Clerodendrum
Encyclopedia
Clerodendrum is a genus
of flowering plant
s in the family
Lamiaceae
. Its common name
s include glorybower, bagflower and bleeding-heart. It is currently classified in the subfamily Ajugoideae
, being one of several genera transferred from Verbenaceae
to Lamiaceae in the 1990s, based on phylogenetic analysis of morphological
and molecular
data
.
Estimates of the number of species
in Clerodendrum vary widely, from about 150 to about 450. This is partly because about 30 species have been transferred to Rotheca
, about 30 more to Volkameria
, and 1 to Ovieda. The type species
for the genus is Clerodendrum infortunatum
. It is native
to Sri Lanka
and the Andaman Islands
.
The genus is native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the world
, with most of the species occurring in tropical Africa
and southern Asia
, but with a few in the tropical Americas
and northern Australasia
, and a few extending north into the temperate zone in eastern Asia.
They are shrub
s, liana
s, and small tree
s, usually growing to 1–12 m tall, with opposite or whorled
leaves
. C. floribundum
can grow to 30 metres tall. Clerodendrum fistulosum and Clerodendrum myrmecophila have hollow stems
that are inhabited by ants. Clerodendrum trichotomum
is a common ornamental
in warmer parts of the world. Eight other species are also grown in the tropics for their abundant and attractive flowers. One of these, Clerodendrum macrostegium, suckers
abundantly from the root
s, often producing a thicket
within a few years. A few other species are also found, somewhat rarely, in cultivation.
Clerodendrum species are used as food plants by the larva
e of some Lepidoptera
species including Endoclita malabaricus
and Endoclita sericeus
.
of Clerodendrum.
Clerodendrum is a genus of small tree
s, shrub
s, liana
s, and subherbaceous
perennials
. Leaves
decussate
or whorled, never spiny
as in some close relatives.
Inflorescence
usually terminal. Sepal
s usually connate
, often colored, usually accrescent. Corolla red to yellow, pink, or white. Corolla tube 5-lobed, the lobes usually unequal.
Stamen
s 4 (rarely 5), usually in 2 pairs of unequal length and projecting well beyond the mouth of the corolla.
Ovary
incompletely 4-locular
. Ovule
s 4. Style terminal on the ovary, bifid.
Fruit
a drupe
, usually with 4 grooves or lobes, 4-seed
ed (rarely 2-seeded by abortion).
which avoids self-pollination
. This mating system
combines dichogamy
and herkogamy
.
The flowers are protandrous. When the flower opens, the stamens stand erect, parallel to the central axis of the flower, while the style bends over, holding the stigma
beyond the rim of the corolla. After the pollen
is shed, the stamens curl up or bend over, and the style straightens out, bringing the stigma to the center of the flower. Except for Aegiphila
, which is heterostylous, this breeding strategy is shared by all members of the clade
consisting of Kalaharia, Clerodendrum, Volkameria
, Aegiphila
, Ovieda, Tetraclea, and Amasonia.
by Linnaeus in Species Plantarum
in 1753. The name is derived
from two Greek
words, kleros, meaning "chance or fate" and dendron, "a tree". It refers to the considerable variation in reports of the usefulness of Clerodendrum in medicine.
Regional revisions
of Clerodendrum have been done for local floras
, but the last monograph
of the entire genus was by John Isaac Briquet
in 1895. He recognized about 90 species, defining the genus broadly to include species that others had placed in Rotheca
, Volkameria
, and Ovieda. His circumscription
was followed by most authors for the next 100 years, even though it was widely believed to be problematic.
In 1997, phylogenetic analysis of DNA
data showed that Clerodendrum, as then understood, was polyphyletic. This situation was remedied in 1998 with the revival of Rotheca. This taxonomic
change was based on previous work and on a molecular phylogenetic study that was not published until the following year.
In 2004, a study
of DNA sequence
s showed that the monospecific Australia
n genus Huxleya was embedded
in a clade of Clerodendrum species that had formerly been placed in Volkameria
. Huxleya was then sunk into synonymy
with Clerodendrum. The 2004 study sampled
Aegiphila
, Tetraclea, and Amasonia, three New World
genera of Ajugoideae
that had not previously been sampled for DNA. The results of this study cast doubt, once again, upon the monophyly
of Clerodendrum.
