Maianthemum

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Maianthemum
Solomon's plume Maianthemum racemosum.jpg
Maianthemum racemosum
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Nolinoideae
Genus: Maianthemum
F.H.Wigg.
Synonyms [1]
  • Smilacina Desf.
  • UnifoliumZinn
  • VagneraAdans.
  • ValentiniaHeist. ex Fabr.
  • PolygonastrumMoench
  • BifoliumG.Gaertn., B.Mey. & Schreb.
  • SciophilaWibel.
  • MonophyllonDelarbre
  • SigillariaRaf.
  • StyrandraRaf.
  • AsteranthemumKunth
  • JocasteKunth
  • MedoraKunth
  • MaiaSalisb.
  • NeolexisSalisb.
  • TovariaNeck. ex Baker
  • OligobotryaBaker

Maianthemum includes the former genus Smilacina and is a genus of perennial herbaceous flowering plants with fleshy, persistent rhizomes. It is widespread across much of North America, Europe and Asia, [1] [2] [3] [4] and may be terrestrial, aquatic or epiphytic. [4] It is characterized by simple, unbranched stems that are upright, leaning or hanging down and have 2–17 foliage leaves. Leaves are simple and may clasp the stem or be short-petiolate. The inflorescence is terminal and either a panicle or a raceme with few to many pedicelate flowers. Most species have 6 tepals and 6 stamens; a few have parts in 4s. Tepals are distinct in most species and all of similar size. Flowers are spreading, cup-shaped or bell-shaped and usually white, but lavender to red or green in some species. Fruits are rounded to lobed berries containing few to several seeds.

Contents

Vegetative

Rhizomes and roots

Rhizomes are persistent and have scale leaves. They can be sympodial; spreading and thread-like, or cylindric, clumped and fleshy. [4] Maianthemum paludicola has an unusual woody, upright sympodial rhizome set above ground. [5] Roots may be spread along the rhizome, clumped at the nodes, or clumped near the base of leafy shoots. The rhizome is the perennial part of the plant and growth is by branching of the rhizome. Flowering/fruiting shoots are attached to the rhizome by a discreet internode, are short-lived and wither at the end of the growing season. [6]

Stems and leaves

The stems are unbranched and pendant to arching or upright. Fertile plants have 2 to 17 or more stem (cauline) leaves (arising from the stem) that are alternate along the stem. Most species produce fertile shoots seasonally. [6] A few species such as Maianthemum canadense and Maianthemum dilatatum also have a vegetative phase, producing a solitary leaf on sterile shoots; plants may continue in this vegetative phase for up to six years. Maianthemum trifolium produces two petiolate foliage leaves the first year, then a flowering shoot the second year with 2-4 sessile leaves. In most species, leaves have a large midvein, dividing the leaves in half, then each half is again divided by a slightly smaller vein; each quarter again divided by progressively finer veins. The resulting pattern is that the leaves have three prominent veins, and adjacent veins are of different diameters. A few species, such as Maianthemum stellatum , have leaves with veins that are often all of roughly the same diameter. [6] Leaf edges may be flat or wavy (undulate) and sometimes have small, outward-pointing teeth. [4]

Reproductive

Inflorescence

The inflorescence is either a panicle or a raceme with few to many pedicellate flowers. Racemes may be simple (one flower per node) or complex (some nodes with 2 or more flowers). Panicles may be few- to many-branched and the branches themselves are often racemose. A few Asian species such as Maianthemum henryi have a main axis with fully extended racemose branches at lower nodes and upper nodes with clustered flowers. The type and pattern of inflorescence is the most useful feature to separate Maianthemum species. [6]

