Project description:Here we summarize the known distributional data for the Hawaiian Scatella (Ephydridae). We report on four new island records; Scatellaamnica and Scatellastagnalis from Kauai, Scatellaoahuense from Lanai, and Scatellaterryi from Maui. A list of material present, comprising over 3100 individual specimen records in the collections of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Essig Musuem of Entomology at UC Berkeley is included, along with details distributional maps for the Hawaiian endemic species.
Project description:New island records are reported for five species of Asteia endemic to the Hawaiian Islands (Asteiahawaiiensis, Asteiamauiensis, Asteiamolokaiensis, Asteiapalikuensis, Asteiasabroskyi). These new records expand our understanding of distributions in Asteia, change the percentage of single island endemics from 78% to 33%, and have significance in how we view the process of diversification acting in this lineage. We also present a list of the known rearing records for two species in this group. Asteiamontgomeryi has been recorded from Erythrina and Asteiasabroskyi has been reared from Pisonia, Urera, Charpentiera and Hibiscadelphus.
Project description:Aromatic plants have played key roles in the lives of tribal peoples living in the Himalaya by providing products for both food and medicine. This review presents a summary of aromatic medicinal plants from the Indian Himalaya, Nepal, and Bhutan, focusing on plant species for which volatile compositions have been described. The review summarizes 116 aromatic plant species distributed over 26 families.
Project description:Plants of the genus Elsholtzia (Lamiaceae) have a long history of medicinal use in folk. The phytochemical investigations revealed the presence of flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, terpenoids, and other compounds. Abundant volatile components are also identified. Pure compounds, volatile constituents and crude extracts from the genus exhibited a wide spectrum of in vitro and in vivo pharmacological activities. The aims of this review hopefully provide comprehensive information on the distribution, phytochemistry, volatile components, and pharmacological research of Elsholtzia for exploring the potential and advance researches.
Project description:Plants belonging to the subfamily Bombacoideae (family Malvaceae) consist of about 304 species, many of them having high economical and medicinal properties. In the past, this plant group was put under Bombacaceae; however, modern molecular and phytochemical findings supported the group as a subfamily of Malvaceae. A detailed search on the number of publications related to the Bombacoideae subfamily was carried out in databases like PubMed and Science Direct using various keywords. Most of the plants in the group are perennial tall trees usually with swollen tree trunks, brightly colored flowers, and large branches. Various plant parts ranging from leaves to seeds to stems of several species are also used as food and fibers in many countries. Members of Bombacoides are used as ornamentals and economic utilities, various plants are used in traditional medication systems for their anti-inflammatory, astringent, stimulant, antipyretic, microbial, analgesic, and diuretic effects. Several phytochemicals, both polar and non-polar compounds, have been detected in this plant group supporting evidence of their medicinal and nutritional uses. The present review provides comprehensive taxonomic, ethno-pharmacological, economic, food and phytochemical properties of the subfamily Bombacoideae.
Project description:The distributions of Hawaiian Canacidae, comprising nearly 800 individual collection events, are reviewed and a total of four new island records are reported. These include Canaceoides angulatus from Kahoolawae and Procanace bifurcata from Molokai and Maui, and Procanace constricta from Oahu. A new species from Kauai, Procanace hardyi O'Grady and Pak, is described. This species is closely related to P. constricta from Oahu, Maui, Molokai and Hawaii and shares a similar constriction of the abdomen between tergites four and five but differs in the configuration of the seventh abdominal tergite. Detailed distribution maps for all species are included.
Project description:Island systems provide important contexts for studying processes underlying lineage migration, species diversification, and organismal extinction. The Hawaiian endemic mints (Lamiaceae family) are the second largest plant radiation on the isolated Hawaiian Islands. We generated a chromosome-scale reference genome for one Hawaiian species, Stenogyne calaminthoides, and resequenced 45 relatives, representing 34 species, to uncover the continental origins of this group and their subsequent diversification. We further resequenced 109 individuals of two Stenogyne species, and their purported hybrids, found high on the Mauna Kea volcano on the island of Hawai'i. The three distinct Hawaiian genera, Haplostachys, Phyllostegia, and Stenogyne, are nested inside a fourth genus, Stachys. We uncovered four independent polyploidy events within Stachys, including one allopolyploidy event underlying the Hawaiian mints and their direct western North American ancestors. While the Hawaiian taxa may have principally diversified by parapatry and drift in small and fragmented populations, localized admixture may have played an important role early in lineage diversification. Our genomic analyses provide a view into how organisms may have radiated on isolated island chains, settings that provided one of the principal natural laboratories for Darwin's thinking about the evolutionary process.
Project description:In China, several species (Hedysarum polybotrys Hand.-Mazz., Hedysarum limprichtii Hlbr., Hedysarum vicioider Turcz. var. Taipeicum Hand.-Mazz. Liu, Hedysarum smithianum, et al.) of genus Hedysarum have a long history of use in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In TCM, these plants are used to increase the energy of the body. To date, 155 compounds, including flavonoids, triterpenes, coumarins, lignanoids, nitrogen compounds, sterols, carbohydrates, fatty compounds, and benzofuran, have been isolated from plants of the genus Hedysarum. Various chemical constituents contribute to the antioxidant, anti-tumor, anti-aging, anti-diabetic, and anti-hypertensive properties of these plants. Hedysarum species are used to treat infestation with gastrointestinal nematodes and may support the immune system and peripheral nervous system. In the present review, we summarize the research on the phytochemistry and pharmacology of Hedysarum species, which will be useful for better utilization of these important species in TCM.
Project description:The Ranunculaceae genus Anemone (order Ranunculales), comprising more than 150 species, mostly herbs, has long been used in folk medicine and worldwide ethnomedicine. Various medicinal compounds have been found in Anemone plants, especially triterpenoid saponins, some of which have shown anti-cancer activities. Some Anemone compounds and extracts display immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities. More than 50 species have ethnopharmacological uses, which provide clues for modern drug discovery. Anemone compounds exert anticancer and other bioactivities via multiple pathways. However, a comprehensive review of the Anemone medicinal resources is lacking. We here summarize the ethnomedical knowledge and recent progress on the chemical and pharmacological diversity of Anemone medicinal plants, as well as the emerging molecular mechanisms and functions of these medicinal compounds. The phylogenetic relationships of Anemone species were reconstructed based on nuclear ITS and chloroplast markers. The molecular phylogeny is largely congruent with the morphology-based classification. Commonly used medicinal herbs are distributed in each subgenus and section, and chemical and biological studies of more unexplored taxa are warranted. Gene expression profiling and relevant "omics" platforms could reveal differential effects of phytometabolites. Genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics should be highlighted in deciphering novel therapeutic mechanisms and utilities of Anemone phytometabolites.