Rehmannia

Rehmannia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Orobanchaceae
Genus: Rehmannia
Libosch. ex Fisch. & C.A. Mey.
Species

See text

Rehmannia is a genus of six species of flowering plants in the order Lamiales, endemic to China.

The genus was included in the family Scrophulariaceae or Gesneriaceae in some older classifications. The current placement of the genus is in neither Scrophulariaceae s.s. nor Plantaginaceae s.l. (to which many other former Scrophulariaceae have been transferred). Earlier molecular studies suggested that its closest relatives were the genera Lancea and Mazus (Oxelman et al., 2005), which have been included in Phrymaceae (Beardsley & Olmstead, 2002). Subsequently, it was found (Xie et al., 2009) that Rehmannia and Triaenophora are jointly the sister group to Lindenbergia and the parasitic Orobanchaceae. Recently, the latest classification of flowering plants, the APG IV,[1] enlarged Orobanchaceae to include Rehmannia, making it the only other genus, along with Lindenbergia, to not be parasitic within the family.

Uses

Sometimes known as Chinese Foxglove due to its superficial resemblance to the genus Digitalis, the species of Rehmannia are perennial herbs. The plants have large flowers and are grown as ornamental garden plants in Europe and North America, and are used medicinally in Asia.

Known as dìhuáng (地黄) or gān dìhuáng (干地黄) in Chinese, R. glutinosa is used as a medicinal herb for arthritic conditions within Chinese traditional formulations.[2]

Chemical constituents

Rehmannia contains the vitamins A, B, C, and D, as well as other compounds, such as catalpol, an iridoid glycoside, that has been shown to exert protective effects on dopaminergic neurons in aged rats to help inhibit microglial activation, thereby reducing the production of pro-inflammatory factors.[3]

Homonym

The name "Rehmannia" has also been given to a genus of Jurassic ammonites belonging to the family Reineckeidae.

Species

Species include: [4]

References

  1. ↑ The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (January 2016). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 181: 1–20. doi:10.1111/boj.12385.
  2. ↑ Jim English (2010). "Traditional Chinese Herbs for Arthritis". Nutrition Review. 5 (2). Retrieved 2011-12-29.
  3. ↑ Liu, J; He QJ; Zou W; Wang HX; Bao YM; Liu YX; An LJ (December 2006). "Catalpol increases hippocampal neuroplasticity and up-regulates PKC and BDNF in the aged rats". Brain Research. 1123 (1): 68–79. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2006.09.058. PMID 17078935.
  4. ↑ "Rehmannia". The Plant List. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
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