842, p. 7.
  11. ↑ "Triadenia thymifolia". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  12. ↑ Engler et al. 1893, p. 209.
  13. ↑ Robson 1977, p. 334.
  14. ↑ Robson 2016, p. 191.
  15. ↑ Ellis, W.N. (2022). "Hypericum russeggeri". Plant Parasites of Europe. Retrieved 11 April 2024.

Bibliography

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