Alangium

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Ordo: Cornales

Familia: Cornaceae
Genus: Alangium
Species: A. alpinum – A. amplum – A. barbatum – A. borneense – A. brassii – A. chinense – A. chungii – A. circulare – A. denudatum – A. ebenaceum – A. ferrugineum – A. frutescens – A. glabrum – A. glandulosum – A. gracile – A. grisolleoides – A. guadalcanalense – A. havilandii – A. hexapetalum – A. hirsutum – A. hollrungii – A. indochinense – A. javanicum – A. kayuniga – A. kurzii – A. ledermannii – A. longiflorum – A. maliliense – A. melliferum – A. meyeri – A. mezianum – A. minahassicum – A. nobile – A. oblongum – A. pallens – A. pilosum – A. platanifolium – A. plumbeum – A. polyosmoides – A. premnifolium – A. qingchuanense – A. ridleyi – A. rotundifolium – A. salviifolium – A. scandens – A. sempervirens – A. sinicum – A. solomonense – A. strigosum – A. subcordatum – A. taiwanianum – A. tetrandrum – A. tonkinense – A. uniloculare – A. velotinum – A. villosum – A. vitiense – A. warburgianum – A. yunnanense

Source(s) of checklist:

Paleospecies: †A. dubium – †A. eydei – †A. jenkensii – †A. rotundicarpum – †A. vermontanum
Name

Alangium Lam.,, Encycl. 1: 174 (1783) nom. cons.

Type species: Alangium salviifolium (L.f.) Wangerin in H.G.A.Engler, Pflanzenr., IV, 220b: 9 (1910) Designated as synonym Alangium decapetalum Lam., Encycl. 1: 174 (1783)

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Angolam Adans., Fam. Pl. 2: 85 (1763).
Kara-angolam Adans., Fam. Pl. 2: 84 (1763).
Angolamia Scop., Intr. Hist. Nat.: 107 (1777).
Stylidium Lour., Fl. Cochinch.: 220 (1790), nom. rej.
Stelanthes Stokes, Bot. Mat. Med. 2: 339 (1812).
Pautsauvia Juss., Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. 3: 443 (1817).
Stylis Poir. in J.B.A.P.M.de Lamarck, Encycl., Suppl. 5: 260 (1817).
Marlea Roxb., Pl. Coromandel 3: 80 (1820).
Diacicarpium Blume, Bijdr. Fl. Ned. Ind.: 657 (1826).
Rhytidandra A.Gray, U.S. Expl. Exped., Phan. 1: 302 (1854).
Pseudalangium F.Muell., Fragm. 2: 84 (1860)
Karangolum Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 272 (1891).

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Africa
West-Central Tropical Africa
Burundi, Cabinda, Cameroon, Gulf of Guinea Is.
Northeast Tropical Africa
Ethiopia, Sudan
East Tropical Africa
Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
South Tropical Africa
Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Zaïre
Western Indian Ocean
Comoros, Madagascar
Asia-Temperate
Russian Far East
Primorye
China
China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Tibet
Eastern Asia
Japan, Korea, Nansei-shoto, Taiwan
Asia-Tropical
Indian Subcontinent
Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Himalaya
Indo-China
Andaman Is., Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Nicobar Is., Thailand, Vietnam
Malesia
Borneo, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Philippines, Sulawesi, Sumatera
Papuasia
New Guinea, Solomon Is.
Australasia
Australia
New South Wales, Queensland
Pacific
Southwestern Pacific
Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Lamarck, J.-B. 1783–1785. Encyclopédie méthodique. Botanique. Tome 1. XLIV+752 pp. Panckoucke, Paris; Plomteux, Liége. BHL Reference page. : 1: 174.

Additional references

Adanson, M., 1763. Familles des Plantes 2: 84, 85.
Blume, C.L., 1826. Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indië: 657.
Gray, A., 1854. United States Exploring Expedition, 1838–1842, Phan. 1: 302.
Jussieu, A.L., 1817. Mémoires du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle. 3: 443.
Kuntze, C.E., 1891. Revisio Generum Plantarum 1: 272.
Loureiro, J , 1790 Flora Cochinchinensis: 220.
Mueller F.J., 1860. Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae 2: 84.
Poiret, J.L., 1817. In J.B.A.P.M. de Lamarck, Encyclopedie Methodique Suppl. 5: 260.
Roxburgh, W., 1820. Plants of the Coast of Coromandel 3: 80.
Stokes, J.S., 1812. A Botanical Materia Medica 2: 339 (PDF).
Manchester, Steven. R. 1994. "Fruits and seeds of the Middle Eocene Nut Beds Flora, Clarno Formation, Oregon." Palaeontographica Americana 58: 1–205.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2016. Alangium in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2016 Jan. 14. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2016. Alangium. Published online. Accessed: Jan. 10 2016.
Tropicos.org 2016. Alangium. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2016 Jan. 14.

