''Brickellia'' is a

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of about 100 to 110 species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

s in the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

, known commonly as brickellbushes. They are found in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

. Many

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

are native to the American southwest, especially

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. ''Brickellia'' is among the more basal lineages of the

Eupatorieae Eupatorieae is a tribe of over 2000D.J.N.Hind & H.E.Robinson. 2007. Tribe Eupatorieae In: ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' vol.VIII. (Joachim W.Kadereit & Charles Jeffrey, volume editors. Klaus Kubitzky, general editor). Springer-Ve ...

and should not be assigned to a

subtribe Subtribe is a taxonomic category ranking which is below the rank of tribe and above genus. The standard suffix for a subtribe is -ina (in animals) or -inae (in plants Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plant ...

pending further research. They are mostly woody

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s. Some species have a very strong pleasant scent, while others smell distasteful. All contain high amounts of

essential oil An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the o ...

Germacrene D Germacrenes are a class of volatile organic hydrocarbons, specifically, sesquiterpenes. Germacrenes are typically produced in a number of plant species for their antimicrobial and insecticidal properties, though they also play a role as insect ph ...

, a natural

insecticide Insecticides are substances used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and by consumers. Insecticides are claimed to b ...

, is found in '' B. veronicifolia'' and probably other species, if not all. Despite their chemical defenses, brickellbushes are food for

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

s of certain

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

. These include the noctuid moths ''

Schinia trifascia ''Schinia trifascia'', the three-lined flower moth, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1818. It is found in North America from Ontario and Massachusetts south to Florida and west to Arizona, C ...

'', '' Schinia oleagina'', which is known only from ''Brickellia'', '' Schinia buta'', which is only known from '' B. californica'', and '' Schinia gracilenta'', which is only known from '' B. eupatorioides''. The genus is named for John Brickell, 1748–1809, Irish-born physician and naturalist

Classification

The genera '' Brickelliastrum'' (United States and Mexico), '' Asanthus'' (United States and Mexico), ''Dyscritogyne'' (Mexico), and '' Steviopsis'' have been separated from ''Brickellia'' by many 20th century authors (and all four combined into ''Steviopsis'' by some). Their correct placement is still debated, but

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

analysis has provided evidence that ''Brickelliastrum'', ''Asanthus'', and ''Steviopsis'' (including ''Dyscritogyne'', which is not distinct from ''Steviopsis'') represent distinct lineages, and should be recognized as separate from ''Brickellia'', while '' uhnia', '' arroetea' and '' hanerostylis' should be treated as synonyms.Schilling, E. E., et al. (2013)
Relationships of ''Asanthus'' (Asteraceae, Eupatorieae).
''Systematic Botany'' 38(1), 253-58. ;Species''Brickellia'' species records.
Flora of North America.GRIN Species Records of ''Brickellia''.
Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Brickellia longifolia var longifolia 1

Brickellia eupatorioides var corymbulosa

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4965994 Flora of Central America Flora of North America Asteraceae genera Taxa named by Stephen Elliott