''Ligusticum'' (lovage,
licorice root) is a genus of about 60 species of
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
Apiaceae
Apiaceae () or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium,'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot, or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering p ...
, native to cool temperate regions of the
Northern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...
. Its name is believed to derive from the Italian region of
Liguria
Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...
.
[Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan .]
Species
*''
Ligusticum ajanense''
*''
Ligusticum albanicum''
*''
Ligusticum apiifolium''
*''
Ligusticum brachylobum''
*''
Ligusticum calderi''
*''
Ligusticum californicum''
*''
Ligusticum canadense''
*''
Ligusticum canbyi'' - Canby's licorice root
*''
Ligusticum filicinum''
*''
Ligusticum gingidium''
*''
Ligusticum grayi'' - oshala, Gray's lovage
*''
Ligusticum holopetalum''
*''
Ligusticum hultenii''
*''
Ligusticum huteri''
*''
Ligusticum ibukicola''
*''
Ligusticum monnieri''
*''
Ligusticum mutellina'' – alpine lovage
*''
Ligusticum porteri'' – oshá
*''
Ligusticum scoticum'' – Scots lovage
*''
Ligusticum striatum''
*''
Ligusticum tenuifolium'' – Idaho lovage
*''
Ligusticum verticillatum'' – northern lovage
Former species
* ''Ligusticum mutellinoides'' – small alpine lovage, is a synonym of ''
Neogaya simplex''
(L.) Meisn.
Moved to ''Conioselinum''
In 2003, Pimenov moved a number of species to ''Conioselinum'' as he found them closer related to ''C. tataricum'' (the type species of ''C.'') than to ''L. scoticum'' (the type species of ''L.''). Another change ''C. anthriscoides'' ← ''L. sinense'' was made in 2015, as the ''C. sinomedicum'' name assigned in 2003 was illegitimate.<
[ & 2015. Nomenclatural correction for a Chinese species of ''Conioselinum'' (Umbelliferae). ''Skvortsovia'' 2(1): 28-34]
PDF
/ref>
* ''L. acuminatum'' → '' C. acuminatum''
* ''L. filifolium'' → '' C. nematophyllum''
* ''L. gmelinii'' → '' C. chinense''
* ''L. pteridophyllum'' → '' C. pteridophyllum'' ≡ ''L. pteridophylla'', ''L. reptans''
* ''L. pseudoangelica'' → '' C. pseudoangelica'' = ''L. glaucifolium''
* ''L. sinense'' → eterotypic'' C. anthriscoides'' = ''L. chuanxiong'', ''L. markgrafianum'', ''L. pilgerianum'' (≡ ''L. harry-smithii'')
** ''gaoben'' 藁本; Szechuan lovage, Szechwan lovage, ''chuanxiong, chuan xiong'' 川芎
* ''L. smithii'' → '' C. smithii'' = ''L. longilobum'' (≡ ''L. longiloba''), ''L. jeholense''
* '' C. sinchianum'' = ''L. moniliforme''
* ''L. tenuisectum'' → '' C. tenuisectum''
* ''L. vaginatum'' → eterotypic'' C. tataricum''
* ''L. tenuissimum'' → '' C. tenuissimum'' ≡ ''Angelica tenuissima'' = ''L. multifidum''
Uses
The roots of several species are used as medicinal herbs. '' L. sinense'' (in older literature ''L. wallichi'' or ''L. chuanxiong'') is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in Chinese herbology
Chinese herbology () is the theory of traditional Chinese herbal therapy, which accounts for the majority of treatments in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). A ''Nature'' editorial described TCM as "fraught with pseudoscience", and said that t ...
, where it is called ''chuānxiōng'' ( 川 芎); in English, Szechwan lovage. Chinese ''Ligusticum'' root contains alkaloids that have been shown in studies to inhibit TNF-alpha
Tumor necrosis factor (TNF), formerly known as TNF-α, is a chemical messenger produced by the immune system that induces inflammation. TNF is produced primarily by activated macrophages, and induces inflammation by binding to its receptors o ...
production and TNF-alpha-mediated NF-kappaB activation. One study conducted in Japan showed the active compounds found in '' Ligusticum sinense'' have both anti-inflammatory and pain-reducing effects, exerting its anti-inflammatory benefits in the early and the late stages of processes in the inflammatory pathology.
'' L. porteri'' (osha) is used in Western herbal medicine.
Both ''Ligusticum sinense'' and '' L. jeholens'' essential oils contain natural antimicrobial and antioxidant agents.[Jihua Wang, Liang Xu, Ling Yang, Zhilong Liu and Ligang Zhou "Composition, Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activities of Essential Oils from ''Ligusticum sinense'' and ''L. jeholense'' (Umbelliferae) from China" ''Rec. Nat. Prod.'' 5:4 (2011) 314-31]
Records of Natural Products
/ref>
References
Flora of Northern America
Apioideae genera
{{Apiaceae-stub