''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family

Brassicaceae Brassicaceae () or (the older) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous plants, while some are shrubs. The le ...

. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some of the genera are

nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...

(Ni)

hyperaccumulators A hyperaccumulator is a plant capable of growing in soil or water with very high concentrations of metals, absorbing these metals through their roots, and concentrating extremely high levels of metals in their tissues. The metals are concentrated a ...

(a plant capable of growing in soil or water with very high concentrations of metals).

Description

It is similar in habit to ''Alyssum'' and has small yellow flowers, except that it has a suborbicular pouch and one seeded cells. The plants are characterised by inflorescences that are usually compound, subumbellate

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

s. There is a single ovule per loculus, and the fruit valves are at most only slightly inflated.

Range

It's widespread native range is from temperate

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...

to subarctic America. It is found in Europe (within Albania, Bulgaria, Corsica, Crete, Czechoslovakia, East Aegean Islands, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Sardina, Sicily, Switzerland and Yugoslavia), Eastern Europe (within Central European Russia, Crimea, East European Russia, North European Russia, South European Russia and Ukraine),

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

(within Altai, Buryatiya, Chita Oblast, Irkutsk Oblast, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Tuva, West Siberia and Yakutskiya), the Russian Far East (within Amur Oblast, Khabarovsk Krai and Magadan Oblast), Central Asia (within Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan), the Caucasus (North Caucasus and Transcaucasus), Western Asia (Afghanistan, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey), China (

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...

and

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

and also Subarctic America (within Alaska, Northwest Territories and the Yukon). The Balkan Peninsula is a major diversity center. Greece has the largest number of species; next, Albania is known to have 7 species. It is also found on the

serpentine soils Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially antig ...

Lesbos Island Lesbos or Lesvos ( el, Λέσβος, Lésvos ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece. It is separated from Anatolia, Asia Minor ...

(in Greece).

Taxonomy

''Odontarrhena'' was a taxonomically difficult genus of the tribe ''Alysseae''. However, recent morphological and molecular evidence (DNA analysis) clearly showed that ''Alyssum'' and ''Odontarrhena'' are

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

clades within the tribe ''Alysseae'', deserving separate generic status (Warwick et al. 2008; Cecchi et al. 2010; Rešetnik et al. 2013; Li et al. 2015). The genus name of ''Odontarrhena'' is derived from two Greek words; ''odous'' meaning tooth and ''arrhen'' meaning male. It was first described and published by

Carl Anton von Meyer Carl Anton von Meyer (in Russian: Карл Анто́нович фон Ме́йер, ''Karl Antonovich von Meyer'') (1 April 1795 – 24 February 1855) was a German, Russified botanist and explorer. Meyer was born in Vitebsk. He received his educa ...

in Flora Altaica (edited by

Carl Friedrich von Ledebour Carl Friedrich von Ledebour (8 July 1786, Stralsund – 4 July 1851, Munich;NDB/ADB Deutsche Bi ...

) Vol.3 on page 58 in 1831. The genus is recognized by the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

and the

Agricultural Research Service The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area. ARS is charged with ext ...

, but they still list it as synonym of ''Alyssum'' and they only list ''Odontarrhena obovata'' as a known species.

Known species

The following list includes all species recognised by either

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

(as of January 2022) or by ''BrassiBase'' (version 1.3, June 2020). Of these, 80 species are recognised by both databases, with the remaining 16 accepted by only one of them (this is indicated in each entry). * ''

Odontarrhena akamasica ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * ''

Odontarrhena albiflora ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * ''

Odontarrhena alpestris ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * ''

Odontarrhena americana ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' ; only in Plants of the World Online; in BrassiBase it is a synonym of ''

Odontarrhena obovata ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * ''

Odontarrhena anatolica ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * ''

Odontarrhena argentea ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * ''

Odontarrhena baldaccii ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' ; only in Plants of the World Online * ''

Odontarrhena bertolonii ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * ''

Odontarrhena borzaeana ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' ; accepted in BrassiBase; in Plants of the World Online it is a synonym of ''

Odontarrhena obtusifolia ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * ''

Odontarrhena bracteata ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * '' Odontarrhena caliacrae'' ; only in Plants of the World Online; in BrassiBase it is a synonym of ''

Odontarrhena tortuosa ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' subsp. ''caliacrae'' * ''

Odontarrhena callichroa ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * '' Odontarrhena carica'' * '' Odontarrhena cassia'' * '' Odontarrhena chalcidica'' * ''

Odontarrhena chondrogyna ''Odontarrhena chondrogyna'' is a species of perennial flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. It was previously included in the genus ''Alyssum'', and hence named ''Alyssum chondrogynum'', but was assigned to the newly established ''Odontar ...

'' * '' Odontarrhena cilicica'' * ''

Odontarrhena condensata ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * ''

Odontarrhena constellata ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * ''

Odontarrhena corsica ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * '' Odontarrhena corymbosoidea'' * '' Odontarrhena crenulata'' * '' Odontarrhena cyprica'' * '' Odontarrhena davisiana'' * '' Odontarrhena debarensis'' * '' Odontarrhena decipiens'' ; according to Plants of the World Online; on BrassiBase it is '' Odontarrhena lurensis'' * '' Odontarrhena diffusa'' ; accepted in BrassiBase; in Plants of the World Online it is a synonym of ''

'' * '' Odontarrhena discolor'' * ''

Odontarrhena dubertretii ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * '' Odontarrhena dudleyi'' * '' Odontarrhena elatior'' ; accepted in BrassiBase; in Plants of the World Online it is a synonym of '' Odontarrhena chalcidica'' * ''

