Stachyurus

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Stachyurus
Stachyurus praecox3.jpg
Stachyurus praecox flowers.
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Crossosomatales
Family: Stachyuraceae
J.Agardh
Genus: Stachyurus
Siebold & Zucc.
Species

See text

Stachyurus is the only genus in the flowering plant family Stachyuraceae, [1] native to the Himalayas and eastern Asia. They are deciduous shrubs or small trees with pendent racemes of 4-petalled flowers which appear on the bare branches before the leaves. [2] The plants have leaves with serrate margins.

Contents

Pendunculagin, casuarictin, strictinin, casuarinin and casuariin are ellagitannins found in species in this genus. [3]

Stachyurus praecox from Japan, and the slightly later-flowering S. chinensis from China, are both cultivated as ornamental plants, valued for their exceptionally early flowering periods.

Stachyurus chinensis (MHNT) Stachyurus chinensis 'Joy Forever' Les Martels, Giroussens Tarn.jpg
Stachyurus chinensis

Species list

References

  1. Christenhusz, M. J. M. & Byng, J. W. (2016). "The number of known plants species in the world and its annual increase". Phytotaxa. 261 (3). Magnolia Press: 201–217. doi: 10.11646/phytotaxa.261.3.1 .
  2. RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN   978-1405332965.
  3. Tannins of Casuarina and Stachyurus species. I: Structures of pendunculagin, casuarictin, strictinin, casuarinin, casuariin, and stachyurin. Okuda T., Yoshida T., Ashida M. and Yazaki K., Journal of the Chemical Society, 1983, no8, pp. 1765-1772