Cytisopsis dorycniifolia

Cytisopsis dorycniifolia

Cytinus hypocistisi

Cytinus hypocistisi

Cytinus is a genus of parasitic flowering plants. Its species do not produce chlorophyll any more, but rely fully on its host plant. Cytinus only parasitizes Cistus and Halimium, two genera of plants in the Cistaceae family.

Several species are found in the Mediterranean Region, South Africa, with a possibly undescribed species from Madagascar.

Systematics

The genus Cytinus is sometimes included in the parasitic family Rafflesiaceae, but put into the family Cytinaceae by others^[2], together with the genus Bdallophyton with four species. Cytinaceae seems to be related with Malvales. Unlike other Rafflesiales, which only have one flower, Cytinaceae have multiple flowers arranged in an inflorescense. The diaphragm, a floral structure present in Rafflesia and Sapria, is missing.

Cytinus ruber is no longer considered a separate species, but is now a subspecies of C. hypocistis.

Uses

The young C. hypocistis is cooked as an Asparagus substitute, and an extract has been used in treating dysentery, throat tumors and as an astringent. C. ruber is also edible, and was used in folk medicine as an emmenagogue.

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Malpighiales
Family:	Rafflesiaceae
Genus:	Cytinus L.

Cymbalaria microcalyx

Cymbalaria microcalyx

Cymbalaria is a genus of about 10 species of herbaceous perennial plants previously treated in the family Scrophulariaceae, but recently shown by genetic research to be in the much enlarged family Plantaginaceae.

The genus is native to southern Europe. It is closely related to the genera Linaria and Antirrhinum, differing in having creeping growth and flowers borne singly rather than in dense erect spikes. The common name toadflax is shared with Linaria and other related genera. The scientific name means "resembling a cymbal" for the somewhat rounded leaves.

By far the best known species is Ivy-leaved toadflax (Cymbalaria muralis), native to southwest Europe. It has widely naturalised elsewhere and is most well known in English-speaking countries as Kenilworth Ivy.

It characteristically grows in sheltered crevices in walls and pathways, or in rocks and scree, making a trailing or scrambling plant up to 1 m long. Its small (1/4") pale purple flowers, often with two areas of yellow near the centre, are somewhat orchid-like in form. The various species differ in subtle details of leaf shape and flower colour; the flowers of one are pure white with a yellow centre and occasionally several species can be found growing together.

Kingdom	Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision	Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division	Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class	Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass	Asteridae
Order	Scrophulariales
Family	Scrophulariaceae – Figwort family
Genus	Cymbalaria Hill – cymbalaria

Cyclamen

Cyclamen trochoptheranthum

Cyclamen is a genus of 20 species of flowering plants, traditionally classified in the family Primulaceae, but in recent years reclassified in the family Myrsinaceae. The genus is most widely known by its scientific name cyclamen being taken into common usage; other names occasionally used include sowbread and sometimes, confusingly, persian violet (it is not related to the violets), or primrose (neither is it a primrose).

Cyclamen are native to the Mediterranean region from Spain east to Iran, and also in northeast Africa south to Somalia. They are perennial herbaceous aestivating plants, with a surface or underground tuber (derived from the hypocotyl) 4-12 cm diameter, which produces leaves in late winter, and flowers in the autumn; the leaves die down during the hottest part of the Mediterranean summer drought to conserve water. Each leaf or flower grows on its own stem, which shoots up from the hypocotyl. The variegation is thought by some botanists to be a form of natural disruptive camouflage to reduce grazing damage by animals.

The hypocotyl grows leaves and flowers on stems, either one flower or one leaf per stem. The stem for leaves and flowers appears identical except in height. The leaves grow on stems of around 6cm height.

