''Dysphania'' is a plant genus in the family

Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus ''Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making i ...

, distributed worldwide from the tropics and subtropics to warm-temperate regions.

Description

The species of genus ''Dysphania'' are

annual plant An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seeds, within one growing season, and then dies. The length of growing seasons and period in which they take place vary according to geographical ...

s or short-lived

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 widel ...

s. They are covered with stalked or sessile

glandular hair Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...

s and therefore with aromatic scent (or malodorous to some people). Some species have uniseriate multicellular

trichome Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a p ...

s, rarely becoming glabrous. The stems are erect, ascending, decumbent, or prostrate and mostly branched. The alternate

leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

are mostly petiolate, (the upper ones sometimes sessile). The leaf blade is linear, lanceolate, oblanceolate, ovate, or elliptic, often pinnately lobed, with cuneate or truncate base, entire, dentate, or serrate margins. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are forme ...

s are terminal, loose, simple or compound cymes or dense axillary glomerules.

Bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or o ...

s are absent or reduced. Flowers are bisexual (rarely unisexual), with up to five

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s connate only basally or fused to form sac, one to five

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the fila ...

s, and a superior ovary with one to three filiform stigmata. Chenopodium botrys seeds chbo2 002 php

The fruit is often enclosed in perianth. The membranous

pericarp Fruit anatomy is the plant anatomy of the internal structure of fruit. Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Aggr ...

is adherent or nonadherent to the horizontal or vertical, subglobose, or lenticular seed. The seed coat is smooth or rugose. The annular or incompletely annular embryo is surrounding the copious farinose

perisperm In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the ''integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the megasporangium), and the fe ...

Chromosome numbers

Chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins ar ...

numbers reported are 2n=16, 18, 32, 36, and 48.

Photosynthesis pathway

All species of genus ''Dysphania'' are C₃ plants with normal leaf anatomy.

Distribution

The genus ''Dysphania'' is distributed worldwide from the tropics and subtropics to warm-temperate regions. In

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, the species are native,

archaeophyte An archaeophyte is a plant species which is non-native to a geographical region, but which was an introduced species in "ancient" times, rather than being a modern introduction. Those arriving after are called neophytes. The cut-off date is u ...

s, or naturalized, in the northern regions absent or rarely adventive.

Systematics

The genus ''Dysphania'' belongs to the tribe Dysphanieae in the subfamily

Chenopodioideae The Chenopodioideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Amaranthaceae in the APG III system, which is largely based on molecular phylogeny, but were included - together with other subfamilies - in family Chenopodiaceae in the Cronqui ...

within the plant family

. According to

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups ...

research, it is related to genera '' Suckleya'' and ''

Cycloloma ''Cycloloma'' is a monotypic genus which contains the sole species ''Cycloloma atriplicifolium'', which is known by the common names winged pigweed, tumble ringwing, plains tumbleweed, and tumble-weed. page 16 This plant is native to central No ...

''. ''Dysphania'' was first published in 1810 by Robert Brown in ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae'', p. 411-412. Type species is '' Dysphania littoralis'' R.Br.. The genus ''Dysphania'' primarily comprised 7-10 Australian species. Sometimes they were grouped as an own family, Dysphaniaceae Pax & Hoffmann, or even regarded as members of families Illecebraceae and

Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactacea ...

. In 2002, Sergei L. Mosyakin & Steven E. Clemants extended the genus for the glandular species of ''Chenopodium'' subgenus ''Ambrosia'' A.J.Scott.

Synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are ...

for ''Dysphania'' R.Br. are ''Neobotrydium'' Moldenke, ''Roubieva'' Moq. and ''Teloxys'' Moq.. Dysphania botrys BB-1913

The genus ''Dysphania'' consists of four sections with about 40 species: * ''Dysphania'' sect. ''Adenois'' (Moq.) Mosyakin & Clemants: 15 species, native in South and Middle America, now distributed worldwide from the tropics to warm-temperate regions: ** ''

Dysphania ambrosioides ''Dysphania ambrosioides'', formerly ''Chenopodium ambrosioides'', known as Jesuit's tea, Mexican-tea, ''payqu'' ''(paico)'', ''epazote'', ''mastruz'', or ''herba sanctæ Mariæ'', is an annual or short-lived perennial herb native to Central ...

'' (L.) Mosyakin & Clemants (Syn.: ''Chenopodium ambrosioides'' L., ''Dysphania anthelmintica'' (L.) Mosyakin & Clemants),

Epazote ''Dysphania ambrosioides'', formerly ''Chenopodium ambrosioides'', known as Jesuit's tea, Mexican-tea, ''payqu'' ''(paico)'', ''epazote'', ''mastruz'', or ''herba sanctæ Mariæ'', is an annual or short-lived perennial herb native to Central A ...

