Arthropodium
Encyclopedia
Arthropodium is a genus
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 herb
Herb
Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...

aceous 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 native to the Southern Hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere
The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...

 placed in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Asparagaceae
Asparagaceae
Asparagaceae is the botanical name of a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots.In earlier classification systems, the species involved were often treated as belonging to the family Liliaceae...

, subfamily Lomandroideae
Lomandroideae
Lomandroideae is a subfamily of monocot flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, order Asparagales, according to the APG III system of 2009. The subfamily name is derived from the generic name of the type genus, Lomandra. The group has previously been treated as a separate family Laxmanniaceae...

.

The rhizome
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...

s of some species can be eaten as root vegetable
Root vegetable
Root vegetables are plant roots used as vegetables. Here "root" means any underground part of a plant.Root vegetables are generally storage organs, enlarged to store energy in the form of carbohydrates. They differ in the concentration and the balance between sugars, starches, and other types of...

s, including A. cirratum, A. milleflorum, A. minus, and A. strictum.

A. cirratum is native to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, where it may once have been farmed. It is used for medicine as well as food, and has symbolic importance in traditional Māori culture
Maori culture
Māori culture is the culture of the Māori of New Zealand, an Eastern Polynesian people, and forms a distinctive part of New Zealand culture. Within the Māori community, and to a lesser extent throughout New Zealand as a whole, the word Māoritanga is often used as an approximate synonym for Māori...

.

Species include:
  • Arthropodium cirratum
    Arthropodium cirratum
    Arthropodium cirratum is a species of herbaceous perennial plants endemic to New Zealand, where it may once have been farmed...

     - rengarenga, renga lily, New Zealand rock lily, or maikaika
  • Arthropodium curvipes S.Moore
  • Arthropodium dyeri (Domin) Brittan
  • Arthropodium fimbriatum R.Br. – see Dichopogon fimbriatus
  • Arthropodium milleflorum
    Arthropodium milleflorum
    Arthropodium milleflorum is a species of herbaceous perennial plants native to the Southern Hemisphere. Synonyms: A. paniculatum, A. pendulum. Grows in eastern Australia in various habitats from coast to alpine areas. Tolerant of very moist even boggy conditions. Tubers are edible raw. Grass like...

     (DC.) J.F.Macbr. - pale vanilla lily
  • Arthropodium minus
    Arthropodium minus
    Arthropodium minus is a species of herbaceous perennial plants native to the Southern Hemisphere. Valued as bush tucker as the roots are edible raw....

     R.Br. - small vanilla lily
  • Arthropodium paniculatum (Andrews) R.Br.
  • Arthropodium pendulum DC.
  • Arthropodium sp. Albury (A.D.J.Piesse 9) Vic. Herbarium
  • Arthropodium sp. Mount Coot-tha (J.Conran s.n., 1983)
  • Arthropodium sp. Snowy R. catchment (N.G.Walsh 6195) Vic. Herbarium
  • Arthropodium sp. South-east Highlands (N.G.Walsh 811) Vic. Herbarium
  • Arthropodium sp. Yenyenning (G.J. Keighery & N. Gibson 2957)
  • Arthropodium strictum R.Br. - chocolate lily – see Dichopogon strictus

External links

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