Litsea
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NCBI
EOL Text
Litsea is a genus of evergreen or deciduous trees or shrubs belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes 200 to 400 species in tropical and subtropical areas of both hemispheres.
Trees or shrubs, dioecious. The leaves can be either deciduous or evergreen depending on species, and aromatic. The flowers are from greenish to white, greenish-yellow, yellowish.
Characteristics[edit]
The genus includes species of trees, and shrubs, with evergreen or deciduous foliage and inconspicuous flowers.
They have leaves alternate or opposite or in whorls.[1] The inflorescences are pseudo-umbels, flat-topped or rounded flower clusters, each pseudo-umbel with an involucre of four or six decussate bracts.[1]
Selected species[edit]
- Litsea annamensis
- Litsea baviensis
- Litsea bindoniana, an Australian rainforest tree.
- Litsea calicaris, a New Zealand tree
- Litsea cubeba, used for wood, medicine, and perfumes
- Litsea glaucescens, Mexican bay, used medicinally and as a condiment.[2]
- Litsea glaberrima
- Litsea glutinosa, an Asian rainforest tree. Commonly called Lauat or Lawat in the Philippines.
- Litsea guatemalensis
- Litsea ichangensis, forms part of the summer diet for Rhinopithicus roxellana.
- Litsea iteodaphne
- Litsea lancilimba
- Litsea longifolia
- Litsea longipes
- Litsea monopetala (syn. Litsea polyantha)
- Litsea ovalifolia
- Litsea reticulata, an Australian rainforest tree.
- Litsea stocksii
- Litsea vang
References[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Litsea. |
- ^ a b Puhua Huang, Jie Li, Xi-wen Li, and Henk van der Werff. "Flora of China online".
- ^ http://www.herbsociety.org/factsheets/Bay%20Guide.pdf
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Wikipedia |
| Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Litsea&oldid=653844293 |
Himalaya (Nepal to Bhutan), Assam, Burma, Indo-China, Java, China, Taiwan.
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
| Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=110&taxon_id=200008831 |
1000-2700 m
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
| Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=110&taxon_id=200008831 |
The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 9
Specimens with Barcodes: 17
Species With Barcodes: 1
May Chang (Litsea cubeba; Aromatic litsea) is an evergreen tree or shrub 5–12 meters high in the Lauraceae family. It is native to China, Indonesia, Taiwan and other parts of Southeast Asia. It is called "mountain pepper" (山胡椒) in Mandarin and maqaw (馬告) by the Atayal aborigines in Taiwan. As a famous spice among Taiwanese aborigines, a proposed National Park at Yilan County is named "Magao" after the spice. It produces a fruit which is processed for its lemony essential oil. The oil can also be extracted from the leaf, but this is considered to be lower in quality. The timber is sometimes used for making furniture and crafts. Plant parts are also used in medicine.
Oil extraction[edit]
Essential oil yields from the fruit are 3-5%. The oil's main component is citral, at 70-85% of the oil.[1] It is mainly produced in China from plantations and is marketed as "Litsea cubebea", with production estimates between 500 - 1,500 tonnes of oil per annum. The oil is used as a fragrance (especially in bar soap) and for flavouring in its own right. It is also used as a raw material by the chemical industry for the synthesis of vitamin A and violet-like fragrances.[2]
Studies are being done on the essential oil from the seed for treatment of lung cancer.[3]
References[edit]
- ^ Lawless, J., The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Essential Oils, ISBN 1-85230-661-0
- ^ Litsea cubeba FAO essential oil profile
- ^ Seal, S; Chatterjee, P; Bhattacharya, S; Pal, D; Dasgupta, S; Kundu, R; Mukherjee, S; Bhattacharya, S; Bhuyan, M; Bhattacharyya, P. R.; Baishya, G; Barua, N. C.; Baruah, P. K.; Rao, P. G.; Bhattacharya, S (2012). "Vapor of volatile oils from Litsea cubeba seed induces apoptosis and causes cell cycle arrest in lung cancer cells". PLoS ONE 7 (10): e47014. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0047014. PMC 3473030. PMID 23091605.
External links[edit]
- "Litsea cubeba". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved October 26, 2006.
- Profile at USDA PLANTS
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| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Wikipedia |
| Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Litsea_cubeba&oldid=650668193 |
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) Stats
Specimen Records:230
Specimens with Sequences:392
Specimens with Barcodes:332
Species:59
Species With Barcodes:57
Public Records:76
Public Species:41
Public BINs:0
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 0
Specimens with Barcodes: 1
Species With Barcodes: 1