The leaves grow on stems up to 8cm tall and form a tightly bunched circular disk of leaves. Leaves are rounded to triangular, 2-10 cm long and 2-7 cm broad, and usually variegated with a pale silvery horseshoe-shaped mark round the middle of the leaf.The top of the leaf is split with the split extending to the connection with the stem. A commom cultivar available in western shops has a leaves with a (slightly stretched) heart shape.

The stems for flowers rise from the middle of the disk of leaves. The stem for flowers grows up to 12 cm tall, and the end of the flowers stem curves 150 - 180 degrees downward. The flower bud terminates the stem. The various cultivars produce flowers with either four or five united petals growing from the edge of the flower bud. The petals are usually reflexed back 90° to 180° to be erect above the flower bud, and vary from white through pink to red-purple, most commonly pale pink.

The fruit is a five-chambered capsule 1-2 cm diameter, containing numerous sticky seeds about 2 mm diameter. Natural seed dispersal is by ants, which eat the sticky covering and then discard the seeds. Cyclamens are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including The Gothic.

Cyclamen typically grow in dry forest or scrub, where they are at least partly shaded from intense sunlight. The species vary greatly in winter frost tolerance, with the hardiest species (C. hederifolium) tolerating temperatures down to -15°C, or -30°C if covered by snow; others, such as C. somalense from northeastern Somalia, do not tolerate any frost at all. Certain climate change models suggest many species could become extinct in their current range within the next 50 years.

Cyclamen pseudibericum

Cultivation and uses

Cyclamen are commonly grown for their flowers, both outdoors and indoors in pots. Several species are hardy and can be grown outdoors in mild climates such as northwest Europe and the Pacific Northwest.

The cyclamen commonly sold by florists is C. persicum, which is frost-tender. Selected cyclamen cultivars can have white, bright pink, red or purple flowers. While flowering, florists' cyclamens should be kept below 68 °F (20 °C, 293 kelvins), with the night time temperatures preferably between 44 °F to 59 °F (6.67 °C to 15 °C, or 280 K to 288 K). Temperatures above 68 °F (20 °C, 293 K) may induce the plant to go dormant.

In many areas within the native range, cyclamen populations have been severely depleted by collection from the wild, often illegally, for the horticultural trade; some species are now endangered as a result. However, in a few areas, plant conservation charities have educated local people to control the harvest carefully at a sustainable level, including sowing seed for future crops, both sustaining the wild populations and producing a reliable long-term income. Many cyclamen are also propagated in nurseries without harm to the wild plants.

Cyclamen species are poisonous; they have been used medicinally as a powerful purgative, but their toxicity makes this risky.

Cyclamen persicum

Kingdom	Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision	Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division	Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class	Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass	Dilleniidae
Order	Primulales
Family	Primulaceae – Primrose family
Genus	Cyclamen L. – cyclamen

Crocus

Crocus vallicola

Crocus (plural: crocus, crocuses) is a genus of perennial flowering plants, native to a large area from coastal and subalpine areas of central and southern Europe (including the islands of the Aegean), North Africa and the Middle East, across Central Asia to western China.

The genus Crocus is placed botanically in the iris family (Iridaceae). The plants grow from cormshardy perennials, and are found in a wide range of habitats, including woodland, scrub and meadows. and are mainly

There are about eighty species of crocus (of which approximately 30 are cultivated). Their cup-shaped, solitary, salverform flowers taper off into a narrow tube. Their color varies enormously, although lilac, mauve, yellow and white are predominant. The grass-like, ensiform leaf^[1] shows generally a white central stripe along the leaf axis. The leaf margin is entire. All crocuses typically have three stamens. The spice saffron is obtained from the stigmas of Crocus sativus, an autumn/fall-blooming species.

The name of the genus is derived from the Greek κρόκος, krokos (attested in Homer's Iliad, Book XIV, verse 347), this in turn being a Semitic loanword (Hebrew karkom, Aramaickurkama, Persian and Arabic kurkum, all meaning saffron or saffron yellow). In Greek, the word is also used for the similarly colored egg yolk.

