Peganum
Encyclopedia
Peganum L.
is a genus
under the recently separated family Nitrariaceae
(Sheahan & Chase 1996). Formerly it used to be included in the family Zygophyllaceae
.
The genus has five species, occurring in warm temperate to subtropical regions across the world:
Carolus Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus , also known after his ennoblement as , was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology...
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...
under the recently separated family Nitrariaceae
Nitrariaceae
Nitrariaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales. It comprises three genera, Nitraria, Peganum and Tetradiclis, totalling 16 species....
(Sheahan & Chase 1996). Formerly it used to be included in the family Zygophyllaceae
Zygophyllaceae
The Zygophyllaceae is a family of flowering plants that contains the bean-caper and caltrop. It includes around 285 species in 22 genera.In the APG III system of classification, the families Zygophyllaceae and Krameriaceae compose the order Zygophyllales...
.
The genus has five species, occurring in warm temperate to subtropical regions across the world:
- Peganum harmala L. - HarmalHarmalHarmal is a plant of the family Nitrariaceae, native from the eastern Mediterranean region east to India. It is also known as Wild Rue or Syrian Rue because of its resemblance to plants of the rue family....
or Syrian Rue (Mediterranean region east to India) (the terms esfand svantaEsfand svantaEsfand svanta, Esfand Proto-Iranian svanta, is a common weed found in Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Pakistan and the surrounding areas. The earliest description of the plant is provided by Dioscorides in the 1st century C.E., calling it pêganon agrion...
and haomaHaomaHaoma is the Avestan language name of a plant and its divinity, both of which play a role in Zoroastrian doctrine and in later Persian culture and mythology. The Middle Persian form of the name is hōm, which continues to be the name in Modern Persian and other living Iranian languages.Sacred haoma...
are sometimes considered to refer to this plant, but this is conjectural and disputed) - Peganum mexicanum Gray (Mexico)
- Peganum nigellastrum Bunge (China)
- Canthin-6-one alkaloids:
- Luotonin C
- Luotonin D
- Phenylpropanoids:
- Dihydrosinapyl ferulate
- Dihydroconiferyl ferulate
- Aerial parts
- Other alkaloids:
- HarmineHarmineHarmine is a fluorescent harmala alkaloid belonging to the beta-carboline family of compounds. It occurs in a number of different plants, most notably the Middle Eastern plant harmal or Syrian rue and the South American vine Banisteriopsis caapi...
- 3-phenylquinolineQuinolineQuinoline is a heterocyclic aromatic organic compound. It has the formula C9H7N and is a colourless hygroscopic liquid with a strong odour. Aged samples, if exposed to light, become yellow and later brown...
, - 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)quinoline and
- 3-(1H-indol-3-yl)quinoline
- Harmine
- Canthin-6-one alkaloids:
- Peganum rothschildianum F.Buxbaum (Tunisia)
- Peganum texanum M.E.Jones (southern North America)