''Cerinthe'' 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 ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Boraginaceae Boraginaceae, the Borago, borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees, and herbs in 146 to 154 genus, genera with a worldwide distribution. The APG IV system from 2016 classifies the Boraginaceae as single famil ...

, known as honeyworts. The genus is characterised by a calyx made up of separate, rather than fused,

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s, a tubular corolla, and the

schizocarp A schizocarp is a dry fruit that, when mature, splits up into mericarps. There are different definitions: * Any Dry fruits, dry fruit composed of multiple carpels that separate. : Under this definition the mericarps can contain one or more ...

ic fruit that divides into two parts at maturity, unlike most members of the family, where the fruit splits into four nutlets. The genus has a circum-Mediterranean distribution, ranging from the

Irano-Turanian Region The Irano-Turanian Region is a floristic region located within the Tethyan Subkingdom of the Holarctic Kingdom. It is divided into 12 floristic provinces according to the work of Armen Takhtajan, a Soviet-Armenian botanist who created a classifi ...

in the east to

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

in the west. ''Cerinthe'' has been known since ancient times. An early reference to it is in John Gerard's ''The Herbal'', published in 1597, describing its appearance, growth habits, time of blooming and mentions that "there is a taste as if it were of new wax in the floures icor leaves chewed, as the name doth seeme icto import." Gerard gives a list of other names for Cerinthe applied by prior writers, including

Avicenna Ibn Sina ( – 22 June 1037), commonly known in the West as Avicenna ( ), was a preeminent philosopher and physician of the Muslim world, flourishing during the Islamic Golden Age, serving in the courts of various Iranian peoples, Iranian ...

"Auicen",

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

Conrad Gessner Conrad Gessner (; ; 26 March 1516 – 13 December 1565) was a Swiss physician, naturalist, bibliographer, and philologist. Born into a poor family in Zürich, Switzerland, his father and teachers quickly realised his talents and supported him t ...

Rembert Dodoens Rembert Dodoens (born Rembert van Joenckema, 29 June 1517 – 10 March 1585) was a Flemish people, Flemish physician and botanist, also known under his Latinization (literature), Latinized name Rembertus Dodonaeus. He has been called the father o ...

Carolus Clusius Charles de l'Écluse, L'Escluse, or Carolus Clusius (19 February 1526 – 4 April 1609), seigneur de Watènes, was an Artois doctor and pioneering botanist, perhaps the most influential of all 16th-century scientific horticulturists. Life C ...

, and

Matthias de l'Obel Mathias de l'Obel, Mathias de Lobel or Matthaeus Lobelius (1538 – 3 March 1616) was a Flemish physician and plant enthusiast who was born in Lille, Flanders, in what is now Hauts-de-France, France, and died at Highgate, London, England. H ...

Etymology

The genus name is a compound of the Greek elements κερί / κηρός (= ''keri'' / ''kēros'' or ''keeros'') "(bees)wax" and άνθος (=''anthos'') "flower" - whence "wax flower" - from the belief that bees extracted wax from the blossoms to make their honeycombs.

Species

Six species are accepted. *'' Cerinthe glabra'' Mill. *''

Cerinthe major ''Cerinthe major'', called honeywort along with other members of its genus, is an annual species of flowering plant in the genus '' Cerinthe'', native to the Mediterranean region (southern Europe, western Asia and northern Africa), and introduce ...

'' L. Varieties include 'Purpurescens' with blue and purple flowers. *'' Cerinthe minor'' L. *'' Cerinthe palaestina'' Eig & Sam. *'' Cerinthe retorta'' Sm. *'' Cerinthe tenuiflora'' Bertol.

References

External links

* Boraginoideae Boraginaceae genera Flora of the Palearctic realm Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Boraginoideae-stub