Crocus reticulatus

Other uses of the name crocus

Though some true crocus bloom with the fall (autumn) rains, after summer's heat and drought, the name autumn crocus is often used as a common name for Colchicum, which is in the lily family (Liliaceae), and which has six stamens; it is also known as meadow saffron, though unlike true saffron the plant is toxic. The so-called prairie crocus (formerly Anemone patens, now Pulsatilla patens or P. ludoviciana) belongs to the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae).

Crocus chrysanthus

True autumn crocuses

Most true autumn crocus flower in September to November in the northern hemisphere. Some flower before their leaves appear. Autumn/fall flowering species include: Crocus banaticusC. iridiflorus), C.cancellatus, C. goulimyi, C. hadriaticus, C. kotschyanus (syn. C. zonatus), C. laevigatus, C. ligusticus (syn. C. medius ), C. niveus, C. nudiflorus, C. ochroleucus, C. pulchellus, C. sativus (saffron crocus), C. serotinus, C. speciosus, C. tournefortii. Crocus laevigatus has a long flowering-period which starts in late autumn or early winter and may continue into February. (syn.

Crocus biflorus spp. Pulchiricolor

In cultivation

As one of the first flowers to bloom in spring, the large hybridized and selected "Dutch crocus" are popular with gardeners. Crocus flowers and leaves are protected from frost by a waxy cuticle; in areas where snow and frost occasionally occur in the early spring it is not uncommon to see early-flowering crocus blooming through a light late snowfall.

Most crocus species and hybrids should be planted in a sunny position, in gritty, well-drained soil, although a few prefer shadier sites in moist soil. Some are suitable for naturalising in grass. The corms should be planted about 3–4 cm deep; in heavy soils a quantity of sharp grit should be dug in to improve drainage.

Some crocuses, especially C. tommasinianus and its selected forms and hybrids (such as 'Whitewell Purple' and 'Ruby Giant') seed prolifically and are ideal for naturalising. They can, however, become weeds in rock gardens, where they will often appear in the middle of choice, mat-forming alpine plants and can be difficult to remove.

Crocus ancyrensis

History

The first crocus seen in the Netherlands, where Crocus species are not native, were from corms brought back from Constantinople by the Holy Roman Emperor's ambassador to the Sublime Porte, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, in the 1560s. A few corms were forwarded to Carolus Clusiusbotanical garden in Leiden. By 1620, the approximate date of Ambrosius Bosschaert's painting (illustration, left), new garden varieties had been developed, such as the cream-colored crocus feathered with bronze at the base of the bouquet, similar to varieties still in the market. Bosschaert, working from a preparatory drawing to paint his composed piece, which spans the whole of Spring, exaggerated the crocus so that it passes for a tulip, but its narrow, grasslike leaves give it away.

Crocus stavus

Kingdom	Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision	Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division	Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class	Liliopsida – Monocotyledons
Subclass	Liliidae
Order	Liliales
Family	Iridaceae – Iris family
Genus	Crocus L. – crocus

Corydalis oppositifolia

Corydalis oppositifolia

Description

Corydalis is the name of a group of herbs used in different parts of the world to relieve pain. Corydalis yanhusuo is a species used primarily in Chinese herbal medicine. C. gariana, native to the Himalayas, is used medicinally in India. A related species, Corydalis cava, is used in European herbalism. Another closely related species, is Corydalis canadensis (also called Dicentra canadensis) and known by the common name corydalis or turkey corn, is found in North America. There are other species of Corydalis found throughout the world. Although the names are somewhat confusing, many are used by herbal therapists in similar ways and are included under the umbrella label corydalis.

C. yanhusuo is a small herb that grows in mixed sun and shade at the edge of woodlands. It is native to Siberia, northern China, and Japan, but is cultivated in other cool parts of China. C. yanhusuo grows to about 8 in (20 cm) in height and has narrow leaves and pink flowers. The rhizome (underground stem) is used in healing. C. yanhusuo is called yan hu suo in Chinese. Some sources suggest that C. yanhusuo is used interchangeably with the related species C. solida, which is called by the same Chinese name.

