''Dysphania'' is a genus of plants 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, maki ...

. Species of the genus are found 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. Globally, 6% of all plant species and 15% of herbaceous plants (excluding trees and shrubs) are ...

s or short-lived

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

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 plant ...

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

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

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 In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

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

Bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

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 (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

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 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. Fruitlike structures may develop directly from the seed itself rather th ...

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 fema ...

Chromosome numbers

Chromosome A chromosome is a package of DNA containing part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes, the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with nucleosome-forming packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells, the most import ...

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 continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, 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 us ...

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

adventive An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

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 the family Chenopodiaceae, or goose ...

within the plant family

. According to

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

research, it is related to genus '' Suckleya''. ''Dysphania'' was first published in 1810 by

Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author Entertainers and artists * Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer * Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...

in ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae'', p. 411-412. Type species is '' Dysphania littoralis'' R.Br.. The genus ''Dysphania'' comprised primarily 7-10 Australian species. Some authorities group them as their own separate family, Dysphaniaceae, or alternatively treat them as members of the families Illecebraceae and

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

The genus ''Dysphania'' consists of 46 species classified in at least four sections: * ''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 epazote, Jesuit's tea, Mexican tea or wormseed, is an annual or short-lived perennial herb native to the Americas. Description ''Dysphania ambrosioides'' is an annual ...

'' (L.) Mosyakin & Clemants -

Epazote ''Dysphania ambrosioides'', formerly ''Chenopodium ambrosioides'', known as epazote, Jesuit's tea, Mexican tea or wormseed, is an annual or short-lived perennial herb native to the Americas. Description ''Dysphania ambrosioides'' is an annual p ...

, Mexican-tea: native in North- and South America, naturalized in other continents. ** ''

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

'' (L.) Mosyakin & Clemants ** '' Dysphania burkartii'' (Aellen) Mosyakin & Clemants ** '' Dysphania chilensis'' (Schrad.) Mosyakin & Clemants - native in Argentina and Chile. ** '' Dysphania multifida'' (L.) 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 ** '' Dysphania tomentosa'' (Thouars) Mosyakin & Clemants ** '' Dysphania venturii'' (Aellen) Mosyakin & Clemants * ''Dysphania'' sect. ''Botryoides'' (C.A.Mey.) Mosyakin & Clemants: with two 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 - Jerusalem-oak, feather-geranium: native from Middle Europa to China (Xinjiang), naturalized or cultivated in other temperate regions. *** '' Dysphania nepalensis'' (Link ex Colla) Mosyakin & Clemants - in Central Asia *** '' Dysphania procera'' (Hochst. ex Moq.) Mosyakin & Clemants *** '' Dysphania pseudomultiflora'' (Murray) Verloove & Lambinon - In South Africa. *** '' Dysphania schraderiana'' (Schult.) Mosyakin & Clemants ** ''Dysphania'' sect. ''Botryoides'' subsect. ''Incisa'' (Standley) Mosyakin & Clemants: *** '' Dysphania dissecta'' (Moq.) Mosyakin & Clemants - south-western North America and in South America *** '' Dysphania incisa'' (Poir.) ined. * ''Dysphania'' sect. ''Dysphania'', with 8 species in Australia: ** '' Dysphania glandulosa'' Paul G.Wilson - in Australia ** '' Dysphania glomulifera'' (Nees) Paul G.Wilson - 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 - in Australia ** '' Dysphania simulans'' F.Muell. & 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 - native in Australia, naturalized in other continents. ** '' Dysphania cristata'' (F.Muell.) Mosyakin & Clemants) - native in Australia, naturalized in other continents. ** '' Dysphania melanocarpa'' (J.M.Black) Mosyakin & Clemants - black crumbweed ** '' Dysphania pumilio'' (R.Br.) Mosyakin & Clemants - Clammy goosefoot, small crumbweed: native in Australia, naturalized in other continents. ** '' Dysphania pusilla'' Mosyakin & Clemants ** '' Dysphania saxatilis'' (Paul G.Wilson) Mosyakin & Clemants ** '' Dysphania truncata'' (Paul G.Wilson) Mosyakin & Clemants * Not yet grouped to a section: ** ''

Dysphania atriplicifolia ''Dysphania atriplicifolia'' (synonym ''Cycloloma atriplicifolium'') is species of flowering plant known by the common names winged pigweed, tumble ringwing, plains tumbleweed, and tumble-weed. page 16 This plant is native to central North Amer ...

'' (Spreng.) G.Kadereit, Sukhor. & Uotila ** '' Dysphania bhutanica'' Sukhor. ** '' Dysphania bonariensis'' (Hook.f.) Mosyakin & Clemants ex Sukhor. ** '' Dysphania × bontei'' (Aellen) Stace ** '' Dysphania × christii'' (Aellen) Stace ** '' Dysphania congestiflora'' S.J.Dillon & A.S.Markey ** '' Dysphania congolana'' (Hauman) Mosyakin & Clemants - in Africa ** '' Dysphania geoffreyi'' Sukhor. ** '' Dysphania himalaica '' Uotila ** '' Dysphania kitiae'' Uotila ** '' Dysphania minuata'' (Aellen) Mosyakin & Clemants ** '' Dysphania multiflora'' (Moq.) G.Kadereit, Sukhor. & Uotila ** '' Dysphania neglecta'' Sukhor. ** '' Dysphania retusa'' (Moq.) Mosyakin & Clemants ex Brignone ** '' Dysphania stellata'' (S.Watson) Mosyakin & Clemants - This species has 6-8 tepals ** '' Dysphania tibetica'' (A.J.Li) Uotila

Usage

or Mexican tea (''

'') and American wormseed (''

'') are

medicinal herb Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including Plant defense against h ...

s. Epazote is used as a

tisane Herbal teas, technically 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. Often herb tea, or the plain ...

and as an

insecticide Insecticides are pesticides used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. The major use of insecticides is in agriculture, but they are also used in home and garden settings, i ...

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

dye Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name DyE, is a French musician. He is known for the music video of the single "Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical ele ...

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