Petrocosmea glabristoma (Gesneriaceae), a New Species from Yunnan,China

Petrocosmea glabrstoma ZJ. Qiu & YZ. Wang, a new species from Yunnan Province, China, is described and illustrated. The new species is similar to Petrocosmea forrestii Craib and Pmairei Lévl., but differs from them mainly by its leaves triangular or triangular ovate, corolla glabrous inside with shorter filament. Molecular and morphological data demonstrate that this new species has a close affinity to Pforrestii.     

Dai People’s Botanical Knowledge: Nomenclature Meaning and Classification

After analysis, statistics and conclude 1175 species (variety) of plants,1370 Dai names and 1691 meanings were obtained to elucidate how the Dai people recognize and define the plant. They used ‘hong e bin’, which means‘the things with life come out from the ground’ to define the plant. This is similar to the modern science which defined the plant as ‘anything that grows from the ground’. This is a highly synthesized scientific term that seldom seen in many other ethnics in the world. In their method of naming plants, they used the types of plant life form and economic type for ‘generic’ names, and used the meanings of plant morphogenesis and characters, economic uses, ecological distribution, and stories and legends etc. for ‘specific’ names. Among the 1691 meanings, they are occupied 60%, 30%, 8% and 2% respectively. This reflected that the naming method of Dai for plant ‘Just see what′s looking alike on naming them’ is similar to Linnaeus′ bi nomenclature of the modern botanical taxonomy. Moreover, the folk plant classification system based on the structure of Dai names is then established, including 5 categories as plant kingdom, tow ‘families’ of wild or cultivated plant, about 20 ‘genera’ of life forms and economic types, and more than 3000 species and over 1000 varieties, by the ‘two names’ in the paper as well.     

Tremacron hongheense,a New Species of Gesneriaceaefrom Southeastern Yunnan,China

A new species of Gesneriaceae from Honghe County, Southeastern Yunnan, China, Tremacron hongheense WH. Chen & YM. Shui, is described and illustrated. The new species is similar to Tremacron forrestii Craib, but differs by its leaf blade adaxially sparsely long setose (vs. densely white appressed pubescent and sparsely rusty brown villous), corolla tube outside short white glandular (vs. nearly glabrous), corolla lobes red and thickening at apex, especially adaxial lip (vs. yellow and not thickening), stamens 16-18cm long (vs. 04-12cm long), staminode 05-14cm long (vs. 02-04cm long).     

Seed Storage Behavior and Seed Germination of Nine Species of Lauraceae from Yunnan,China

Seed banking following internationally agreed standards is an important way for preserving collections of wild plant species ex situ; but this method is not suitable for desiccation sensitive species. Lauraceae comprehends some of the dominant species in the evergreen broadleaved forest in the south of China and contains many species both of ecological and economical importance. However, study on seed biology such as germination and desiccation tolerance of this family is scarce. Seeds of 9 species from 5 genera of this family were collected and their dormancy status and germination requirement were studied; also their desiccation tolerance were determined using a modified 100 seed test. The results showed that seeds of Cinnamomum camphora probably have intermediate physiological dormancy; seeds of Actinodaphne forrestii, Actinodaphne obovata, Cinnamomum migao, Lindera metcalfiana var. dictyophylla, Lindera communis and Neolitsea polycarpa are non deep physiological dormant; Seeds of Cinnamomum burmannii and Phoebe glaucophylla may have no or negligible dormancy. All 9 species lost seed viability after desiccated to 286%-716% moisture content while still retained considerable viability with moisture content ranged from 1732% to 4487% after moist storage; thus seeds of the 9 species are all desiccation sensitive and can not be stored at the conventional seed bank conditions.     

Systematic Position of Allium macrostemon Based on nrDNA ITS and cpDNA trnL-F Sequence Data

Allium macrostemon is an important medicinal and edible plant. Its systematic position and taxonmical classification remain controversial to date. To explore this issue, we reconstructed phylogenetic relationships among Amacrostemon and other related taxa using nrDNA ITS and cpDNA trnL F markers. The phylogenetic trees derived from Bayesian inference and maximum parsimony analysis showed that Amacrostemon is monophyletic, and has a close relationship with some species of polyphyletic sections Caerulea and Pallasia instead of sections Codonoprasum and Allium. The including of Amacrostemon within section Allium was not supported by both molecular data and morphological characters of spathe, filaments and ovary. Allium macrostemon should be included in a new section, however further studies using additional samples (especially those from Central Asia) is necessary. In addition, we also provided a discussion on the phylogenetic relationships among four original plants (Amacrostemon, Achinense, Acaeruleum and Aneriniflorum) of Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus and systematic position of partial species of section Pallasia.     