In 2010, a study of four chloroplast
DNA intergenic spacers
showed that part of Clerodendrum was closer to the New world genera than to other Clerodendrum, and that one species of Clerodendrum was nested within the clade of New World genera. The authors of this study resurrected the genus Volkameria and assigned to it about 30 species that had been in Clerodendrum. They also resurrected Ovieda as a monotypic genus consisting of Ovieda spinosa. Volkameria and Ovieda had been erected by Linnaeus in 1753. Modern cladistic analysis has largely vindicated his concepts of Clerodendrum and its relatives.
as monophyletic in molecular phylogenetic analyses. It consists of two clades, each of which receives strong bootstrap
support. One clade contains mostly African species. The other is mostly Asian. The African and Asian groups can not confidently be divided into sections
without more extensive sampling
of taxa
in phylogenetic studies. The Madagascan
species, in particular, are poorly studied.
It appears that the long, narrow corolla tube evolved
only once in Clerodendrum, and appeared again, among its relatives, in Ovieda.
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 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
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...
Lamiaceae
Lamiaceae
The mints, taxonomically known as Lamiaceae or Labiatae, are a family of flowering plants. They have traditionally been considered closely related to Verbenaceae, but in the 1990s, phylogenetic studies suggested that many genera classified in Verbenaceae belong instead in Lamiaceae...
. Its common name
Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
s include glorybower, bagflower and bleeding-heart. It is currently classified in the subfamily Ajugoideae
Ajugoideae
Ajugoideae is a subfamily of the family Lamiaceae and might contain the genera Acrymia Prain, Ajuga L., Cymaria Benth., Garrettia H. R. Fletcher, Holocheila S. Chow. At least for some authors the subfamily Ajugoideae is the same as Teucrioideae....
, being one of several genera transferred from Verbenaceae
Verbenaceae
Verbenaceae, commonly known as the verbena family or vervain family, is a family of mainly tropical flowering plants. It contains trees, shrubs and herbs notable for heads, spikes, or clusters of small flowers, many of which have an aromatic smell.Recent phylogenetic studies have shown that...
to Lamiaceae in the 1990s, based on phylogenetic analysis of morphological
Plant morphology
Plant morphology or phytomorphology is the study of the physical form and external structure of plants. This is usually considered distinct from plant anatomy, which is the study of the internal structure of plants, especially at the microscopic level...
and molecular
Molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
data
Data
The term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which...
.
Estimates of the number of species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
in Clerodendrum vary widely, from about 150 to about 450. This is partly because about 30 species have been transferred to Rotheca
Rotheca
Rotheca is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. Estimates of the number of species in the genus vary from about 35 to as many as 60. Three of the species are native to tropical Asia, with the rest occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa. The type species for the genus is Rotheca serrata...
, about 30 more to Volkameria
Volkameria
Volkameria is a genus of flowering plants in the family; Lamiaceae. It has about 30 species and is pantropical in distribution. Many of the species are found in coastal habitats. The type species for the genus is Volkameria aculeata....
, and 1 to Ovieda. The type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
for the genus is Clerodendrum infortunatum
Clerodendrum infortunatum
Clerodendrum infortunatum is a perennial shrub belonging to the family Lamiaceae, also sometimes classified under Verbenaceae. It is the type species among ~400 species of Clerodendrum...
. It is native
Indigenous (ecology)
In biogeography, a species is defined as native to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention. Every natural organism has its own natural range of distribution in which it is regarded as native...
to Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
and the Andaman Islands
Andaman Islands
The Andaman Islands are a group of Indian Ocean archipelagic islands in the Bay of Bengal between India to the west, and Burma , to the north and east...
.
The genus is native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the world
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, with most of the species occurring in tropical Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and southern 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...
, but with a few in the tropical Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
and northern Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
, and a few extending north into the temperate zone in eastern Asia.
