''Antirrhinum'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

s commonly known as dragon flowers, snapdragons and dog flower because of the flowers' fancied resemblance to the face of a dragon that opens and closes its mouth when laterally squeezed. They are native to rocky areas of Europe, the United States, Canada, and North Africa. It is widely used as an ornamental plant in borders and as a cut flower.

Description

The Antirrhinum is morphologically diverse, particularly the New World group (''Saerorhinum''). The genus is characterized by personate flowers with an inferior gibbous corolla.

Taxonomy

''Antirrhinum'' used to be treated within the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Scrophulariaceae The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...

, but studies of DNA sequences have led to its inclusion in a vastly enlarged family

Plantaginaceae Plantaginaceae, the plantain family, is a large, diverse family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales that includes common flowers such as snapdragon and foxglove. It is unrelated to the banana-like fruit also called "plantain." In older cl ...

, within the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

Antirrhineae.

Circumscription

The taxonomy of this genus is complex and not yet fully resolved at present. In particular the exact circumscription of the genus, especially the inclusion of the New World species (Saerorhinum), is contentious. The situation is further complicated by the variety of terms in use for infrageneric ranks, especially of the Old World species, that is ''Antirrhinum'', '' sensu stricto'' (e.g. Streptosepalum, Kicksiella, Meonantha). The

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

Plants Database recognises only two species: '' A. majus'' (the garden snapdragon), the only species naturalised in North America, and ''A. bellidifolium'' (the lilac snapdragon), now considered to be ''

Anarrhinum bellidifolium ''Anarrhinum'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Plantaginaceae. Its native range is the Mediterranean Basin and West Asia with some reaching as far as Germany and Ethiopia. Species: * '' Anarrhinum bellidifolium'' (L.) Wi ...

'' (L.) Willd. As of April 2017, The Plant List (Version 1.1) accepts 21 species. A widely accepted scheme (Thompson 1988) placed 36 species in the genus in three sections. While many botanists accepted this broad circumscription (''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...

''), whose main departure from other classifications was the inclusion of the New World Saerorhinum, others did not, restricting the genus to the Old World. (For a comparison of Thompson with earlier systems, see Oyama and Baum, Table 1.) New species also continue to be discovered (see e.g. Romo ''et al.'', 1995). In 2004 research into the

molecular systematics Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

of this group and related species by Oyama and Baum confirmed that the genus ''sensu lato'' as described by Thompson is monophyletic, provided that one species ('' A. cyathiferum'') is removed to the separate genus ''Pseudorontium'', and the two species of '' Mohavea'' (''Mohavea confertiflora'' and ''M. breviflora'') are included. The species list given here follows these conclusions. This is the broad

circumscription Circumscription may refer to: *Circumscribed circle * Circumscription (logic) *Circumscription (taxonomy) *Circumscription theory, a theory about the origins of the political state in the history of human evolution proposed by the American anthrop ...

that includes the Old World'' Misopates'' and

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

'' Sairocarpus''. By contrast the narrow circumscription (''sensu stricto'') confines the genus to the monophyletic Old World perennial species with a diploid

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 are ...

number of 16, distributed in the Mediterranean basin, approximately 25 species. (Tolety 2011), following the phylogenetic analysis of Vargas ''et al.'' (2004) suggesting they are a distinct group. Both ''Misopates'' and ''Sairocarpus'' are accepted names in ''The Plant List'', and many of the New World species now have ''Sairocarpus'' as their accepted name, rather than ''Antirrhinum''. It has been proposed that many of the New World ''Antirrhinum'' be now considered under ''Sairocarpus'', in the forthcoming '' Flora of North America''.

Infrageneric subdivision

It is widely agreed that this broad group should be subdivided into three or four subgroups, but the level at which this should be done, and exactly which species should be grouped together, remain unclear. Some authors continue to follow Thompson in using a large genus ''Antirrhinum'', which is then divided into several sections; others treat Thompson's genus as a tribe or subtribe, and divide it into several genera. For a comparison of earlier schemes see Mateu-Andrés and de Paco, Table 1 (2005) If the broad circumscription is accepted, its three sections as described by Thompson are as follows (two Old World, one New): *Section ''Antirrhinum'': 19 Old World species of relatively large flowered

perennial plant 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 wide ...

s, including the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

'' Antirrhinum majus'', mostly native to the western

Mediterranean region In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and wa ...

with a focus on the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

. Chromosomes n=8. (3 subsections: ''Majora'', ''Sicula'', ''Hispanica'') *Section ''Orontium'': two species, also from the Mediterranean.

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 are ...

number=8. The species in this section, including the section type species '' Antirrhinum orontium'' (lesser snapdragon) are often treated in the genus '' Misopates''. *Section ''Saerorhinum'': 15 small flowered

species, mostly annual plants and mostly native to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, though species are found from

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

to Baja California Sur and as far east as

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Tetraploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contains ...