Estimation of Genome Size of Four Panax Species by Flow Cytometry*

Ginseng genus Panax, a member of family Araliaceae, consists of about 11 species in total. Most species of this genus are applied as tonic and medicinal plant resources. In this article, the genome size (C Value) of four ginseng species was estimated by flow cytometry using Oryza sativa as the internal reference. The results revealed that the C Values of four species are different from each other, and the C Value of Pnotoginseng is the largest, while the C Value of Pstipuleanatus is the smallest one.     

西双版纳传统利用的野生药食两用植物

2010年3月至2011年7月对西双版纳少数民族传统利用的药食两用植物进行民族植物学调查,通过访谈和野外调查工作, 收集并记录了关于当地社区传统利用药食两用植物的传统知识以及其他相关信息,并选择了其中20种植物进行抗菌活性的筛选。共调查统计了43科95种西双版纳传统利用的药食两用植物,从分类学角度来看,以茄科（6种）和唇形科（6种）最多,其中草本植物占了最大比例,为495%。对其中20种植物的抗菌活性筛选结果显示,只有马蓝（Baphicacanthus cusia）和旋花茄（Solanum spirale）对金黄色葡萄球菌有抑菌活性。从调查中可以看出：药食两用植物的利用在当地人的日常生活中仍占有相当重要的分量。但随着近年来经济快速发展导致的传统知识的急剧流失和森林的大面积砍伐,很多植物已经逐渐从人们的生活中淡出,如何保护这些传统知识并使其能够可持续发展下去是一个值得思考的问题。     

湖北省南漳县重点药用植物资源名录

为了调查湖北省南漳县重点中药材品种原植物的种类与分布情况,明确该区域内药用植物资源现状,以湖北省第四次全国中药资源普查技术规范为指导,采用传统野外调查与现代技术相结合的方法,对南漳县现有药用植物资源进行普查与统计分析。本次普查共采集重点药用植物品种221种,涉及86个科,183个属,涵盖中药材250种。本研究首次公开发布了湖北省南漳县重点药用植物资源名录。该县域内药用植物资源物种丰富多样,涵盖重点中药材品种较多,具有较大的应用价值,应得到重视、保护和开发利用。     

Prediction of Potential Geological Distribution of Asarum in China by Maxent Model

Genus Asarum contains several plant species that are mostly used as precious drug resources. In this study, 126 distribution records of 3 Asarum species and relevant 28 environmental factors data were collected, then a geographical distribution model of the genus medicinal plants in China was made by Maxent and the ArcGIS spatial analysis technique. The results showed that the 3 Asarum species have a wide potential distribution region. High suitable region and suitable region were 3125km2 and 276042km2 respectively. Among the environmental factors, 3 precipitation factors (annual precipitation, precipitations in the most dry season and the most warm season) are the main ones that can affect the distribution of the 3 Asarum medicinal plants. This study can provide a useful reference for the collection and cultivation of Asarum medicinal plants.     

湘西地区祛风除湿药用植物的资源调查及可持续利用建议

湘西地区祛风除湿的医药传统知识历史悠久,但相关药用植物的资源本底和传统知识现状还不够清楚。该文基于民族植物学调查方法,对湘西地区祛风除湿药用植物的组成、相关传统知识、定量评价、实际估价和在《湖南省中药材标准》(2009年版)收录情况等方面进行了系统梳理,并就该类资源的可持续利用提出了相关建议。结果表明:(1)湘西地区目前利用的祛风除湿药用植物共有48科65属71种,以毛茛科(Ranunculaceae)和五加科(Araliaceae)居多。(2)根、全株、茎(藤)为主要利用部位。(3)生活型主要是草本、藤本和灌木,乔木较少。(4)与药用植物相关的传统知识在代际传播方面存在不确定性。(5)寻骨风(Aristolochia mollissima)、威灵仙(Clematis chinensis)和广防风(Anisomeles indica)显示出最高的知识一致性水平,是本次调查中3种最常用的祛风除湿药用植物。(6)当地药用植物的本地价格受市场影响较小,总体维持在较为平稳的水平,且缺乏对药材消费需求的了解。(7)有25种祛风除湿药用植物在《湖南省中药材标准》(2009年版)收录的功能与主治为祛风除湿、关节痹痛、风湿等。随着现阶段我国资源立法的不断完善,建议对湘西地区祛风除湿药用植物相关传统知识加强保护,提高该类资源的生物多样性和可持续利用水平; 并充分利用多学科交叉知识和技术手段,加强区域内传统医药资源的发掘和创新,使湘西丰富的药用植物资源更好地为人类健康做出贡献。     

A Preliminary Study of Traditional,Wild Medicinal,Edible Plants in Xishuangbanna,Yunnan, China

An ethnobotanical study was conducted through interview and field work during 20103-20117 to determine the wild medicine food plants used by the local people of Xishuangbanna, southwest Yunnan, China. All information provided on the uses of medicine food plants by local communities was documented. In addition, the disk diffusion method was used to test the antibacterial activities of some plants. A total of 95 plant species belonging to 43 families were reported as medicine food plants, with Solanaceae (6 species) and Lamiaceae (6 species) being the most represented families. Most plants used were herbs (495%), of which 20 were screened for antibacterial activities. Baphicacanthus cusia and Solanum spirale showed moderate antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus. Our interviews revealed that in the study area wild plants are still commonly used for food and medicinal purposes by people in their daily lives. However, there is a gradual loss of traditional knowledge about these plants due to a decline in inter generational transmission of knowledge. Loss of this precious knowledge is a major concern.     