They are shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s, liana
Liana
A liana is any of various long-stemmed, woody vines that are rooted in the soil at ground level and use trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy to get access to well-lit areas of the forest. Lianas are especially characteristic of tropical moist deciduous...
s, and small tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s, usually growing to 1–12 m tall, with opposite or whorled
Phyllotaxis
In botany, phyllotaxis or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem .- Pattern structure :...
leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
. C. floribundum
Clerodendrum floribundum
Clerodendrum floribundum, known as the Lolly Bush or Smooth Clerodendrum, is a shrub or tree found in Australia and New Guinea. The habitat is in or at the margins of coastal rainforests, up to 300 metres above sea level...
can grow to 30 metres tall. Clerodendrum fistulosum and Clerodendrum myrmecophila have hollow stems
Plant stem
A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaves, inflorescence , conifer cones, roots, other stems etc. The internodes distance one node from another...
that are inhabited by ants. Clerodendrum trichotomum
Clerodendrum trichotomum
Clerodendrum trichotomum is a large shrub, native to China and Japan.It grows to about 3 metres high. The leaves are ovate, up to 12 cm long, soft and downy or hairy. The flowers are borne on branching peduncles. They have white petals, held within a brown calyx...
is a common ornamental
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...
in warmer parts of the world. Eight other species are also grown in the tropics for their abundant and attractive flowers. One of these, Clerodendrum macrostegium, suckers
Basal shoot
A basal shoot, root sprout, adventitious shoot, water sprout or sucker is a shoot or cane which grows from a bud at the base of a tree or shrub or from its roots. This shoot then becomes, or takes the form of, a singular plant. A plant that produces suckers is referred to as surculose...
abundantly from the root
Root
In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial or aerating . Furthermore, a stem normally occurring below ground is not exceptional either...
s, often producing a thicket
Thicket
A thicket is a very dense stand of trees or tall shrubs, often dominated by only one or a few species, to the exclusion of all others. They may be formed by species that shed large amounts of highly viable seeds that are able to germinate in the shelter of the maternal plants.In some conditions the...
within a few years. A few other species are also found, somewhat rarely, in cultivation.
Clerodendrum species are used as food plants by the larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
e of some Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
species including Endoclita malabaricus
Endoclita
Endoclita is a genus of moths of the family Hepialidae. There are 60 described species found in eastern and southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.- Species :*E. aboe - India*E. absurdus - China*E. actinidae - China...
and Endoclita sericeus
Endoclita
Endoclita is a genus of moths of the family Hepialidae. There are 60 described species found in eastern and southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.- Species :*E. aboe - India*E. absurdus - China*E. actinidae - China...
.
Selected species
|
Clerodendrum infortunatum Clerodendrum infortunatum is a perennial shrub belonging to the family Lamiaceae, also sometimes classified under Verbenaceae. It is the type species among ~400 species of Clerodendrum... L. |
Clerodendrum multiflorum Clerodendrum multiflorum is an aromatic shrub found in the Thar desert region in India. It belongs to the family Verbenaceae.- Uses :... Clerodendrum quadriloculare Clerodendrum quadriloculare is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family, Verbenaceae.... (Blanco) Merr. Clerodendrum tomentosum Clerodendrum tomentosum, known as the Downy Chance, Hairy Lolly Bush, or Hairy Clerodendrum is a shrub or small tree occurring in eastern and northern Australia. Distributed from Batemans Bay in southern coastal New South Wales to Cape York Peninsula at the northern most point of the continent... (Vent.) R.Br. Clerodendrum trichotomum Clerodendrum trichotomum is a large shrub, native to China and Japan.It grows to about 3 metres high. The leaves are ovate, up to 12 cm long, soft and downy or hairy. The flowers are borne on branching peduncles. They have white petals, held within a brown calyx... Thunb. |
Formerly placed here
- Pseudocaryopteris foetida (D.Don) P.D.Cantino (as C. foetidum D.Don)
- Rotheca incisa (Klotzsch) Steane & Mabb. (as C. incisum Klotzsch or C. macrosiphon Hook.f.)
- Rotheca myricoidesRotheca myricoidesRotheca myricoides is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to Africa and widely cultivated elsewhere....
(Hochst.) Steane & Mabb. (as C. myricoides (Hochst.) Vatke or C. ugandense Prain) - Rotheca serrataRotheca serrataRotheca serrata is a species of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae....
(L.) Steane & Mabb. (as C. serratum (L.) Moon) - Volkameria aculeata L. (as C. aculeatum (L.) Schltdl.)