C. cava is a perennial that grows in shady forests. It is native to southern Europe and has spread throughout the continent. C. cava grows to a height of about 11 in (30 cm). Its flowers range in color from red to yellowish to white, with occasional lilac, brownish-red, or dark blue flowers. The tubers (knobby, fleshy underground stems) are used medicinally. Alternative names for the North American species of corydalis include turkey corn, squirrel corn, and early fumitory.

General Use

In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), C. yanhusuo is said to have a warm nature and a pungent, bitter taste. It is associated with the heart, liver, and spleen. C. yanhusuo is used to relieve pain resulting from almost any cause. It is especially used to treat menstrual cramps, chest pains, and abdominal pain. Corydalis is also the preferred herb in treating pain from traumatic injuries. Some herbalists report that frying corydalis in vinegar enhances its ability to ease pain.

Along with its ability to relieve pain, C. yanhusuo is used as a general aid to blood circulation and to promote the circulation of qi, or vital energy. Some Chinese herbalists also report using corydalis as a sedative and to lower blood pressure. The herb is frequently found in combination with other plants in Chinese formulas that treat stabbing pain sensations, painful periods, and the like.

In Western medicine, the various corydalis species are used to treat shaking and involuntary tremors. They can be used to treat people with Parkinson's disease. Corydalis is also used as a painkiller; a diuretic; a sedative that slows the pulse and depresses the central nervous system; and a tonic that invigorates the circulation. Occasionally it is used to treat mild forms of depression. In fact, the uses of the various corydalis species are surprisingly similar around the world.

Research scientists have isolated several potent alkaloid compounds from corydalis. The strongest of these is corydaline. It has the ability to block certain receptors in the brain associated with the sensation of pain. There is good evidence from Chinese studies that corydalis is effective in relieving pain and menstrual cramps. Evidence for the other uses of corydalis is limited to test tube and animal studies. One 1999 study at the University of Maryland Dental School found that an extract of C. yanhusuo was successful in reducing artificially induced inflammation in the paws of rats, although it was less successful than some other TCM herbs that were tested.

Preparations

Corydalis tubers and rhizomes are dug either in the spring or fall, before or after the leaves are actively growing. They are dried and kept in a cool place before use. Corydalis can be made into a tea, a tincture, or a decoction. Commercial extracts are also available.

Corydalis is usually combined with other herbs. One popular treatment for menstrual pain is a decoction of corydalis and cinnamon. In traditional Chinese medicine, corydalis is found in almost all formulas to treat menstrual pain, other pain formulas, and formulas to improve the circulation.

Precautions

Chinese herbalists report that pregnant women should not take corydalis. Since corydalis contains a compound that depresses the central nervous system, it should be used cautiously when using other central nervous system depressant drugs or alcohol. This herb should be taken under the supervision of a trained herbalist.

Side Effects

Although no poisonings from corydalis have been reported, overdose is likely to produce shaking and tremors.

Interactions

Some Western herbalists report that corydalis is incompatible with tannic acid and vegetable astringents. Corydalis has been used in many Asian formulas without any reported interactions. Few, if any, scientific studies have been done on its interactions with Western pharmaceuticals.

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Ranunculales
Family:	Fumariaceae
Genus:	Corydalis

Coronilla orientalis

Coronilla orientalis

The genus Coronilla contains Old World shrubs and herbs.

Coronilla species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the case-bearers Coleophora coronillae (which feeds exclusively on Coronilla varia) and Coleophora vicinella.

Kingdom	Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision	Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division	Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class	Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass	Rosidae
Order	Fabales
Family	Fabaceae – Pea family
Genus	Securigera DC.
Species	Securigera orientalis (Mill.) Lassen