Manglietia lawii sp. nov. (Magnoliaceae) from Yunnan, China

Manglietia lawii N. H. Xia & W. F. Liao, a new species of Manglietia from Yunnan, China, is described and illustrated. It is closely related to M. forrestii W. W. Smith, but differs by having villous gynoecium and glabrous tepals.     

Doubled haploid production via anther culture in annual,winter type of caraway (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Carum carvi</Emphasis> L.)

Caraway (Carum carvi L.) is a traditional medicinal and spice cross-pollinated plant species. Although in vitro techniques are recently extensively applied in plant breeding programmes, these are not commonly utilized in caraway. Therefore, based on the protocol for anther culture in carrot (Daucus carota L., a closely related species of caraway in Daucaceae family), in vitro androgenesis in caraway has been studied with the aim to produce completely homozygous inbred lines. Various induction conditions, such as temperature pretreatments, carbon sources and combination of growth regulators in a culture medium as well as the effect of genotype on in vitro androgenesis were examined. Ten breeding lines of winter caraway representing third generation of forced (artificial) self-pollination were used as donor plant material. Cultured anthers produced embryogenic calli, and subsequently two types of regenerated plants were obtained, namely haploids with evident microspore origin, and diploids which may represent somatic (anther wall) regenerants or spontaneous doubled haploids. The ploidy status of regenerated plants was determined by flow cytometry. This is the first report on androgenic doubled haploid production in caraway.     

国产香茶菜属十三个分类群的细胞学研究

对国产11种2变种共16个居群的香茶菜属植物的染色体数目进行了研究。除线纹香茶菜细花变种以外,其它种类的染色体数目均为首次报道。研究结果表明,有12个物种为二倍体,其染色体数目均为2n=24,推测该属植物的染色体基数为x=12。而细锥香茶菜既有染色体数目为2n=24的居群,也存在2n=48的居群,表明该种为二倍体或四倍体,同时2n=48的染色体数目也是香茶菜属内的首次报道。     

优质鲜食黄肉猕猴桃新品种‘金圆’的选育及特性分析

‘金圆’是以种间杂交品种‘金艳’（Actinidia chinensis×A.eriantha）为母本、中华猕猴桃（A.chinensis Planch.）为父本,从回交F₁代群体中选育出的中熟黄肉猕猴桃新品种。通过对‘金圆’植物学性状、特异性、营养成分、贮藏性等进行研究,结果显示：‘金圆’果实为短圆形,单果重80~100 g,软熟时果肉橙黄色,质细味浓;‘金圆’的花瓣数和花丝数与母本‘金艳’接近,花冠直径和柱头数较‘金艳’分别增大了9.31%和52%,而花柄长度比‘金艳’短16.75%;萌芽率和果枝率略低于‘金艳’,但比‘海沃德’高出55.26%和43.33%;‘金圆’的可溶性固形物、总糖和可滴定酸含量与‘金艳’相当,但维生素C含量比‘金艳’高4.63%,是‘海沃德’的2.2倍;‘金圆’矿质元素含量丰富,P和K含量分别比‘金艳’高30.86%和22.53%,Mg含量比‘海沃德’高24.86%;‘金圆’的总氨基酸含量丰富（8 mg/g）,E/N和E/T值均高于‘金艳’和‘海沃德’,更接近于理想模式;‘金圆’在低温下（1~2℃,相对湿度90%~95%）贮藏150 d时,好果率在80%以上,200 d后,好果率仍有65%,贮藏性略低于‘金艳’,但显著高于‘海沃德’。利用Geo7-223分子标记扩增‘金圆’基因组得到3个条带,表明其与‘金艳’和‘金桃’在分子水平上具有一定差异。本研究表明‘金圆’具有良好的农艺性状和品质特性。     

Principles of classification of medicinal plants as hyperaccumulators or excluders

Strategies of plants, known as metallophytes, in response to metal excess are explored. Specific features of medicinal plants related to metal exposition are discussed. Different parameters used for metallophyte classification are discussed. Bioaccumulation and translocation factors are characterized. Chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.), one of the most important medicinal plants, is presented as a case history. Based on actual knowledge of plant response to metal excess and published data related to chamomile, it has been concluded that this plant species is Cd hyper/accumulator. Thus, chamomile can manifest high potential for cleaning-up (phytoremediation) of the soils contaminated with cadmium. However, it should be stressed that cultivation of this medicinal plant under natural conditions for pharmaceutical use should be carefully supervised.     