, Mexican-tea: native in North- and South America, naturalized in other continents. ** '' Dysphania burkartii'' (Aellen) Mosyakin & Clemants (Syn.: ''Chenopodium ambrosioides'' L. subsp. ''burkartii'' Aellen, ''Chenopodium burkartii'' (Aellen) Vorosch., ''Dysphania dunosa'' (L.E.Simón) Mosyakin & Clemants) ** '' Dysphania chilensis'' (Schrad.) Mosyakin & Clemants (Syn.: ''Chenopodium chilense'' Schrad., ''Chenopodium ambrosioides'' var. ''chilense'' (Schrad.) Spegazzini; ''Chenopodium ambrosioides'' var. ''vagans'' (Standley) J.T.Howell; ''Dysphania andicola'' (Phil.) Mosyakin & Clemants, ''Dysphania sooana'' (Aellen) Mosyakin & Clemants): native in Argentina and Chile. ** '' Dysphania multifida'' (L.) Mosyakin & Clemants, Syn.: ''Chenopodium multifidum'' L., ''Roubieva multifida'' (L.) Moq., ''Teloxys multifida'' (L.) W.A.Weber, ''Dysphania macrocarpa'' (Phil.) Mosyakin & Clemants), Cut-leaf goosefoot, small-leaved wormseed: native in South America, introduced from the tropics to warm-temperate regions. ** '' Dysphania oblanceolata'' (Speg.) Mosyakin & Clemants (Syn.: ''Chenopodium ambrosioides'' L. var. ''oblanceolatum'' Speg., ''Chenopodium oblanceolatum'' (Speg.) Giusti) ** '' Dysphania tomentosa'' (Thouars) Mosyakin & Clemants (Syn.: ''Chenopodium tomentosum'' Thouars) ** '' Dysphania venturii'' (Aellen) Mosyakin & Clemants (Syn.: ''Chenopodium ambrosioides'' L. subsp. ''venturii'' Aellen, ''Chenopodium venturii'' (Aellen) Cabrera) * ''Dysphania'' sect. ''Botryoides'' (C.A.Mey.) Mosyakin & Clemants: with 3 subsections: ** ''Dysphania'' sect. ''Botryoides'' subsect. ''Botrys'' (Aellen & Iljin) Mosyakin & Clemants: with 9 species, worldwide, native in southern North America, northern South America, southern Eurasia and Africa. *** '' Dysphania botrys'' (L.) Mosyakin & Clemants, Syn.: ''Chenopodium botrys'' L.), Jerusalem-oak, feather-geranium: native from Middle Europa to China (Xinjiang), naturalized or cultivated in other temperate regions. *** '' Dysphania nepalensis'' (Colla) Mosyakin & Clemants (Syn.: ''Chenopodium nepalense'' Colla), in Central Asia *** '' Dysphania procera'' (Hochst. ex Moq.) Mosyakin & Clemants (Syn.: ''Chenopodium procerum'' Hochst. ex Moq.) *** '' Dysphania pseudomultiflora'' (Murr) Verloove & Lambinon (Syn.: ''Chenopodium foetidum'' Schrad. subsp. ''pseudomultiflorum'' Murr): In South Africa. *** '' Dysphania schraderiana'' (Schult.) Mosyakin & Clemants, Syn. ''Chenopodium schraderianum'' Schult.) ** ''Dysphania'' sect. ''Botryoides'' subsect. ''Incisa'' (Standley) Mosyakin & Clemants: With 1 species in southwestern North America and in South America: *** '' Dysphania dissecta'' (Moq.) Mosyakin & Clemants (Syn.: ''Ambrina dissecta'' Moq., ''Chenopodium dissectum'' (Moq.) Standley) * ''Dysphania'' sect. ''Dysphania'', with 8 species in Australia: ** '' Dysphania glandulosa'' Paul G.Wilson, in Australia ** '' Dysphania glomulifera'' Paul G.Wilson (Syn.: ''Dysphania myriocephala'' Benth., ''Chenopodium myriocephalum'' (Benth.) Aellen), in Australia ** '' Dysphania kalpari'' Paul G.Wilson, in Australia ** '' Dysphania littoralis'' R.Br., in Australia ** '' Dysphania plantaginella'' F.Muell., in Australia ** '' Dysphania platycarpa'' Paul G.Wilson, in Australia ** '' Dysphania rhadinostachya'' (F.Muell.) A.J.Scott (Syn.: ''Chenopodium rhadinostachyum'' F. Muell.), in Australia ** ''

Dysphania simulans ''Dysphania'' may refer to: * ''Dysphania'' (moth), a Lepidoptera animal genus * ''Dysphania'' (plant), an Amaranthaceae plant genus {{Genus disambiguation ...