(n=15-16). Like other authors, Thompson placed ''A. cyathiferum'' in this section, but Oyama and Baum, following earlier authors, suggest that it should be reclassified in genus '' Pseudorontium'', while '' Mohavea'' should be included. Vargas ''et al.'', strongly recommending segregation of the New World species suggest that the 14 species originally recognised by Sutton (1988) more properly belong to '' Sairocarpus'' (11 species), '' Howelliella'' (1 species), and '' Neogarrhinum'' (2 species). Other authors would also include '' Galvezia glabrata'', '' Galvezia juncea'', '' Galvezia rupicola'' and '' Galvezia speciosa''. None of the names originally allocated to this section are now accepted (see List of Antirrhinum species).

Snapdragons

While ''Antirrhinum majus'' is the plant that is usually meant by the term of "snapdragon" if used on its own, many other species in the genus, and in the family Scrophulariaceae more widely, have common names that include the word "snapdragon". Such as '' Antirrhinum molle'' is known as "dwarf snapdragon" in the UK.

Species

Etymology

The word "antirrhinum" is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''antirrhinon'' "calf's snout, Antirrhinum Orontium" which in turn is derived from ''anti'' "against, like", and ''rhis'' "nose" (

GEN Gen may refer to: * ''Gen'' (film), 2006 Turkish horror film directed by Togan Gökbakar * Gen (Street Fighter), a video game character from the ''Street Fighter'' series * Gen Fu, a video game character from the ''Dead or Alive'' series * Gen l ...

''rhinos''); thus, possibly "noselike", possibly referring to the noselike capsule in its mature state.

Ecology

Snapdragons are short-lived perennial plants that survive well in cold seasons but are often replanted each spring and considered annual plants. They do best in full or partial sun, in well-drained soil since their roots are susceptible to rotting (although they do require regular watering). They are classified commercially as a range of heights: ''midget'' or ''dwarf'' (), ''medium'' () and ''tall'' (). Removing the dead flowers, referred to as deadheading, is important to help them to continuously produce beautiful flowers throughout their growing season. They are susceptible to ethylene gas so removing dead flowers and keeping them away from ripe fruits or vegetables also helps them bloom longer. They grow during their peak seasons of April to June and August to October in the Northern Hemisphere. and bloom in a variety of colors ranging from: white, yellow, orange, red, purple, pink and some multicolored patterns. They are ecologically diverse, particularly the New World species (''Saerorhinum'').

Cultivation

The snapdragon is an important garden plant, widely cultivated from tropical to temperate zones as a bedding, rockery, herbaceous border or container plant. (Tolety 2011)

Cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

s have showy white, crimson, or yellow bilabiate flowers (with two lips). It is also important as a model organism in botanical research, and its

genome In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding g ...

has been studied in detail.

Genetic studies

''Antirrhinum'' is a genus that has been used from the earliest genetic studies of

Gregor Mendel Gregor Johann Mendel, OSA (; cs, Řehoř Jan Mendel; 20 July 1822 – 6 January 1884) was a biologist, meteorologist, mathematician, Augustinian friar and abbot of St. Thomas' Abbey in Brünn (''Brno''), Margraviate of Moravia. Mendel was ...

and

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

and was used as a model by

Erwin Baur Erwin Baur (16 April 1875, in Neuried, Ichenheim, Grand Duchy of Baden – 2 December 1933) was a German geneticist and botanist. Baur worked primarily on plant genetics. He was director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Breeding Research (since 1 ...

(Tolety 2011). Together with closely related genera, it has become a model organism for the investigation of the genetic basis of plant development, particularly floral development. The genus is a typical example of

incomplete dominance In genetics, dominance is the phenomenon of one variant (allele) of a gene on a chromosome masking or overriding the effect of a different variant of the same gene on the other copy of the chromosome. The first variant is termed dominant and ...

by the red

allele An allele (, ; ; modern formation from Greek ἄλλος ''állos'', "other") is a variation of the same sequence of nucleotides at the same place on a long DNA molecule, as described in leading textbooks on genetics and evolution. ::"The chro ...

with the anthocyanin pigment. Any cross between red-flowered and white-flowered snapdragons, give an intermediate and

heterozygous Zygosity (the noun, zygote, is from the Greek "yoked," from "yoke") () is the degree to which both copies of a chromosome or gene have the same genetic sequence. In other words, it is the degree of similarity of the alleles in an organism. Mo ...

phenotype In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology or physical form and structure, its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological pr ...

with pink flowers, that carries both the dominant and recessive alleles. Several species of ''Antirrhinum'' are

self-incompatible Self-incompatibility (SI) is a general name for several genetic mechanisms that prevent self-fertilization in sexually reproducing organisms, and thus encourage outcrossing and allogamy. It is contrasted with separation of sexes among individuals ...

, meaning that a plant cannot be fertilised by its own pollen. Self-incompatibility in the genus has been studied since the early 1900s. Self-incompatibility in ''Antirrhinum'' species is controlled gametophytically and shares many important features with self-incompatibility systems in Rosaceae and Solanaceae.