- Volkameria glabra (E.Mey.) Mabb. & Y.W.Yuan (as C. glabrum E.Mey.)
- Volkameria inermis L. (as C. inerme (L.) Gaertn.)
- Volkameria ligustrina Jacq. (as C. ligustrinum (Jacq.) R.Br.)
Description
The following description is based on the one by Yuan et alii (2010) and applies to only the monophyletic circumscriptionCircumscription (taxonomy)
In taxonomy, circumscription is the definition of the limits of a taxonomic group of organisms. One goal of taxonomy is to achieve a stable circumscription for every taxonomic group. Achieving stability can be simple or difficult....
of Clerodendrum.
Clerodendrum is a genus of small tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s, shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s, liana
Liana
A liana is any of various long-stemmed, woody vines that are rooted in the soil at ground level and use trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy to get access to well-lit areas of the forest. Lianas are especially characteristic of tropical moist deciduous...
s, and subherbaceous
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...
perennials
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...
. Leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
decussate
Phyllotaxis
In botany, phyllotaxis or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem .- Pattern structure :...
or whorled, never spiny
Thorns, spines, and prickles
In botanical morphology, thorns, spines, and prickles are hard structures with sharp, or at least pointed, ends. In spite of this common feature, they differ in their growth and development on the plant; they are modified versions of different plant organs, stems, stipules, leaf veins, or hairs...
as in some close relatives.
Inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
usually terminal. Sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s usually connate
Connation
Connation in plants is the developmental fusion of organs of the same type, for example, petals to one another to form a tubular corolla. This is in contrast to adnation, the fusion of dissimilar organs.-Terms for connation of flower parts:...
, often colored, usually accrescent. Corolla red to yellow, pink, or white. Corolla tube 5-lobed, the lobes usually unequal.
Stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s 4 (rarely 5), usually in 2 pairs of unequal length and projecting well beyond the mouth of the corolla.
Ovary
Ovary (plants)
In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. Specifically, it is the part of the pistil which holds the ovule and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the base of the petals and sepals...
incompletely 4-locular
Locule
A locule is a small cavity or compartment within an organ or part of an organism ....
. Ovule
Ovule
Ovule means "small egg". In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: The integument forming its outer layer, the nucellus , and the megaspore-derived female gametophyte in its center...
s 4. Style terminal on the ovary, bifid.
Fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
a drupe
Drupe
In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...
, usually with 4 grooves or lobes, 4-seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
ed (rarely 2-seeded by abortion).
Pollination
Clerodendrum and its relatives have an unusual pollination syndromePollination syndrome
Pollination syndromes are suites of flower traits that have evolved in response to natural selection imposed by different pollen vectors, which can be abiotic or biotic, such as birds, bees, flies, and so forth. These traits include flower shape, size, colour, odour, reward type and amount, nectar...
which avoids self-pollination
Self-pollination
Self-pollination is a form of pollination that can occur when a flower has both stamen and a carpel in which the cultivar or species is self fertile and the stamens and the sticky stigma of the carpel contact each other in order to accomplish pollination...
. This mating system
Mating system
A mating system is a way in which a group is structured in relation to sexual behaviour. The precise meaning depends upon the context. With respect to higher animals, it specifies which males mate with which females, under which circumstances; recognised animal mating systems include monogamy,...
combines dichogamy
Dichogamy
Sequential hermaphroditism is a type of hermaphroditism that occurs in many fish, gastropods and plants. Here, the individual is born one sex and changes sex at some point in their life. They can change from a male to female , or from female to male...
and herkogamy
Herkogamy
Herkogamy is a common strategy employed by hermaphroditic angiosperms to reduce sexual interference between male and female function. Herkogamy differs from other such strategies by supplying a spatial separation of the anthers and stigma.Two forms of herkogamy are most common:1...
.
