Schoenocaulon

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Schoenocaulon
Schoenocaulon officinale - Kohler-s Medizinal-Pflanzen-262.jpg
Schoenocaulon officinale [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Melanthiaceae
Tribe: Melanthieae
Genus: Schoenocaulon
A.Gray
Synonyms [2]
  • SabadillaBrandt & Ratzeb.
  • SkoinolonRaf.
  • AsagraeaLindl.

Schoenocaulon is a North American genus of perennial herbaceous flowering plants, ranging from the southern United States to Peru. [3] It is a member of the Melanthiaceae, according to the APG III classification system, and is placed in the tribe Melanthieae. Unlike other genera in the tribe, the flowers are arranged in a spike; depending on the species the flower stalks for each flower are either very short or completely absent. [4] Feathershank is a common name, [5] the medicinally used S. officinale is called Sabadilla (pronunciation: /sab-uh-dil-uh/, IPA: /ˌsæb əˈdɪl ə/).

Plants generally grow in chaparral, oak, or pine forests. Grazing has narrowed the natural ranges of some species to only steep, rocky terrain. [6] Mexico is the center of Schoenocaulon diversity, with 22 endemic species - some with distributions limited to single mountain ranges. [4] The two species with the widest distributions, S. yucatanense (sometimes treated as part of S. ghiesbreghtii) and S. officinale (sabadilla), may have been spread by pre-Columbians who used the seeds as pesticides. [4]

The petal and sepal color varies by species, with some shade of green being most common, but with maroon, cream, and bright red also represented. [4]

species [2]

References

  1. ↑ 1897 illustration from Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen
  2. 1 2 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  3. ↑ Zomlefer, Wendy B.; Judd, Walter S. (2008). "Two New Species of Schoenocaulon (Liliales: Melanthiaceae) from Mexico Supported by ITS Sequence Data". Systematic Botany. 33 (1): 117–124. Bibcode:2008SysBo..33..117Z. doi:10.1600/036364408783887474. S2CID   86685454.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Zomlefer, Wendy B.; Whitten, W. Mark; Williams, Norris H.; Judd, Walter S. (2006), "Infrageneric phylogeny of Schoenocaulon (Liliales: Melanthiaceae) with clarification of cryptic species based on ITS sequence data and geographical distribution", American Journal of Botany, 93 (8): 1178–1192, Bibcode:2006AmJB...93.1178Z, doi: 10.3732/ajb.93.8.1178 , PMID   21642183
  5. ↑ NRCS. "Schoenocaulon". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  6. ↑ Frame, D. 1990. A revision of Schoenocaulon (Liliaceae: Melanthieae). Ph. D. Thesis. The City University of New York. New York. 269 pp.


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