Odontarrhena eriophylla ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * '' Odontarrhena euboea'' * ''

Odontarrhena fallacina ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' ; accepted in BrassiBase; in Plants of the World Online it is a synonym of '' Odontarrhena heldreichii'' * ''

Odontarrhena fedtschenkoana ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * ''

Odontarrhena filiformis ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * '' Odontarrhena floribunda'' * ''

Odontarrhena fragillima ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * '' Odontarrhena gehamensis'' * ''

Odontarrhena gevgelicensis ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * '' Odontarrhena giosnana'' * '' Odontarrhena haradjianii'' * '' Odontarrhena haussknechtii'' * '' Odontarrhena heldreichii'' * '' Odontarrhena huber-morathii'' * '' Odontarrhena inflata'' * '' Odontarrhena kavadarcensis'' * ''

Odontarrhena kurdica ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * ''

Odontarrhena lanigera ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * ''

Odontarrhena lesbiaca ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * ''

Odontarrhena libanotica ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * '' Odontarrhena litvinovii'' * '' Odontarrhena lurensis'' ; according to BrassiBase; in Plants of the World Online it is '' Odontarrhena decipiens'' * ''

Odontarrhena markgrafii ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' ; accepted in BrassiBase; in Plants of the World Online it is a synonym of '' Odontarrhena chalcidica'' * ''

Odontarrhena masmenaea ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * '' Odontarrhena metajnae'' * '' Odontarrhena moravensis'' ; only in Plants of the World Online * '' Odontarrhena mozaffarianii'' ; only in Plants of the World Online * '' Odontarrhena mughlaei'' * ''

Odontarrhena muralis ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * '' Odontarrhena nebrodensis'' * ''

'' * ''

'' * '' Odontarrhena orbelica'' * ''

Odontarrhena oxycarpa ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * ''

Odontarrhena pateri ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * '' Odontarrhena peltarioidea'' * ''

Odontarrhena penjwinensis ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * '' Odontarrhena pinifolia'' * '' Odontarrhena polyclada'' * '' Odontarrhena pterocarpa'' * ''

Odontarrhena pugiostyla ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * ''

Odontarrhena rigida ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' ; only in Plants of the World Online * '' Odontarrhena robertiana'' * '' Odontarrhena samarifera'' * '' Odontarrhena samia'' * '' Odontarrhena schirwanica'' ; accepted in BrassiBase; in Plants of the World Online it is a synonym of ''

'' subsp. ''tortuosa'' * '' Odontarrhena serpentina'' * '' Odontarrhena serpentinicola'' * ''

Odontarrhena serpyllifolia ''Alyssum serpyllifolium'', the thyme-leaved alison, is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae, native to the western Mediterranean region. It is adapted to serpentine soils. The Royal Horticultural Society recommends it for rock ...

'' ; according to BrassiBase; in Plants of the World Online it is '' Alyssum serpyllifolium'' * '' Odontarrhena sibirica'' * '' Odontarrhena singarensis'' * '' Odontarrhena skopjensis'' * '' Odontarrhena smolikana'' * ''

Odontarrhena stipitata ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * ''

Odontarrhena stridii ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' ; only in Plants of the World Online * ''

Odontarrhena subalpina ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * '' Odontarrhena subspinosa'' * '' Odontarrhena syriaca'' * '' Odontarrhena szarabiaca'' * '' Odontarrhena tavolarae'' * ''

'' * ''

Odontarrhena trapeziformis ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * '' Odontarrhena troodi'' * ''

Odontarrhena turgida ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

'' * ''

Odontarrhena virgata ''Odontarrhena'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They were originally a separate genus and then were amalgamated into the ''Alyssum'' genus, but then morphological and molecular evidence has reseperated them. Some ...

Uses

About 48 members of the ''Odontarrhena'' species, are known to be

(Ni)

(a plant capable of growing in soil or water with very high concentrations of metals). The accumulation of nickel was first discovered in the Italian endemic ''Odontarrhena bertolonii'' (syn. ''Alyssum bertolonii'' by Minguzzi and Vergnano in 1948, Of the 168 or so species of ''Alyssum'', 45 species were determined to be hyperaccumulators of nickel, all from the Odontarrhena section. The metal is found in the roots, stem, leaves and flowers of the plant.

References

Other sources

* Cecchi, L., Colzi, I., Coppi, A., Gonnelli, C. & Selvi, F. (2013) Diversity and biogeography of Ni-hyperaccumulators of Alyssum section Odontarrhena (Brassicaceae) in the central western Mediterranean: evidence from karyology, morphology and DNA sequence data. Botanical journal of the Linnaean Society 173: 269–289. * Nyárády, E.J. (1929a) ��1928”Studiu preliminar asupra unor specii de Alyssum din secţia Odontarrhena. Vorstudium über einige Arten der Section Odontarrhena der Gattung Alyssum (Forsetzung). Buletinul Gradinii Botanice si al Muzeului Botanic dela Universitatea din Cluj 8 (2–4): 152–156. {{Taxonbar, from=Q63752784 Brassicaceae Brassicaceae genera Plants described in 1845 Flora of Czechoslovakia Flora of Hungary Flora of Switzerland Flora of Corsica Flora of France Flora of Sardinia Flora of Southeastern Europe Flora of Eastern Europe Flora of Siberia Flora of the Russian Far East Flora of Central Asia Flora of the Caucasus Flora of Western Asia Flora of Saudi Arabia Flora of Subarctic America