''Ligusticum'' (lovage, licorice root) is a genus of about 60 species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the family Apiaceae, native to cool temperate regions of the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

. Its name is believed to derive from the Italian region of

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

.Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan .

Species

*''

Ligusticum ajanense ''Ligusticum'' (lovage, licorice root) is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Its name is believed to derive from the Italian region of Liguria.Huxl ...

'' *'' Ligusticum albanicum'' *''

Ligusticum apiifolium ''Ligusticum apiifolium'' is a species of plant in the carrot family known by the common names celery-leafed lovage and celery-leaf licorice-root. It resembles other carrot-like plants, bearing umbel In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence tha ...

'' *'' Ligusticum brachylobum'' *'' Ligusticum calderi'' *''

Ligusticum californicum ''Ligusticum'' (lovage, licorice root) is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Its name is believed to derive from the Italian region of Liguria.Huxle ...

'' *'' Ligusticum canadense'' *'' Ligusticum canbyi'' - Canby's licorice root *''

Ligusticum filicinum ''Ligusticum'' (lovage, licorice root) is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Its name is believed to derive from the Italian region of Liguria.Huxl ...

'' *''

Ligusticum gingidium ''Ligusticum'' (lovage, licorice root) is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Its name is believed to derive from the Italian region of Liguria.Huxle ...

'' *''

Ligusticum grayi ''Ligusticum grayi'' is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by the common name Gray's licorice-root. It is native to the western United States from Montana to California, where it grows in moist, mountainous habitat, such as ...

'' - oshala, Gray's lovage *''

Ligusticum holopetalum ''Ligusticum'' (lovage, licorice root) is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Its name is believed to derive from the Italian region of Liguria.Huxle ...

'' *''

Ligusticum hultenii ''Ligusticum'' (lovage, licorice root) is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Its name is believed to derive from the Italian region of Liguria.Huxl ...

'' *''

Ligusticum huteri ''Ligusticum huteri'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, endemic to the Serra de Tramuntana on Majorca, Spain. The plant's natural habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical an ...

'' *''

Ligusticum ibukicola ''Ligusticum'' (lovage, licorice root) is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Its name is believed to derive from the Italian region of Liguria.Huxl ...

'' *''

Ligusticum jeholense ''Ligusticum'' (lovage, licorice root) is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Its name is believed to derive from the Italian region of Liguria.Huxl ...

'' *''

Ligusticum monnieri ''Ligusticum'' (lovage, licorice root) is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Its name is believed to derive from the Italian region of Liguria.Huxl ...

'' *''

Ligusticum mutellina ''Ligusticum'' (lovage, licorice root) is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Its name is believed to derive from the Italian region of Liguria.Huxl ...

'' – alpine lovage *''

Ligusticum porteri ''Ligusticum porteri'', also known as ''oshá'' (pronounced o-SHAW), wild parsnip, Porter’s Lovage or wild celery, is a perennial herb found in parts of the Rocky Mountains and northern New Mexico, especially in the southwestern United States. ...

'' – oshá *'' Ligusticum scoticum'' – Scots lovage *''

Ligusticum sinense ''Ligusticum'' (lovage, licorice root) is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Its name is believed to derive from the Italian region of Liguria.Huxl ...

'' – ''gaoben'' 藁本 *''

Ligusticum striatum ''Ligusticum striatum'' (syn. ''L. wallichii'') is a flowering plant native to India, Kashmir, and Nepal in the carrot family best known for its use in traditional Chinese medicine where it is considered one of the 50 fundamental herbs. It is k ...

'' - Szechuan lovage, Szechwan lovage, ''chuanxiong, chuan xiong'' 川芎 *''

Ligusticum tenuifolium ''Ligusticum'' (lovage, licorice root) is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Its name is believed to derive from the Italian region of Liguria.Huxl ...

'' – Idaho lovage *''

Ligusticum vaginatum ''Ligusticum'' (lovage, licorice root) is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Its name is believed to derive from the Italian region of Liguria.Huxle ...

'' *''

Ligusticum verticillatum ''Ligusticum'' (lovage, licorice root) is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Its name is believed to derive from the Italian region of Liguria.Huxl ...

'' – northern lovage

Former species

''Ligusticum mutellinoides'' – small alpine lovage, is a synonym of '' Neogaya simplex'' (L.) Meisn.

Uses

The roots of several species are used as medicinal herbs. '' L. striatum'' (in older literature ''L. wallichi'' or ''L. chuanxiong'') is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in Chinese herbology, where it is called ''chuānxiōng'' (

川 Radical 47 or radical river () meaning "river" is one of the 31 Kangxi radicals (214 radicals total) composed of three strokes. In the ''Kangxi Dictionary'', there are 26 characters (out of 49,030) to be found under this radical. is also the ...

芎); in English, Szechwan lovage. '' L. porteri'' (osha) is used in Western herbal medicine. Chinese ''Ligusticum'' root contains alkaloids that have been shown in studies to inhibit TNF-alpha production and TNF-alpha-mediated NF-kappaB activation. One study conducted in Japan showed the active compounds found in ''

'' have both anti-inflammatory and pain-reducing effects, exerting its anti-inflammatory benefits in the early and the late stages of processes in the inflammatory pathology. Both ''Ligusticum sinense'' and '' L. jeholens'' essential oils contain natural antimicrobial and antioxidant agents.Jihua Wang, Liang Xu, Ling Yang, Zhilong Liu and Ligang Zhou "Composition, Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activities of Essential Oils from ''Ligusticum sinense'' and ''L. jeholense'' (Umbelliferae) from China" ''Rec. Nat. Prod.'' 5:4 (2011) 314-31
Records of Natural Products
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References

Flora of North America Apioideae genera {{Apiaceae-stub