Uses

In addition to growing the plants for cut flowers, the seeds have been used to extract edible oils, particularly in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, while the leaves and flowers have been considered to possess

antiphlogistic Anti-inflammatory is the property of a substance or treatment that reduces inflammation or swelling. Anti-inflammatory drugs, also called anti-inflammatories, make up about half of analgesics. These drugs remedy pain by reducing inflammation as op ...

(anti-inflammatory) properties and have been used in

poultices A poultice, also called a cataplasm, is a soft moist mass, often heated and medicated, that is spread on cloth and placed over the skin to treat an aching, inflamed, or painful part of the body. It can be used on wounds, such as cuts. 'Poultice' ...

. A green dye has also been extracted from the flowers.Tolety 2011

Gallery

File:Yellow-Snapdragon-Flower(Antirrhinum majus) 08.jpg, Yellow Snapdragon Flower File:Antirrhinum majus-Flower 01.jpg, Antirrhinum majus Flower File:Pink Snapdragon Flower-Antirrhinum majus 02.jpg, Pink Snapdragon Flower File:Yellow-Snapdragon-Flower(Antirrhinum majus) 01.jpg, Yellow Snapdragon Flower File:Antirrhinum majus-Flower 03.jpg, Antirrhinum majus Flower File:Pink Snapdragon Flower 02.jpg, Pink Snapdragon Flower File:White-Snapdragon-Flower(Antirrhinum majus) 05.jpg, White Snapdragon Flower File:Yellow-Snapdragon-Flower(Antirrhinum majus) 03.jpg, Yellow Snapdragon Flower File:Antirrhinum majus-Flower 02.jpg, Antirrhinum majus Flower File:Antirrhinum white.jpg, Variety in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

File:Antirrhinum-2.jpg, Variety in Pakistan File:Yellow-Snapdragon-Flower(Antirrhinum majus) 05.jpg, Yellow Snapdragon Flower File:Pink Snapdragon Flower-Antirrhinum majus 01.jpg, Pink Snapdragon Flower File:White-Snapdragon-Flower(Antirrhinum majus) 03.jpg, White Snapdragon Flower File:Yellow-Snapdragon-Flower(Antirrhinum majus) 02.jpg, Yellow Snapdragon Flower File:Pink Snapdragon Flower 03.jpg, Pink Snapdragon Flower File:White-Snapdragon-Flower(Antirrhinum majus) 01.jpg, White Snapdragon Flower File:Antirrhinum majus-Flower 04.jpg, Antirrhinum majus Flower File:Antirrhinum-3.jpg, Variety in Pakistan File:Yellow-Snapdragon-Flower(Antirrhinum majus) 04.jpg, Yellow Snapdragon Flower File:Antirrhinum-4.jpg, Variety in Pakistan File:Antirrhinum-5.jpg, Variety in Pakistan File:Yellow-Snapdragon-Flower(Antirrhinum majus) 07.jpg, Yellow Snapdragon Flower File:Pink Snapdragon Flower 01.jpg, Pink Snapdragon Flower File:White-Snapdragon-Flower(Antirrhinum majus) 04.jpg, White Snapdragon Flower File:Yellow-Snapdragon-Flower(Antirrhinum majus) 06.jpg, Yellow Snapdragon Flower File:Pink Snapdragon Flower-Antirrhinum majus 03.jpg, Pink Snapdragon Flower File:Antirrhinum-01.jpg, Antirrhinum in

File:Antirrhinum majus 6.jpg, Snapdragon cultivar in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

References

Sources

* Sutton, D.A. (1988) A Revision of the Tribe Antirrhineae. Oxford: OUP. * Rothmaler W. 1956. Taxonomische Monographie der Gattung Antirrhinum. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin, Germany. * *
Tolety J, Sane A. ''Antirrhinum '', in Kole C (ed.) Wild Crop Relatives: Genomic and Breeding Resources. Plantation and Ornamental Crops. Springer 2011, pp. 1-14

A. R. Doaigey, K. J. Harkiss. Application of epidermis characters to the taxonomy of European species of Antirrhinum (Schrophulariaceae). Nordic Journal of Botany. Volume 11, Issue 5, pages 513–524, December 1991. DOI: 10.1111/j.1756-1051.1991.tb01258.x

Vargas P, JA Rosselló, R Oyama, J Güemes. 2004 Molecular evidence for naturalness of genera in the tribe Antirrhineae (Scrophulariaceae) and three independent evolutionary lineages from the New World and the Old. Plant Syst Evol 249:151–172.

External links

The Plant ListThe Genus Antirrhinum (Snapdragon): A Flowering Plant Model for Evolution and Development''Antirrhinum majus'' genetic and phenotypic database
{{Authority control Plantaginaceae genera Extant Pliocene first appearances Plant models Anthocyanins Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus