Cimicifuga cimicifuga

• Interesting Facts
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Description

Family Ranunculaceae

Herbs perennial or annual , sometimes subshrubs or herbaceous or woody vines . Leaves basal and cauline, alternate, rarely opposite or whorled , simple or variously compound , palmately nerved, rarely penninerved , with or without stipules. Inflorescence a simple or compound monochasium, dichasium, simple or compound raceme, or flowers solitary. Flowers bisexual , sometimes unisexual , actinomorphic , rarely zygomorphic, hypogynous. Sepals 3--6 or more, free , petaloid or sepaloid , imbricate or sometimes valvate in bud. Petals present or absent, 2--8 or more, free, usually with nectaries. Stamens numerous , rarely few, free; filaments linear or filiform ; anthers latrorse , introrse , or extrorse ; sometimes some sterile stamens becoming staminodes. Carpels numerous or few, rarely 1, free, rarely connate to various degrees ; ovary with 1 to many ovules. Fruit follicles or achenes, rarely capsules or berries . Seeds small, with abundant endosperm and minute embryo.

About 60 genera and 2500 species: worldwide, but richly represented in N temperate regions , particularly in E Asia; 38 genera (four endemic) and 921 species (604 endemic) in China.[1]

Genus Cimicifuga

Herbs, perennial , from hard, knotted, long-lived rhizomes. Leaves basal and cauline, compound , petiolate with basal wings clasping stem; cauline leaves alternate. Leaf blade 1-3-ternately compound; leaflets ovate-lanceolate to broadly obovate or orbiculate, 2-5-lobed, lobe margins toothed or shallow to deeply incised. Inflorescences terminal , many-flowered panicles of racemelike branches [spikes in Asian spp. ], 7-60 cm; bracts 1 or 3, alternate, subtending pedicel (pedicels bracteolate in C. americana ), not forming involucre. Flowers bisexual [unisexual ], radially symmetric ; sepals not persistent in fruit, (2-) 4-5(-6), greenish white or cream to greenish yellow, sometimes pinkish or tinged with red, plane or ± concave , ovate to obovate, 3-6 mm; petals 0-8, distinct , white or yellowish, plane, apex 2-cleft [entire], sometimes clawed, 3-6 mm; nectariferous area sometimes present; stamens 20-110; filaments filiform [flattened]; staminodes absent between stamens and pistils; pistils 1-8, simple ; ovules 4-15 per pistil; style present. Fruits follicles, usually aggregate, sessile or stipitate , ovoid to obovoid , weakly to strongly compressed , sides not prominently veined; beak terminal, straight or hooked at tip , 0.5-2.5 mm. Seeds pale brown to reddish or purplish brown, angled or laterally compressed , hemispheric , lenticular , or cylindric , smooth , slightly ridged , verrucose , or densely scaly . x = 8.

Species 12: North America and Eurasia .

Cimicifuga may be divided into two natural groups: those with seeds scaly and those with seeds lacking scales or nearly so. Cimicifuga racemosa and C. elata of North America, with scaleless seeds, are most closely related to C. biternata (Siebold & Zuccarini) Miquel and C. japonica (Thunberg) Sprengel of Asia.

Four or five species of Cimicifuga are cultivated as ornamentals , and at least five named cultivars have been developed.[2]

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Actaea cimicifuga L. • Cimicifuga Cimicifuga

Notes

Publishing author : Karst. Publication : Pharm. Med. Bot. 571

Similar Species

Members of the genus Cimicifuga

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 14 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

C. americana (Mountain Bugbane) · C. arizonica (Arizona Bugbane) · C. elata (Tall Bugbane) · C. japonica (Japanese Bugbane) · C. laciniata (Mount Hood Bugbane) · C. mairei (Bugbane) · C. racemosa (Black Bugbane) · C. racemosa 'Atropurpurea' (Purple Snakeroot) · C. racemosa 'Pink Spike' (Fairy Candles) · C. ramosa 'Atropurpurea' (Black Cohosh) · C. ramosa 'Brunette' (Black Cohosh) · C. ramosa 'James Compton' (Bugbane) · C. ramosa 'Pink Spike' (Black Cohosh) · C. rubifolia (Appalachian Bugbane)

More Info

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Further Reading

• Compton, J. 1992. Cimicifuga L.: Ranunculaceae. Plantsman 14(2): 99-115.
• Ramsey, G. W. 1965. A Biosystematic Study of the Genus Cimicifuga (Ranunculaceae). Ph.D. thesis. University of Tennessee.
• Ramsey, G. W. 1987. Morphological considerations in North American Cimicifuga. Castanea 52: 129-141.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 5820634
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 15808568
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:709427-1
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1386643

Footnotes

1. Wencai Wang, Dezhi Fu, Liang-Qian Li, Bruce Bartholomew, Anthony R. Brach, Bryan E. Dutton, Michael G. Gilbert, Yuichi Kadota, Orbélia R. Robinson, Michio Tamura, Michael J. Warnock, Guanghua Zhu & Svetlana N. Ziman "Ranunculaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 6 Page 133. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. Gwynn W. Ramsey "Cimicifuga". in Flora of North America Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.