广西龙胜红瑶传统药用植物的民族植物学知识

瑶族是一个拥有悠久历史和灿烂文化的民族,红瑶是其中一个分支,因妇女服饰上的花纹图案以大红色为主而得名,其生活习俗饱含民族特色,对植物尤其是药用植物的利用方式,与其他民族不同。该研究采用经典的民族植物学理论和方法,访问调查了广西龙胜红瑶传统药用植物种类,根据植物拉丁名、中文名、当地名、用途、用法及药用部位,对其进行民族植物学编目,并与《中国药典》作了比较。结果表明:共记录到药用植物95种,隶属于57科83属,其中蔷薇科、百合科种类最多,分别含有7种,显示龙胜红瑶传统药用植物资源的多样性;全株入药的植物种类41种,占总数的43.16%;根入药的种类为23种,占总数的24.21%;叶入药的种类为13种,占总数的13.68%。药用植物的药用部位以全株、根及叶为主;治疗风湿类疾病的药物比重最大,为23.47%,推测与其生活的环境有关;与《中国药典》比较,发现71种植物未被其收录,另有17种虽被收录但主治功效不同,有7种被收录且主治功效大致相同,为新型中药的研发提供了借鉴。同时,还探讨了龙胜红瑶传统药用植物的药用价值、资源现状及文化传承的问题。     

Density and potential utilisation of medicinal grassland plants from Abe Bailey Nature Reserve, South Africa

The Abe Bailey Nature Reserve, South Africa has been identified as a potential community resource reserve compatible with biodiversity conservation. As part of the planning and public participation phase this study investigated the potential for sustainably harvesting medicinal plants. Medicinal plant use data on local species, parts used and harvesting techniques, in collaboration with neighbouring traditional healers were collected. A census of these plants was conducted in the reserve and frequency, density and abundance were calculated. A medicinal plant rating system for assessing conservation priorities was used to combine both social-qualitative and ecological-quantitative data. Five medicinal species suitable for high impact harvesting were identified. Thirty-four species have potential to be set up as harvesting trials to determine sustainable quotas. Thirty-one medicinal species including Boophane disticha, Dicoma anomala, Eucomis autumnalis, Hypoxis hemerocallidea, Pentanisia prunelloides and Indigofera daleoides are considered to be site-specific sensitive species and should not be harvested from the reserve. Following this research an on site nursery has been started at the reserve. A multi-pronged approach involving harvesting trials, propagation and plant rescue from developments to cope with escalating demand and dwindling natural populations needs to be implemented.     

The implications of ritual practices and ritual plant uses on nature conservation: a case study among the Naxi in Yunnan Province,Southwest China

Background

Conservation of biodiversity is primary important of today’s critically vulnerable environment. Efficient conservation can be possible only with the long-term participation and understanding of the communities. Ritual beliefs of the indigenous people are one of the important tools to understand the local communities and aid the nature conservation. In this paper, we documented contemporary ritual practices and ritual plant uses among the Naxi people and discussed the importance of traditional knowledge on ritual practice in the conservation of plants in the mountains presenting a case study of the Dongba culture.

Methods

This study was carried out from July in 2013 to July in 2014. To document and analyze the present state of the ritual plant used by the Naxi people we conducted an ethnobotanical survey. We interviewed local people including Dongba priests using the semi-structured questionnaire. During the field study, we participated in the local religious activities to witness the use of different plants in ritual activities of the Naxi people. We interviewed twenty-two key informants and eleven of them were male. All the specimens of documented species were collected and deposited at the herbarium of Kunming Institute of Botany.

Results

The survey results revealed the Naxi people possessed sound knowledge of the traditional ritual plants and great diversity of plants used in many of Naxi rituals and festivals. From the survey, we documented 32 ritual plant species belonging to 24 genera of 17 families used in various ritual activities. The ritual plants were grouped into two categories, namely those burned as incense, and those used for decoration. The incense plants like Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata and Pistacia weinmanniifolia were probably promising natural aromatic resource. Plants of genus Quercus were the most frequently used species. The places for ritual activities were diverse, such as the incense burners inside and outside the house and sacred trees at the Baishuitai. Local people except the young generation had an abundant of traditional knowledge.

Conclusions

Our study shows the live ritual activities and the beliefs of the residents are keeping the plant diversity and the entire forest preserved as sacred mountains. Our study emphasizes traditional belief and an alternative view of conservation that is not led mainly by governmental policies, as local practices and ritual plants uses play as constant reminders to the Naxi on nature conservation. However, further research is recommended for in-depth understanding the role of traditional belief in biodiversity conservation.