'' F.Muell. & Tate ex Tate, in Australia ** '' Dysphania sphaerosperma'' Paul G.Wilson, in Australia ** '' Dysphania valida'' Paul G.Wilson, in Australia * ''Dysphania'' sect. ''Orthospora'' (R.Br.) Mosyakin & Clemants: with 7 species in New Zealand and Australia, some species introduced in other regions: ** '' Dysphania carinata'' (R.Br.) Mosyakin & Clemants, Syn.: ''Chenopodium carinatum'' R.Br.): native in Australia, naturalized in other continents. ** '' Dysphania cristata'' (F.Muell.) Mosyakin & Clemants), Syn.: ''Blitum cristatum'' F.Muell., ''Chenopodium cristatum'' (F.Muell.) F.Muell.): native in Australia, naturalized in other continents. ** '' Dysphania melanocarpa'' (J.M.Black) Mosyakin & Clemants (Syn.: ''Chenopodium carinatum'' R.Br. var. ''melanocarpum'' J.M.Black, ''Chenopodium melanocarpum'' (J.M.Black) J.M.Black), black crumbweed ** '' Dysphania pumilio'' (R.Br.) Mosyakin & Clemants, Syn.: ''Chenopodium pumilio'' R.Br., ''Teloxys pumilio'' (R.Br.) W.A.Weber), Clammy goosefoot, small crumbweed: native in Australia, naturalized in other continents. ** ''

Dysphania pusilla ''Dysphania pusilla'', formerly ''Chenopodium pusillum'', otherwise known as pygmy goosefoot or parahia in Māori, is a prostrate herb endemic to the north-eastern parts of South Island, New Zealand. Presumed extinct after 56 years without rec ...

'' Mosyakin & Clemants (Syn.: ''Chenopodium pusillum'' Hook. f.) ** '' Dysphania saxatilis'' (Paul G.Wilson) Mosyakin & Clemants (Syn.: ''Chenopodium saxatile'' P.G.Wilson) ** '' Dysphania truncata'' (Paul G.Wilson) Mosyakin & Clemants (Syn.: ''Chenopodium truncatum'' P.G.Wilson) * Not yet grouped to a section: ** '' Dysphania congolana'' (Hauman) Mosyakin & Clemants (Syn.: ''Chenopodium glaucum'' L. var. ''congolanum'' Hauman, ''Chenopodium congolanum'' (Hauman) Brenan), in Africa ** '' Dysphania graveolens'' (Willd.) Mosyakin & Clemants ** '' Dysphania minuata'' (Aellen) Mosyakin & Clemants (Syn.: ''Chenopodium minuatum'' Aellen) ** '' Dysphania stellata'' (Standley) Mosyakin & Clemants (Syn.: ''Chenopodium stellatum'' S.Watson): This species has 6-8 tepals. Excluded species: '' Teloxys aristata'' (Syn. ''Dysphania aristata'' (L.) Mosyakin & Clemants, ''Chenopodium aristatum'' L.).

Usage

or Mexican tea (''

'') and American wormseed ('' Dysphania anthelmintica'') are medicinal herbs. Epazote is used as a

tisane Herbal teas, also known as herbal infusions and less commonly called tisanes (UK and US , US also ), are beverages made from the infusion or decoction of herbs, spices, or other plant material in hot water. Oftentimes herb tea, or the plain t ...

and as an

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 t ...

. Some species of ''Dysphania'' are used as

dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution and ...

References

* Steven E. Clemants & Sergei L. Mosyakin (2003)
''Dysphania'' - online
In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.): ''Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 4: Magnoliophyta: Caryophyllidae, part 1''. Oxford University Press, New York, , p. 267. (chapters description, distribution, systematics) * Sergei L. Mosyakin, Steven E. Clemants (2008): ''Further Transfers of glandular-pubescent species from Chenopodium subg. Ambrosia to Dysphania (Chenopodiaceae)''. In: ''Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas'' Vol.2, Nr. 1, p. 425–431. (chapter systematics) * Gelin Zhu, Sergei L. Mosyakin & Steven E. Clemants (2003): ''Chenopodiaceae''
''Dysphania'' – online
In: Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (Hrsg.): ''Flora of China. Volume 5: Ulmaceae through Basellaceae''. Science Press u.a., Beijing u.a., , p. 376. (chapter description, vernacular name)
species and distribution at GRIN
retrieved 30 November 2011 Gudrun Kadereit, Evgeny V. Mavrodiev, Elizabeth H. Zacharias, Alexander P. Sukhorukov (2010): ''Molecular phylogeny of Atripliceae (Chenopodioideae, Chenopodiaceae): Implications for systematics, biogeography, flower and fruit evolution, and the origin of C4 Photosynthesis.'' In: ''American Journal of Botany'', 97(10), p. 1664–1687. ''Dysphania ambrosioides'' at ''Liber Herbarum''
retrieved 30 November 2011. ''Dysphania schraderiana'' at ''Liber Herbarum''
retrieved 30 November 2011. First publication scanned at ''Biodiversity Heritage Library''
/ref> Erich Oberdorfer, Theo Müller (1983): ''Pflanzensoziologische Exkursionsflora''. 5. ed., Ulmer, Stuttgart, , p.342 ''Tropicos''
retrieved 30 November 2011. Pertti Uotila (2011): ''Chenopodiaceae (pro parte majore)''. – In: ''Euro+Med Plantbase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Dysphania''
''Euro+Med Plantbase''
retrieved 30 November 2011.

External links

Distribution Map for Europe
{{Taxonbar, from=Q726614 Amaranthaceae genera Chenopodioideae