Cytinus hypocistis

Cytinus hypocistis
C. hypocistis growing under a bush in leaf litter, near Fréjus in the south of France
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Malvales
Family:	Cytinaceae
Genus:	Cytinus
Species:	C. hypocistis
Binomial name
Cytinus hypocistis (L.) L.[1]
Subspecies[2]
Cytinus hypocistis subsp. hypocistis (autonym) C. h. subsp. macranthus Wettst. C. h. subsp. orientalis Wettst. C. h. subsp. pityusensis Finschow
Synonyms[1][3]
Asarum hypocistis L. (basionym)

Cytinus hypocistis is an ant-pollinated[4] species of parasitic plant in the family Cytinaceae having four subspecies. It is found primarily in locations that surround the Mediterranean Sea,[5] and is the type for the genus Cytinus.[6] The binomial has been conserved.[6]

Distribution

Cytinus hypocistis is native to Albania; Algeria; Crete; Croatia; Cyprus; Greece; France (including Corsica); Israel; Italy (including Sardinia and Sicily); Lebanon; Libya; Malta; Morocco; Portugal; Spain (including both the Balearic and Canary Islands); Syria; Tunisia; and Turkey.[5]

The subspecies macranthus is native to Portugal and western Spain; orientalis is native to southern Greece and Crete; and pityusensis is endemic to Ibiza of the Balearic Islands.[2]

Uses

Cytinus hypocistis has been used in traditional medicine to treat dysentery and tumors of the throat, and has been used for its astringent qualities.[7]

References

1. Under its currently accepted binomial (Cytinus hyocistis), from its basionym (Asarum hypocistis), this species was first published in Genera Plantarum Eorumque Characteres Naturales Secundum Numerum, Figuram, Situm, & Proportionem Omnium Fructificationis Partium. (Ed. 6). Stockholm. 6. 576 ["566"]. 1764. "Plant Name Details for Cytinus hypocistis". IPNI. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
2. "Flora Europaea Search Results for hypocistis and Cytinus". Flora Europaea. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Retrieved November 15, 2012.^[permanent dead link‍]
3. This species, originally as Asarum hypocistis, was first described and published in Species Plantarum 1: 442. 1753. "Plant Name Details for Asarum hypocistis". IPNI. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
4. Clara de Vega; Montserrat Arista; Pedro L. Ortiz; Carlos M. Herrera; Salvador Talavera (May 2009). "The ant-pollination system of Cytinus hypocistis (Cytinaceae), a Mediterranean root holoparasite". Annals of Botany. 103 (7): 1065–1075. doi:10.1093/aob/mcp049. PMC 2707910. PMID 19258337.
5. "Cytinus hypocistis". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
6. "Name - !Cytinus L." Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved November 15, 2012. T: Cytinus hypocistis (L.) L.; annotation: nom. cons.
7. James A. Duke. "Cytinus hypocistis (RAFFLESIACEAE)". Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2012.

External links

• "Cytinus hypocistus". Plants for a Future.