Eryngium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae. There are about 250 species.[2] The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with the center of diversity in South America.[2] Common names include eryngo and sea holly (though not to be confused with true hollies, of the genus Ilex).
Eryngium | |
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Eryngium bourgatii | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Apiales |
Family: | Apiaceae |
Subfamily: | Apioideae |
Tribe: | Saniculeae |
Genus: | Eryngium Tourn. ex L.[1] |
Diversity | |
About 250 species | |
Synonyms[1] | |
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These are annual and perennial herbs with hairless and usually spiny leaves. The dome-shaped umbels of steely blue or white flowers have whorls of spiny basal bracts. Some species are native to rocky and coastal areas, but the majority are grassland plants.[3]
In the language of flowers, they represent admiration.[4]
Selected species
edit- Eryngium agavifolium Griseb. - agave-leaved sea holly
- Eryngium alismifolium - Modoc eryngo
- Eryngium alpinum - alpine eryngo
- Eryngium amethystinum - amethyst eryngo
- Eryngium aquaticum - rattlesnake master
- Eryngium aristulatum - California eryngo
- Eryngium armatum - coastal eryngo
- Eryngium aromaticum - fragrant eryngo
- Eryngium articulatum - beethistle
- Eryngium baldwinii – Baldwin's eryngo
- Eryngium billardieri
- Eryngium bourgatii - Bourgati's eryngo
- Eryngium campestre - field eryngo
- Eryngium carlinae - gravatá
- Eryngium castrense - Great Valley eryngo
- Eryngium constancei - Loch Lomond coyote thistle
- Eryngium coucasicum - An herb form Northern Iran known as choochagh
- Eryngium creticum
- Eryngium cuneifolium - wedgeleaf eryngo, snakeroot
- Eryngium diffusum – spreading eryngo
- Eryngium divaricatum – ballast eryngo
- Eryngium ebracteatum
- Eryngium foetidum - false coriander, stinkweed, culantro
- Eryngium giganteum - giant sea holly, Miss Wilmott's ghost
- Eryngium heterophyllum - Mexican thistle, Wright's eryngo
- Eryngium hookeri - Hooker's eryngo
- Eryngium integrifolium – blueflower eryngo
- Eryngium jaliscense
- Eryngium leavenworthii - Leavenworth's eryngo
- Eryngium lemmonii – Chiricahua Mountain eryngo
- Eryngium maritimum - sea holly, seaside eryngo
- Eryngium mathiasiae – Mathias' eryngo
- Eryngium nasturtiifolium – hierba del sapo
- Eryngium ombrophilum
- Eryngium ovinum - blue devil
- Eryngium paludosum - long eryngium
- Eryngium pandanifolium
- Eryngium paniculatum
- Eryngium pendletonense - Pendleton button-celery
- Eryngium petiolatum – rushleaf eryngo, Oregon coyote thistle
- Eryngium phyteumae – Huachuca Mountain eryngo
- Eryngium pinnatifidum - blue devils
- Eryngium pinnatisectum – Tuolumne eryngo
- Eryngium planum - blue eryngo, plains eryngo
- Eryngium prostratum - creeping eryngo
- Eryngium racemosum – delta eryngo
- Eryngium rostratum - blue devil
- Eryngium sparganophyllum – Arizona eryngo
- Eryngium spinosepalum - spinysepal eryngo
- Eryngium variifolium - Moroccan sea holly
- Eryngium vaseyi - coyote thistle
- Eryngium vesiculosum - prickfoot
- Eryngium yuccifolium - rattlesnake master, button snakeroot
Uses
editSpecies are grown as ornamental plants in gardens. Numerous hybrids have been selected for garden use, of which E. × oliverianum[7] and E. × tripartitum[8] have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Another is E. x zabelii 'Big Blue', whose parentage is E. alpinum x E. bourgatii.[9]
Many species of Eryngium have been used as food and medicine. Eryngium campestre is used as a folk medicine in Turkey. In Iran, Eryngium (Boghnagh فارسی- بوقناق) is used as herbal tea to lower blood sugar. Eryngium creticum is a herbal remedy for scorpion stings in Jordan. Eryngium elegans is used in Argentina and Eryngium foetidum in Latin America and South-East Asia. Native American peoples used many species for varied purposes. Cultures worldwide have used Eryngium extracts as anti-inflammatory agents. Eryngium yields an essential oil and contains many kinds of terpenoids, saponins, flavonoids, coumarins, and steroids.[2]
The roots have been used as vegetables or sweetmeats. Young shoots and leaves are sometimes used as vegetables like asparagus. E. foetidum is used as a culinary herb in tropical parts of the Americas and Asia. It tastes similar to coriander or cilantro, and is sometimes mistaken for it. It may be called spiny coriander or culantro, or by its Vietnamese name of Ngo Gai.[10]
References
edit- ^ a b "Eryngium". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
- ^ a b c Wang, P., et al. (2012). Phytochemical constituents and pharmacological activities of Eryngium L. (Apiaceae). Archived 2013-11-02 at the Wayback Machine Pharmaceutical Crops 3 99-120.
- ^ RHS A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 978-1405332965.
- ^ "Language of Flowers - Flower Meanings, Flower Sentiments". www.languageofflowers.com. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
- ^ GRIN Species Records of Eryngium. Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).
- ^ Eryngium of North America. USDA PLANTS.
- ^ "Eryngium × olivieranum". RHS. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- ^ "Eryngium × tripartitum". RHS. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- ^ MBG 2022.
- ^ Ramcharan, C. 1999. Culantro: A much utilized, little understood herb. p. 506–509. In: Janick, J. (ed.). Perspectives on New Crops and New Uses. ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA.
Bibliography
edit- MBG (2022). "Eryngium × zabelii 'Big Blue'". Planf finder. Retrieved 2022-10-01.