Rohdea

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Rohdea japonica
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Nolinoideae
Genus: Rohdea
Species: R. japonica
Binomial name
Rohdea japonica
(Thunb.) Roth

'Rohdea' is a genus of flowering plants comprising 17 species (see Noriyuki Tanaka 2010), formerly thought to contain only one species, Rohdea japonica. Rohdea, is a flowering plant, native to eastern Asia from southwestern China to Japan. Common names include Nippon Lily, Sacred Lily, and Japanese Sacred Lily; synonyms include Orontium japonicum, Rohdea esquirolii, and Rohdea sinensis. In the APG III classification system, it is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae (formerly the family Ruscaceae[1]). It has also been placed in the former family Convallariaceae.

It is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant, with fibrous roots. The leaves are evergreen, broad lanceolate, 15-50 cm long and 2.5-7 cm broad, with an acute apex. The flowers are produced in a short, stout, dense spike 3-4 cm long, each flower pale yellowish, 4-5 mm long. The fruit is a red berry 8 mm diameter, produced in a tight cluster of several together.

Although sometimes misspelled as Rhodea, the genus was actually named after Michael Rohde (1782-1812), a botanist from Bremen.

Cultivation and uses

It is cultivated as an ornamental plant. In Chinese it is called wan nian qing (simplified: 万年青; traditional: 萬年青; lit. "evergreen"), and in Japanese it is called omoto.

The plant is also used in traditional Chinese medicine, though it is generally regarded as inedible and possibly toxic.

References

  1. ↑ Chase, M.W.; Reveal, J.L. & Fay, M.F. (2009), "A subfamilial classification for the expanded asparagalean families Amaryllidaceae, Asparagaceae and Xanthorrhoeaceae", Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 161 (2): 132–136, doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00999.x 

External links

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