''Hormuzakia aggregata'' is a flowering
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 ...
in the
borage family
Boraginaceae, the borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees, and herbs in 146 to 154 genera with a worldwide distribution.
The APG IV system from 2016 classifies the Boraginaceae as single family of the order ...
,
[ known by the common names massed alkanet, , and .]
Description
It is a short-lived herbaceous
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition of ...
plant with ascending hispid stems. The entire leaves are alternate
Alternative or alternate may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki''
* Alternative comics, or independent comics are an alternative to mainstream superh ...
, linear-lanceolate
The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...
. It flowers from January to April, the small flowers are dark blue to violet producing hemispherical nutlets.
Taxonomy
The species name
A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...
''Hormuzakia'' derives from Constantin N. Hurmuzachi
Constantin Nicolae Hurmuzachi (October 3, 1863–February 22, 1937) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian biologist.
Born in Chernivtsi, Cernăuți to Natalia and Nicolae Hurmuzachi, he joined the Zoological and Botanical Soc ...
, a prominent Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
**Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
naturalist. ''Anchusa'' derives from the , a plant used as a rouge. The epithet ''aggregata'', derives from Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
and means to bring together or cluster.
* The standard author abbreviation ''Lehm.'' is used to indicate Johann Georg Christian Lehmann
Johann Georg Christian Lehmann (25 February 1792 – 12 February 1860) was a German botanist.
Born at Haselau, near Uetersen, Holstein, Lehmann studied medicine in Copenhagen and Göttingen, obtained a doctorate in medicine in 1813 and a do ...
(1792 – 1860), a German botanist.
* The standard author abbreviation ''Gusul.'' is used to indicate Mihail Gușuleac
Mihail Gușuleac (October 12, 1887–September 11, 1960) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian botanist.
Gușuleac was born in Lucavăț, a village located west of the Duchy of Bukovina’s capital Cernăuți, where he attended high school fr ...
(1887-1960), a Romanian botanist.
Distribution and habitat
It grows in Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
woodlands, shrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...
s, shrub-steppes and deserts of Sicily
Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
, North East Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...
, Libya
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
, Algeria
Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
, Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
, Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
, Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, Rhodes
Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
and the East Aegean Islands.
Uses
The roots of ''Hormuzakia aggregata'' contain anchusin or alkannin (alkanet red), a red-brown resinoid pigment.Staphylococcus aureus
''Staphylococcus aureus'' is a Gram-positive spherically shaped bacterium, a member of the Bacillota, and is a usual member of the microbiota of the body, frequently found in the upper respiratory tract and on the skin. It is often posi ...
'' and ''Staphylococcus epidermidis
''Staphylococcus epidermidis'' is a Gram-positive bacterium, and one of over 40 species belonging to the genus ''Staphylococcus''. It is part of the human flora, normal human microbiota, typically the skin flora, skin microbiota, and less commonl ...
''. It is also known to have wound healing, antitumor, and antithrombotic properties.Lithospermum erythrorhizon
''Lithospermum erythrorhizon'', commonly called purple gromwell, red stoneroot, red gromwell, red-root gromwell and redroot lithospermum, is a plant species in the family Boraginaceae. It is called ''zǐcǎo'' () in Chinese, ''jichi'' () in Kor ...
'', the red-root gromwell. The dried root is a Chinese herbal medicine with various antiviral and biological activities, including inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1).
References
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q124936457, from2=Q17415221
Flora of Lebanon
Flora of Palestine (region)
Boraginaceae
Taxa named by Johann Georg Christian Lehmann