Hormuzakia aggregata
Massed alkanet | |
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Massed Alkanet flowers in Israel | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae
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(unranked): | Angiosperms
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(unranked): | |
(unranked): | |
Order: | (unplaced)
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Family: | |
Genus: | |
Species: | H. aggregata
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Binomial name | |
Hormuzakia aggregata Lehm. Gusuleac
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Synonyms | |
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Hormuzakia aggregata (Arabic: لسان الثور, Hebrew: לשון-שור מגובבת) is a flowering annual plant in the Borage family, known by the common name massed alkanet.[1][2][3]
Description[]
It is a short-lived herbaceous plant with 10 to 50 cm (3.9 to 19.7 in) ascending hispid stems. The entire leaves are alternate, linear-lanceolate. It flowers from January to April, the small flowers are dark blue to violet producing 3 by 4 mm (0.12 by 0.16 in) hemispherical nutlets.[2]
Taxonomy[]
The species name Hormuzakia derives from a prominent Austro-Romanian naturalist. Anchusa derives from the Greek: αγχουσα, a plant used as a rouge. The epithet aggregata, derives from Latin and means to bring together or cluster.
- The standard author abbreviation Lehm. is used to indicate Johann Georg Christian Lehmann (1792 – 1860), a German botanist.
- The standard author abbreviation Gusul. is used to indicate (1887-1960), a Romanian botanist.[2]
Distribution and habitat[]
It grows in Mediterranean woodlands, shrublands, shrub-steppes and deserts of Sicily, North East Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula, Libya, Algeria, Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon, Israel, Rhodes, Saudi Arabia and the East Aegean Islands.[1][4]
Uses[]
The roots of Hormuzakia aggregata contain anchusin or alkannin (alkanet red), a red-brown resinoid pigment.[2][5] Alkannin is an antioxidant and has an antimicrobial effect against Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. It is also known to have wound healing, antitumor, and antithrombotic properties.[6]
Alkannin is also found in the Chinese herbal medicine plant Lithospermum erythrorhizon, the red-root gromwell. The dried root is a Chinese herbal medicine with various antiviral and biological activities, including inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1).[7][8][9]
References[]
- ^ a b "Catalogue of Life : Hormuzakia aggregata (Lehm.) Gusuleac". www.catalogueoflife.org. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
- ^ a b c d "Anchusa aggregata". www.flowersinisrael.com. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
- ^ SELVI, F.; BIGAZZI, M. (1998-01-01). "Anchusa L. and allied genera (Boraginaceae) in Italy". Plant Biosystems. 132 (2): 113–142. doi:10.1080/11263504.1998.10654198. ISSN 1126-3504.
- ^ "Hormuzakia aggregata (Lehm.) Gusuleac | Flora of Israel Online". Flora of Israel Online. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
- ^ "Alkannin | 517-88-4". www.chemicalbook.com. Retrieved 2017-05-11.
- ^ Vassilios P. Papageorgiou; Andreana N. Assimopoulou; Elias A. Couladouros; David Hepworth; K. C. Nicolaou (1999). "The Chemistry and Biology of Alkannin, Shikonin, and Related Naphthazarin Natural Products". Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 38 (3): 270–300. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1521-3773(19990201)38:3<270::AID-ANIE270>3.0.CO;2-0.
- ^ Chen, X (Sep 2003). "Shikonin, a component of chinese herbal medicine, inhibits chemokine receptor function and suppresses human immunodeficiency virus type 1". Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 47 (9): 2810–6. doi:10.1128/aac.47.9.2810-2816.2003. PMC 182643. PMID 12936978.
- ^ Gao, H.; et al. (2011). "Anti-adenovirus activities of shikonin, a component of Chinese herbal medicine in vitro". Biol Pharm Bull. 34 (2): 197–202. doi:10.1248/bpb.34.197. PMID 21415527.
- ^ Chen, J; Xie, J; Jiang, Z; Wang, B; Wang, Y; Hu, X (2011). . Oncogene. 30 (42): 4297–4306. doi:10.1038/onc.2011.137. PMID 21516121.
- Flora of Lebanon
- Flora of Israel
- Flora of Palestine (region)
- Boraginaceae