The flowers are protandrous. When the flower opens, the stamens stand erect, parallel to the central axis of the flower, while the style bends over, holding the stigma
Stigma (botany)
The stigma is the receptive tip of a carpel, or of several fused carpels, in the gynoecium of a flower. The stigma receives pollen at pollination and it is on the stigma that the pollen grain germinates. The stigma is adapted to catch and trap pollen with various hairs, flaps, or sculpturings...
beyond the rim of the corolla. After the pollen
Pollen
Pollen is a fine to coarse powder containing the microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce the male gametes . Pollen grains have a hard coat that protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the...
is shed, the stamens curl up or bend over, and the style straightens out, bringing the stigma to the center of the flower. Except for Aegiphila
Aegiphila
Aegiphila is a genus of plant in family Verbenaceae.Species include:* Aegiphila cordifolia, Moldenke* Aegiphila fasciculata, J.D...
, which is heterostylous, this breeding strategy is shared by all members of the clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
consisting of Kalaharia, Clerodendrum, Volkameria
Volkameria
Volkameria is a genus of flowering plants in the family; Lamiaceae. It has about 30 species and is pantropical in distribution. Many of the species are found in coastal habitats. The type species for the genus is Volkameria aculeata....
, Aegiphila
Aegiphila
Aegiphila is a genus of plant in family Verbenaceae.Species include:* Aegiphila cordifolia, Moldenke* Aegiphila fasciculata, J.D...
, Ovieda, Tetraclea, and Amasonia.
History
Clerodendrum was namedBotanical name
A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar and/or Group epithets must conform to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants...
by Linnaeus in Species Plantarum
Species Plantarum
Species Plantarum was first published in 1753, as a two-volume work by Carl Linnaeus. Its prime importance is perhaps that it is the primary starting point of plant nomenclature as it exists today. This means that the first names to be considered validly published in botany are those that appear...
in 1753. The name is derived
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
from two 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;...
words, kleros, meaning "chance or fate" and dendron, "a tree". It refers to the considerable variation in reports of the usefulness of Clerodendrum in medicine.
Regional revisions
Treatise
A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject.-Noteworthy treatises:...
of Clerodendrum have been done for local floras
Floristics
Floristics is a subdomain of botany and biogeography that studies distribution and relationships of plant species over geographic areas.The term is not to be confused with floristry....
, but the last monograph
Monograph
A monograph is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually by a single author.It is often a scholarly essay or learned treatise, and may be released in the manner of a book or journal article. It is by definition a single document that forms a complete text in itself...
of the entire genus was by John Isaac Briquet
John Isaac Briquet
John Isaac Briquet was a Swiss plant collector.-References:...
in 1895. He recognized about 90 species, defining the genus broadly to include species that others had placed in Rotheca
Rotheca
Rotheca is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. Estimates of the number of species in the genus vary from about 35 to as many as 60. Three of the species are native to tropical Asia, with the rest occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa. The type species for the genus is Rotheca serrata...
, Volkameria
Volkameria
Volkameria is a genus of flowering plants in the family; Lamiaceae. It has about 30 species and is pantropical in distribution. Many of the species are found in coastal habitats. The type species for the genus is Volkameria aculeata....
, and Ovieda. His circumscription
Circumscription (taxonomy)
In taxonomy, circumscription is the definition of the limits of a taxonomic group of organisms. One goal of taxonomy is to achieve a stable circumscription for every taxonomic group. Achieving stability can be simple or difficult....
was followed by most authors for the next 100 years, even though it was widely believed to be problematic.
In 1997, phylogenetic analysis of DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
data showed that Clerodendrum, as then understood, was polyphyletic. This situation was remedied in 1998 with the revival of Rotheca. This taxonomic
Plant taxonomy
Plant taxonomy is the science that finds, describes, classifies, identifies, and names plants. It thus is one of the main branches of taxonomy.Plant taxonomy is closely allied to plant systematics, and there is no sharp boundary between the two...
change was based on previous work and on a molecular phylogenetic study that was not published until the following year.
In 2004, a study
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
of DNA sequence
DNA sequence
The sequence or primary structure of a nucleic acid is the composition of atoms that make up the nucleic acid and the chemical bonds that bond those atoms. Because nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are unbranched polymers, this specification is equivalent to specifying the sequence of...
s showed that the monospecific Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n genus Huxleya was embedded
Paraphyly
A group of taxa is said to be paraphyletic if the group consists of all the descendants of a hypothetical closest common ancestor minus one or more monophyletic groups of descendants...
in a clade of Clerodendrum species that had formerly been placed in Volkameria
Volkameria
Volkameria is a genus of flowering plants in the family; Lamiaceae. It has about 30 species and is pantropical in distribution. Many of the species are found in coastal habitats. The type species for the genus is Volkameria aculeata....
