''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
Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus '' Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plan ...
, native to cool temperate regions of the
Northern Hemisphere. Its name is believed to derive from the Italian region of
Liguria
it, Ligure
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.
[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.Huxle ...
''
*''
Ligusticum albanicum''
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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''
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Ligusticum calderi''
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Ligusticum californicum''
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Ligusticum canadense
''Ligusticum canadense'', known by the common names of American lovage, boar hog root, and Canadian licorice-root, is a member of the carrot family, Apiaceae. It is native to the eastern United States, primarily in Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia, a ...
''
*''
Ligusticum canbyi'' - Canby's licorice root
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Ligusticum filicinum''
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Ligusticum gingidium''
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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
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Ligusticum holopetalum''
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Ligusticum hultenii''
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Ligusticum huteri''
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Ligusticum ibukicola''
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Ligusticum jeholense''
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Ligusticum monnieri''
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Ligusticum mutellina'' – alpine lovage
*''
Ligusticum porteri'' – oshá
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Ligusticum scoticum
''Ligusticum scoticum'', known as Scots lovage, or Scottish licorice-root, is a perennial flowering plant in the celery family Apiaceae (previously Umbelliferae) found near the coasts of northern Europe and north-eastern North America. It grows u ...
'' – Scots lovage
*''
Ligusticum sinense'' – ''gaoben'' 藁本
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Ligusticum striatum'' - Szechuan lovage, Szechwan lovage, ''chuanxiong, chuan xiong'' 川芎
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Ligusticum tenuifolium'' – Idaho lovage
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Ligusticum vaginatum''
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Ligusticum verticillatum'' – 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
Chinese herbology () is the theory of traditional Chinese herbal therapy, which accounts for the majority of treatments in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). A ''Nature'' editorial described TCM as "fraught with pseudoscience", and said that t ...
, where it is called ''chuānxiōng'' (
川 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
Tumor necrosis factor (TNF, cachexin, or cachectin; formerly known as tumor necrosis factor alpha or TNF-α) is an adipokine and a cytokine. TNF is a member of the TNF superfamily, which consists of various transmembrane proteins with a homolog ...
production and TNF-alpha-mediated
NF-kappaB activation. One study conducted in Japan showed the active compounds found in ''
Ligusticum sinense'' 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
/ref>
References
Flora of North America
Apioideae genera
{{Apiaceae-stub