''Anabasis'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of plants in the subfamily Salsoloideae of 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 ...

. It is distributed in southern Europe, North Africa, and Asia.

Description

The species of genus ''Anabasis'' are annual or

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 ...

herbs or

subshrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or undershrub is either a small shrub (e.g. prostrate shrubs) or a perennial that is largely herbaceous but slightly woody at the base (e.g. garden pink and florist's chrysanthemum). The term is often interch ...

s. Their stems are fleshy and articulated, mostly glabrous with the exception of hairy tufts at the nodes, rarely with papillae-like

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 or woolly. The opposite

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, ...

may be reduced to small scales or normally developed. 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 elongated or condensed spikes. The flowers sit solitary or in groups of up to 4 in the axils of upper leaves (

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), with 2 paired bracteoles. Flowers consist of 5 subequal membranous

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower. It is a structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepal ...

segments, that are free nearly from base; 3-5

stamens 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 filamen ...

without appendages; and an ovary with 2-3 thick and short stigmas. In fruit, prominent membranous wings develop on the back of the perianth segments, usually 2-3 of them larger than the others. Rarely, the perianth remains unwinged. The fruit may be baccate or dry, either vertical and compressed or nearly spherically shaped. The lenticular seed is vertically orientated, filled by the spiral embryo without endosperm.

Distribution

The genus ''Anabasis'' is distributed from Southwest Europe and

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, the shores of the Red Sea (

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

) to

Southwest Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenia ...

and

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

. The center of diversity lies in Asia. ''Anabasis'' species grow in

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...

s and semideserts.

Systematics

The genus name ''Anabasis'' was published in 1753 by

Carl von Linné Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organi ...

in ''

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genus, genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial nomenclature ...

''. Type species is '' Anabasis aphylla'' L. The genus ''Anabasis'' belongs to the

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

Salsoleae s.s., in the subfamily Salsoloideae of the family

(which includes the family ''Chenopodiaceae''). According to Akhani et al. (2007), the genus comprises 29 species: Fredolia-aretioides-Sur-khe

* '' Anabasis aphylla'' L. * '' Anabasis aretioides'' Moq. & Coss. (Syn. ''Fredolia aretioides'' (Moq. & Coss. ex Bunge) Ulbr.) * '' Anabasis articulata'' (Forssk.) Moq. * '' Anabasis brevifolia'' C. A. Mey. * '' Anabasis brachiata'' Fisch. & C. A. Mey. * '' Anabasis calcarea'' (Charif & Aellen) Bokhari & Wendelbo * '' Anabasis cretacea'' Pall. * '' Anabasis ebracteolata'' Korov. ex Botsch. * '' Anabasis ehrenbergii'' Schweinf. ex Boiss. * '' Anabasis elatior'' (C. A. Mey.) Schrenk * '' Anabasis eriopoda'' (Schrenk) Benth. ex Volkens * '' Anabasis eugeniae'' Iljin * '' Anabasis ferganica'' Drob. * '' Anabasis gypsicola'' Iljin * '' Anabasis haussknechtii'' Bunge ex Boiss. * '' Anabasis iranica'' Iljin * '' Anabasis jaxartica'' (Bunge) Benth. ex Volkens * '' Anabasis lachnantha'' Aellen & Rech. f. * '' Anabasis macroptera'' Moq. * '' Anabasis oropediorum'' Maire * '' Anabasis paucifolia'' M. Pop. ex Iljin * '' Anabasis pelliotii'' Danguy * '' Anabasis prostrata'' Pomel. * '' Anabasis salsa'' (C. A. Mey.) Benth. ex Volkens * '' Anabasis syriaca'' Iljin * '' Anabasis tianschanica'' Botsch. * '' Anabasis truncata'' (Schrenk) Bunge * '' Anabasis turgaica'' Iljin & Krasch. * '' Anabasis turkestanica'' Iljin & Korov.

Chemistry

The Nicotine-related alkaloid Anabasine was named for the toxic Central Asiatic species ''Anabasis aphylla'' - from which it was first isolated by Orechoff and Menschikoff in the year 1931. It was widely used as an insecticide in the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

until 1970. Anabasine is also the active principle responsible for deaths from poisoning caused by the leaves of ''

Nicotiana glauca ''Nicotiana glauca'' is a species of flowering plant in the tobacco genus Nicotiana of the nightshade family Solanaceae. It is known by the common name tree tobacco. Its leaves are attached to the stalk by petioles (many other ''Nicotiana'' spec ...

'', the Tree Tobacco.Mizrachi, N.; Levy, S.; Goren, Z. Q. (2000). "Fatal Poisoning from Nicotiana glauca Leaves: Identification of Anabasine by Gas-Chromatography / Mass Spectrometry". Journal of Forensic Sciences. 45 (3): 736–41. .

References

Hossein Akhani, Gerald Edwards & Eric H. Roalson: ''Diversification Of The Old World Salsoleae S.L. (Chenopodiaceae): Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis Of Nuclear And Chloroplast Data Sets And A Revised Classification'', in: ''International Journal of Plant Sciences'', 168 (6), 2007, p. 931–956 I.C.Hedge (1997): ''Anabasis''. - In: Karl Heinz Rechinger et al. (Hrsg.): ''Flora Iranica'', Vol. 172 - Chenopodiaceae. Graz, Akad. Druck, p. 305-306. Linnaeus, Carl (1753)
''Species Plantarum'', p.223, scanned at BHL
/ref> Alexander P. Sukhorukov: "Fruit anatomy of the genus Anabasis (Salsoloideae, Chenopodiaceae)", in: "Australian Systematic Botany", 21 (6), 2008, p. 431-442

External links

* *
''Anabasis'' at Tropicos
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2299558 Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae genera Barilla plants Drought-tolerant plants