Flowers

The flowers are actinomorphic (radially symmetric) and relatively small. The perianth in most species has six tepals, in two whorls of three (trimerous). Maianthemum canadense, Maianthemum dilatatum , and Maianthemum bifolium however are dimerous, with 4-tepaled flowers. Tepals are greenish, or white to pink or mauve in most species, but are a deep purple in Maianthemum purpureum and may have purple spots in Maianthemum gigas var. gigas. The tepals in most species are free (not fused), all of a similar size and flowers are spreading to cup-shaped. Some Asian species such as Maianthemum henryi have bell-shaped (campanulate) flowers with partially fused tepals. [6] The flowers are usually bisexual, containing both male (androecium) and female (gynoecium) parts, although two species from Japan, Maianthemum hondoense and Maianthemum yesoense , are reported to be unisexual. [6]

Gynoecium

The ovaries are superior (attached above the other floral parts) and are spherical to cylindrical. The pistil has two or three carpels separated by walls with nectar-carrying canals. Styles are narrow (< 5mm wide) and about as long as the ovary. Stigmas are lobed and slightly wider than the style. [6]

Androecium

Stamens are 4 or 6 and usually inserted at the base of the tepals, but may be inserted about 1 mm above, as in Maianthemum flexuosum . Anthers are cylindrical and split longitudinally.

Fruit and seeds

The berry is globose and often lobed. Berries ripen to red. In most species unripe berries are green or green mottled with red or copper. In some, e.g. Maianthemum stellatum the immature berries have dark stipes. The seeds are usually few and spherical but in some species may be conical. [6]

Morphology

Taxonomy

The current concept includes species that were previously divided into 2 closely related genera; Maianthemum, including dimerous species and Smilacina for the trimerous ones. Studies in the 1970s showed strong genetic similarity, similar fruits, and evidence that the 4-tepal species evolved from a 6-tepal species, so the genus Smilacina was combined with Maianthemum. [4]

Phylogeny

In the APG III classification system, Maianthemum is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae (formerly the family Ruscaceae). [7] Like many lilioid monocots, Maianthemum (including the former Smilacina) were formerly included in the family Liliaceae. The genus has also been placed in the former family Convallariaceae, and resembles the closely related Polygonatum , hence the common name "false Solomon's seal". [2]

Etymology

Maianthemum comes from the Greek for "May" (maios) and “flower” (Anthos). [8]

Distribution and habitat

The genus is widespread across much of North America, Europe and Asia, [1] [2] [3] [4]

Ecology

The majority of species are spring-flowering forest herbs, requiring shaded, moist conditions and cool temperatures. Some however (e.g. Maianthemum monteverdense ) are epiphytes. Others such as Maianthemum stellatum grow in diverse habitats from sand dunes to forest under-stories. And Maianthemum trifolium and Maianthemum paludicola are found in full sun in open wetlands. [6] M. trifolium is sometimes considered aquatic. [4] The species that are forest herbs generally begin growth in early spring, with leaves expanding before the tree canopy fully develops. Epiphytic tropical species usually grow new shoots in the dry season. [6]

Conservation

Many of the North American Maianthemum are widespread and relatively common. Several though are considered endemic to the wider “Mesomexico”. [9] Maianthemum comaltepecense is a rare perennial, terrestrial herb found as an understory species in moist forests, known only from Oaxaca, Mexico, [10] and endemic [9] to southwest Mexico. [11]

Species

Species accepted:

  1. Maianthemum amoenum (H.L.Wendl.) LaFrankie – Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico (Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz) [12]
  2. Maianthemum atropurpureum (Franch.) LaFrankie – Sichuan, Yunnan
  3. Maianthemum bicolor (Nakai) Cubey – Korea
  4. Maianthemum bifolium (L.) F.W.Schmidt – northern and central Europe and northern Asia from Spain to Kamchatka; China, Japan, Siberia, Kazakhstan, Germany, Italy, Ukraine, etc
  5. Maianthemum canadense Desf. – St. Pierre and Miquelon, much of eastern USA and all provinces and territories in Canada except Nunavut
  6. Maianthemum comaltepecense Espejo, López-Ferr. & Ceja – Mexico (Oaxaca)
  7. Maianthemum dahuricum (Turcz. ex Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) LaFrankie – Siberia, Russian Far East, Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, Korea
  8. Maianthemum dilatatum (Alph.Wood) A.Nelson & J.F.Macbr. – Mongolia, Korea, Japan, Russian Far East, Alaska, Yukon, British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, California
  9. Maianthemum flexuosum (Bertol.) LaFrankie – Mexico (Chiapas, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Veracruz), El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua [13]
  10. Maianthemum formosanum (Hayata) LaFrankie – Taiwan
  11. Maianthemum forrestii (W.W.Sm.) LaFrankie – Yunnan
  12. Maianthemum fusciduliflorum (Kawano) S.C.Chen & Kawano – Tibet, Yunnan, Bhutan, Assam, Myanmar
  13. Maianthemum fuscum (Wall.) LaFrankie – Nepal, Tibet, Yunnan, Bhutan, Assam, Myanmar
  14. Maianthemum gigas (Woodson) LaFrankie – Mexico (Chiapas), Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, [14] and Nicaragua [15]
  15. Maianthemum gongshanense (S.Yun Liang) H.Li – Yunnan
  16. Maianthemum henryi (Baker) LaFrankie – Vietnam, Myanmar, Tibet, southern China
  17. Maianthemum hondoense (Ohwi) LaFrankie – Honshu
  18. Maianthemum × intermedium Vorosch. – Siberia, Russian Far East (M. bifolium × M. dilatatum)
  19. Maianthemum japonicum (A.Gray) LaFrankie – Russian Far East, Japan, Korea, northeastern China
  20. Maianthemum lichiangense (W.W.Sm.) LaFrankie – Gansu, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan
  21. Maianthemum macrophyllum (M.Martens & Galeotti) LaFrankie – Mexico (Veracruz, Oaxaca) [16]
  22. Maianthemum mexicanum García Arév – Mexico (Durango, Sinaloa) [17]
  23. Maianthemum monteverdense LaFrankie – Nicaragua, Costa Rica
  24. Maianthemum nanchuanense H.Li & J.L.Huang – Sichuan
  25. Maianthemum oleraceum (Baker) LaFrankie – Nepal, Bhutan, Assam, Myanmar, Tibet, Sikkim, Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan
  26. Maianthemum paludicola LaFrankie – Costa Rica
  27. Maianthemum paniculatum (M.Martens & Galeotti) LaFrankie – Mexico (Chiapas, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Puebla and Veracruz), Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panamá [18]
  28. Maianthemum purpureum (Wall.) LaFrankie – Tibet, Yunnan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, Assam (also called Himalayan Mayflower or Purple Mayflower)
  29. Maianthemum racemosum (L.) Link – All USA states, all Canadian provinces and territories (except Nunavut and Labrador) and Mexico (Chihuahua)
  30. Maianthemum robustum (Makino & Honda) LaFrankie – Honshu
  31. Maianthemum salvinii (Baker) LaFrankie – Mexico (Chiapas), Guatemala
  32. Maianthemum scilloideum (M.Martens & Galeotti) LaFrankie – Mexico (Chiapas, Coahuila, Guerrero, Michoacán, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla and Veracruz), Guatemala, Honduras [19]
  33. Maianthemum stellatum (L.) Link – Most states in USA (except those southeast of New Mexico), all Canadian provinces and territories (except Nunavut and Labrador) and in the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Sonoroa; introduced in Norway, Sweden
  34. Maianthemum stenolobum (Franch.) S.C.Chen & Kawano – Sichuan, Gansu, Hubei
  35. Maianthemum szechuanicum (F.T.Wang & Tang) H.Li – Sichuan, Yunnan
  36. Maianthemum tatsienense (Franch.) LaFrankie – Bhutan, Assam, Myanmar, Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan
  37. Maianthemum trifolium (L.) Sloboda – Siberia, Russian Far East to North Korea, St. Pierre and Miquelon, all Canadian provinces and territories, northeastern United States
  38. Maianthemum tubiferum (Batalin) LaFrankie – Gansu, Hubei, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan
  39. Maianthemum yesoense (Franch. & Sav.) LaFrankie – Japan

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Clethra</i> Genus of flowering plants

Clethra is a genus of flowering shrubs or small trees described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1753.

<i>Maianthemum dilatatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Maianthemum dilatatum is a common rhizomatous perennial flowering plant that is native to western North America from northern California to the Aleutian islands, and Asia across the Kamchatka Peninsula, Japan, and Korea. It grows in coastal temperate rainforests, and is often the dominant groundcover plant in Sitka Spruce forests.

<i>Maianthemum canadense</i> Species of flowering plant

Maianthemum canadense is an understory perennial flowering plant, native to Canada and the northeastern United States, from Yukon and British Columbia east to Newfoundland, into St. Pierre and Miquelon. It can be found growing in both coniferous and deciduous forests. The plant appears in two forms, either as a single leaf rising from the ground with no fruiting structures or as a flowering/fruiting stem with two to three leaves. Flowering shoots have clusters of 12–25 starry-shaped, white flowers held above the leaves.

<i>Maianthemum racemosum</i> Species of flowering plant

Maianthemum racemosum, the treacleberry, feathery false lily of the valley, false Solomon's seal, Solomon's plume or false spikenard, is a species of flowering plant native to North America. It is a common, widespread plant with numerous common names and synonyms, known from every US state except Hawaii, and from every Canadian province and territory, as well as from Mexico.

<i>Maianthemum trifolium</i> Species of flowering plant

Maianthemum trifolium is a species of flowering plant that is associated with extremely wet environments and is native to Canada and the northeastern United States as well as St. Pierre and Miquelon and Asia (Siberia).

<i>Maianthemum bifolium</i> Species of flowering plant

Maianthemum bifolium is often a localized common rhizomatous flowering plant, native from western Europe east to Siberia, China and Japan.

<i>Linnaea</i> Genus of flowering plants in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae

Linnaea is a plant genus in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. Until 2013, the genus included a single species, Linnaea borealis. In 2013, on the basis of molecular phylogenetic evidence, the genus was expanded to include species formerly placed in Abelia, Diabelia, Dipelta, Kolkwitzia and Vesalea. However, this is rejected by the majority of subsequent scientific literature and flora.

<i>Maianthemum stellatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Maianthemum stellatum is a species of flowering plant, native across North America. It has been found in northern Mexico, every Canadian province and territory except Nunavut, and every US state except Hawaii and the states of the Southeast. It has little white buds in the spring, followed by delicate starry flowers, then green-and-black striped berries, and finally deep red berries in the fall.

<i>Ypsilandra</i> Genus of flowering plants

Ypsilandra is a genus of at least six herbaceous plant species, first described as a genus in 1888. This genus is a member of the Melanthiaceae and is native to East Asia.

<i>Maianthemum paniculatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Maianthemum paniculatum is a perennial flowering plant; a species of monocot found from Mexico to Panama. It is often associated with montane environments and is found primarily in forest openings and along roadsides.

Maianthemum amoenum is a perennial flowering plant, growing as an epiphyte on trees in cloud forests from Mexico south to Honduras.

Maianthemum monteverdense is a perennial flowering plant of restricted distribution. It grows as an epiphyte on trees in high cloud forests of 1600 m + elevation from Nicaragua to Costa Rica.

<i>Maianthemum gigas</i> Species of flowering plant

Maianthemum gigas is a perennial flowering plant. It is found in Mexico and Central America, growing in forest openings and along roadsides or sometimes as an epiphyte on trees.

Maianthemum paludicola is a perennial flowering plant. It is a rare terrestrial herb, endemic to Costa Rica. It has only been found in high-elevation bogs and wetlands and was first described in 1986.

Maianthemum macrophyllum is a perennial flowering plant. It is a rare epiphtic herb endemic to Veracruz and Oaxaca, Mexico and is known only from primary cloud forests, usually growing on limbs of oaks or sweetgum.

