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Acanthus (genus)
Encyclopedia
Acanthus is a genus
of about 30 species of flowering plant
s in the family Acanthaceae
, native to tropical and warm temperate regions, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean Basin
and Asia
. Common names include Acanthus and Bear's breeches. The generic name is derived from the Greek
word ακανθος (acanthos), meaning "thorny."
The genus comprises herbaceous
perennial plant
s, rarely subshrub
s, with spiny leaves and flower spikes
bearing white or purplish flowers. Size varies from 0.4 to 2 m (1.3 to 6.6 ft) in height.
Several species, especially A. balcanicus
, A. spinosus and A. mollis
, are grown as ornamental plant
s.
Acanthus leaves were the aesthetic basis for Corinthian capitals; see acanthus (ornament)
.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of about 30 species of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s in the family Acanthaceae
Acanthaceae
The family Acanthaceae is a taxon of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species....
, native to tropical and warm temperate regions, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean Basin
Mediterranean Basin
In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. Common names include Acanthus and Bear's breeches. The generic name is derived from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
word ακανθος (acanthos), meaning "thorny."
The genus comprises herbaceous
Herbaceous plant
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
perennial plant
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
s, rarely subshrub
Subshrub
A subshrub or dwarf shrub is a short woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a similar term.It is distinguished from a shrub by its ground-hugging stems and lower height, with overwintering perennial woody growth typically less than 10–20 cm tall, or by being only weakly woody and/or persisting...
s, with spiny leaves and flower spikes
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
bearing white or purplish flowers. Size varies from 0.4 to 2 m (1.3 to 6.6 ft) in height.
Selected species
- Acanthus balcanicusAcanthus balcanicusAcanthus balcanicus, is an endemic herbaceous perennial plant in the genus Acanthus, native to the Balkan peninsula, up to Dalmatia. This plant is also cultivated in many European gardens....
Heywood & I.Richardson (Syn. Acanthus hungaricus (Borbás) Baenitz, Acanthus longifolius HostNicolaus Thomas HostNicolaus Thomas Host was an Austrian botanist, and the personal physician of Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. His botanical works include Synopsis plantarum in Austria and the four-volume Austriacorum Icones et descriptions graminum; he was also the first director of the botanical garden at the...
) - Acanthus dioscoridis Willd.Carl Ludwig WilldenowCarl Ludwig Willdenow was a German botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist. He is considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants...
- Acanthus ebracteatusAcanthus ebracteatusAcanthus ebracteatus is a species of shrubby herb that grows in the undergrowth of mangroves of south-east Asia. Common names include sea holly and holly mangrove.-Description:...
VahlMartin VahlMartin Henrichsen Vahl was a Danish-Norwegian botanist and zoologist.He studied botany in Copenhagen and in Uppsala under Carolus Linnaeus. He edited Flora Danica fasc. XVI-XXI , Symbolæ Botanicæ I-III , Eclogæ Americanæ I-IV and Enumeratio Plantarum I-II... - Acanthus eminens C.B.ClarkeCharles Baron ClarkeCharles Baron Clarke was a British botanist.He was born at Andover, the eldest son of Turner Poulter Clarke. He was educated at King's College School, London, and at Trinity and Queens' Colleges, Cambridge....
- Acanthus hirsutus Boiss.Pierre Edmond BoissierPierre Edmond Boissier was a Swiss botanist, explorer and mathematician.He was the son of Jacques Boissier and Lucile Butini , daughter of Pierre Butini a well-known physician and naturalist from Geneva...
- Acanthus ilicifoliusAcanthus ilicifoliusAcanthus ilicifolius is a species of plant in the genus Acanthus, native to India and Sri Lanka.It is a small shrub growing along lakes and marshes and sea shores....
L. - Acanthus mollisAcanthus mollisAcanthus mollis, commonly known as Bear's Breeches or "Oyster Plant", is a herbaceous perennial plant with an underground rhizome in the genus Acanthus.-Etymology:...
L. - Acanthus montanusAcanthus montanusAcanthus montanus, also known as Bear's Breech or Mountain Thistle, is a thinly branched perennial with basal clusters of oblong to lance-shaped glossy, dark green leaves reaching up to long. The leaves have silver marks and wavy margins. It reaches up to tall and about wide. Spikes of pale pink...
T.Anders.Thomas Anderson (botanist)Thomas Anderson , was a Scottish botanist.Anderson was born in Edinburgh 26 February 1832, and was educated for the medical profession, graduating as M.D. at Edinburgh University in 1853... - Acanthus polystachyus Delile
- Acanthus spinosus L.
- Acanthus syriacus Boiss.Pierre Edmond BoissierPierre Edmond Boissier was a Swiss botanist, explorer and mathematician.He was the son of Jacques Boissier and Lucile Butini , daughter of Pierre Butini a well-known physician and naturalist from Geneva...
Cultivation and uses
Acanthus balcanicus
Acanthus balcanicus, is an endemic herbaceous perennial plant in the genus Acanthus, native to the Balkan peninsula, up to Dalmatia. This plant is also cultivated in many European gardens....
, A. spinosus and A. mollis
Acanthus mollis
Acanthus mollis, commonly known as Bear's Breeches or "Oyster Plant", is a herbaceous perennial plant with an underground rhizome in the genus Acanthus.-Etymology:...
, are grown as ornamental plant
Ornamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
s.
Acanthus leaves were the aesthetic basis for Corinthian capitals; see acanthus (ornament)
Acanthus (ornament)
The acanthus is one of the most common plant forms to make foliage ornament and decoration.-Architecture:In architecture, an ornament is carved into stone or wood to resemble leaves from the Mediterranean species of the Acanthus genus of plants, which have deeply cut leaves with some similarity to...
.