. Huxleya was then sunk into synonymy
Synonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
with Clerodendrum. The 2004 study sampled
Sample (material)
In general, a sample is a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount of that thing. The things could be countable objects such as individual items available as units for sale, or a material not countable as individual items. Samples of countable...
Aegiphila
Aegiphila
Aegiphila is a genus of plant in family Verbenaceae.Species include:* Aegiphila cordifolia, Moldenke* Aegiphila fasciculata, J.D...
, Tetraclea, and Amasonia, three New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
genera of Ajugoideae
Ajugoideae
Ajugoideae is a subfamily of the family Lamiaceae and might contain the genera Acrymia Prain, Ajuga L., Cymaria Benth., Garrettia H. R. Fletcher, Holocheila S. Chow. At least for some authors the subfamily Ajugoideae is the same as Teucrioideae....
that had not previously been sampled for DNA. The results of this study cast doubt, once again, upon the monophyly
Monophyly
In common cladistic usage, a monophyletic group is a taxon which forms a clade, meaning that it contains all the descendants of the possibly hypothetical closest common ancestor of the members of the group. The term is synonymous with the uncommon term holophyly...
of Clerodendrum.
In 2010, a study of four chloroplast
Chloroplast
Chloroplasts are organelles found in plant cells and other eukaryotic organisms that conduct photosynthesis. Chloroplasts capture light energy to conserve free energy in the form of ATP and reduce NADP to NADPH through a complex set of processes called photosynthesis.Chloroplasts are green...
DNA intergenic spacers
Intergenic region
An Intergenic region is a stretch of DNA sequences located between clusters of genes that contain few or no genes. Occasionally some intergenic DNA acts to control genes nearby, but most of it has no currently known function...
showed that part of Clerodendrum was closer to the New world genera than to other Clerodendrum, and that one species of Clerodendrum was nested within the clade of New World genera. The authors of this study resurrected the genus Volkameria and assigned to it about 30 species that had been in Clerodendrum. They also resurrected Ovieda as a monotypic genus consisting of Ovieda spinosa. Volkameria and Ovieda had been erected by Linnaeus in 1753. Modern cladistic analysis has largely vindicated his concepts of Clerodendrum and its relatives.
Medicnal Uses
Clerodendron glandulosum.Coleb leaf aqueous extract is traditionally used by people of North-East India to alleviate symptoms of diabetes, obesity and hypertension. It has potential use in controlling obesity.Systematics
Clerodendrum is strongly supportedResampling (statistics)
In statistics, resampling is any of a variety of methods for doing one of the following:# Estimating the precision of sample statistics by using subsets of available data or drawing randomly with replacement from a set of data points # Exchanging labels on data points when performing significance...
as monophyletic in molecular phylogenetic analyses. It consists of two clades, each of which receives strong bootstrap
Bootstrapping (statistics)
In statistics, bootstrapping is a computer-based method for assigning measures of accuracy to sample estimates . This technique allows estimation of the sample distribution of almost any statistic using only very simple methods...
support. One clade contains mostly African species. The other is mostly Asian. The African and Asian groups can not confidently be divided into sections
Section (botany)
In botany, a section is a taxonomic rank below the genus, but above the species. The subgenus, if present, is higher than the section, and the rank of series, if present, is below the section. Sections are typically used to help organise very large genera, which may have hundreds of species...
without more extensive sampling
Sample (material)
In general, a sample is a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount of that thing. The things could be countable objects such as individual items available as units for sale, or a material not countable as individual items. Samples of countable...
of taxa
Taxon
|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...
in phylogenetic studies. The Madagascan
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
species, in particular, are poorly studied.
It appears that the long, narrow corolla tube evolved
Introduction to evolution
Evolution is the process of change in all forms of life over generations, and evolutionary biology is the study of how evolution occurs. The biodiversity of life evolves by means of mutations, genetic drift and natural selection....
only once in Clerodendrum, and appeared again, among its relatives, in Ovieda.