<i>Maianthemum scilloideum</i> Species of flowering plant

Maianthemum scilloideum is a perennial flowering plant. It is a terrestrial forest herb from southern Mexico and Guatemala and also reported from Honduras.

Maianthemum flexuosum is a perennial, terrestrial understory herb of cloud forests from southern Mexico to Nicaragua. It has been found at sites from 1300 to 2800 m elevation.

Maianthemum salvinii is a rare perennial, epiphytic herb found in southern Mexico and Guatemala.

Maianthemum mexicanum is a perennial, terrestrial herb found as an understory species in moist forests. It is endemic to west-central Mexico.

Maianthemum comaltepecense is a rare perennial, terrestrial herb found as an understory species in moist forests and endemic to southwest Mexico.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. 1 2 3 RHS A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN   978-1405332965.
  3. 1 2 Flora of China, Vol. 24 Page 217, 舞鹤草属 wu he cao shu, Maianthemum F. H. Wiggers, Prim. Fl. Holsat. 14. 1780.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Flora of North America, Vol. 26 Page 206, Maianthemum F. H. Wiggers, Prim. Fl. Holsat. 14. 1780.
  5. ↑ LaFrankie (September 1986). "A New Species of Maianthemum (Liliaceae) From Costa Rica with an Upright and Aerial Rhizome". American Journal of Botany. 73 (9): 1258–1260. doi:10.1002/j.1537-2197.1986.tb10866.x. JSTOR   2444059.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 LaFrankie (October 1986). "Morphology and taxonomy of the new world species of Maianthemum (Liliaceae)". Journal of the Arnold Arboretum. 67 (4): 371–439. doi: 10.5962/bhl.part.27393 .
  7. ↑ Chase, M.W.; Reveal, J.L. & Fay, M.F. (2009), "A subfamilial classification for the expanded asparagalean families Amaryllidaceae, Asparagaceae and Xanthorrhoeaceae", Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 161 (2): 132–136, doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00999.x
  8. ↑ Kershaw, Linda (2019). Alberta Plant Names. A guide to their pronunciation, meaning, and English alternatives. Edmonton, Alberta: Self-published. Kindle Direct Publishing. p. 300. ISBN   9781092942812.
  9. 1 2 Espejo Serna, Adolfo (2012). "El endemismo en las Liliopsida mexicanas". Acta Botanica Mexicana. 100 (100): 195–257. doi: 10.21829/abm100.2012.36 . Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  10. ↑ Espejo et al.1996. Maianthemum comaltepecense, Una Nueva Especie del Estado de Oaxaca. Acta Botánica Mexicana (1996), 36:21-28
  11. ↑ Sicence, Kew. "Maianthemum comaltepecense Espejo, López-Ferr. & Ceja". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  12. ↑ Botanical Gardens, Missouri. "Maianthemum amoenum (H.L. Wendl.) LaFrankie". Tropicos. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  13. ↑ Botanical Gardens, Missouri. "Maianthemum flexuosum (Bertol.) LaFrankie". Tropicos. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  14. ↑ Botanical Gardens, Missouri. "Maianthemum gigas (Woodson) LaFrankie". Tropicos. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  15. ↑ Sicence, Kew. "Maianthemum gigas (Woodson) LaFrankie". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  16. ↑ Botanical Gardens, Missouri. "Maianthemum macrophyllum (M.Martens & Galeotti) LaFrankie". Tropicos. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  17. ↑ Botanical Gardens, Missouri. "Maianthemum mexicanum García Arév". Tropicos. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  18. ↑ Botanical Gardens, Missouri. "Maianthemum paniculatum (M. Martens & Galeotti) LaFrankie". Tropicos. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  19. ↑ Botanical Gardens, Missouri. "Maianthemum scilloideum (M.Martens & Galeotti) LaFrankie". Tropicos. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
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