Vernacular names
العربية: علنج
বাংলা: আকরকাঁটা
हिन्दी: अंकोल
한국어: 박쥐나무속
മലയാളം: അങ്കോലം
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ: ਅੰਕੋਲ
русский: Алангиум
తెలుగు: అలాంజియమ్
中文: 八角枫属

Alangium is a small genus of flowering plants. The genus is included either in a broad view of the dogwood family Cornaceae, or as the sole member of its own family Alangiaceae.[1] Alangium has about 40 species, but some of the species boundaries are not entirely clear.[2] The type species for Alangium is Alangium decapetalum, which is now treated as a subspecies of Alangium salviifolium.[3] All of the species are shrubs or small trees, except the liana Alangium kwangsiense.[2] A. chinense, A. platanifolium, and A. salviifolium are known in cultivation.[4]
Fruits of alangium

Range

The genus consists of small trees, shrubs and lianas, and is native to western Africa, Madagascar, southern and eastern Asia (China, Malaysia,, Indonesia, and the Philippines), tropical Australia, the western Pacific Ocean islands, and New Caledonia. Most of the species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of east and southeast Asia.[2] Five of the species extend well outside of this area. Alangium platanifolium extends from east Asia into Russia. Alangium chinense (sensu lato) extends from southeast Asia to Africa. Alangium salviifolium is the most widespread species, ranging from Africa to Australia, Fiji, and New Caledonia. Alangium villosum occurs from southeast Asia to Australia and the western Pacific Islands. Alangium grisolleoides is endemic to Madagascar and gives the genus a disjunct distribution.

Alangium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species in the Geometroidea-Drepanoidea assemblage including engrailed (Geometridae) and the subfamily Cyclidiinae (Drepanidae).

Etymology

The name Alangium is a Latinization, derived from the Malayalam name alangi, which, in Kerala, refers to Alangium salviifolium.[5] It was named in 1783 by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in his Encyclopédie Méthodique.[6][7]
Paleontological record

The wood, fruit, and pollen of Alangium are distinctive. Fossils of Alangium have been recognized from the early Eocene of England and the middle Eocene of western North America. In former times, Alangium was far more widespread than it is today.[2]
Species

As of April 2014 The Plant List recognises 42 accepted species (including infraspecific names):[8]

Characteristics

Differences from the other genera in Cornaceae include articulated pedicels, subulate bracts, bitegmic seeds and the single-seeded fruit. The entire or lobed leaves are alternate. The bisexual (rarely unisexual) nectariferous flowers are arranged in axillary cymes. The flowers have 4-10 small sepals and 4-10 linear petals. There are 4–40 stamens distributed in a single cycle. The ovary is inferior and bilocular (sometimes unilocular). The fruit is drupe.

A detailed description of Alangium can be found at Flora of China (journal).[9] Detailed botanical illustrations are available for several species.[10]
Taxonomy

In 2011, a phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences showed that Alangium is sister to Cornus.[1] Since 1939, Alangium has been divided into four sections: Conostigma, Rhytidandra, Marlea, and Alangium. Some authors have raised Marlea and Rhytidandra to generic rank. The intergeneric classification of Alangium will require a few changes.[2]
Traditional uses

One species, Alangium chinense (Chinese: 八角枫; pinyin: bā jiǎo fēng), is considered one of the fifty fundamental herbs in traditional Chinese medicine.
References

Qiu-Yun (Jenny) Xiang, David T. Thomas, and Qiao Ping Xiang. 2011. "Resolving and dating the phylogeny of Cornales - Effects of taxon sampling, data partitions, and fossil calibrations". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 59(1):123-138. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.01.016
Chun-Miao Feng, Steven R. Manchester, and Qiu-Yun (Jenny) Xiang. 2009. "Phylogeny and biogeography of Alangiaceae (Cornales) inferred from DNA sequences, morphology, and fossils". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 51(2):201-214. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2009.01.017
Alangium In: Index Nominum Genericorum. In: Regnum Vegetabile (see External links below).
Anthony Huxley, Mark Griffiths, and Margot Levy (1992). The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. The Macmillan Press,Limited: London. The Stockton Press: New York. ISBN 978-0-333-47494-5 (set).
Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names volume I. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington,DC;, USA. London, UK. ISBN 978-0-8493-2675-2 (vol. I).
Alangium At: International Plant Names Index. (See External links below).
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. 1783. Encyclopédie Méthodique: botanique. 1(1):174
"Alangium". The Plant List. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
Haining Qin and Chamlong Phengklai. 2007. Alangium pages 304-308. In: Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven, and Hong Deyuan (editors). 1994 onward. Flora of China vol. 13: Clusiaceae - Araliaceae. Science Press: Beijing, China; and Missouri Botanical Garden Press: St. Louis, MO, USA. ISBN 978-1-930723-59-7(vol. 13) ISBN 978-0-915279-34-0 (set). (See External links below).
Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven, Hong Deyuan (editors), and Zhang Libing (illustrations editor). 2008. Flora of China Illustrations, vol. 13: Clusiaceae - Araliaceae: 328-333. Science Press: Beijing, China; and Missouri Botanical Garden Press: St. Louis, MO, USA. ISBN 978-1-930723-80-1.