Withania
Genus of flowering plants
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Withania is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae, with 19[1] to 23 species that are native to parts of North Africa, western Asia, south Asia, southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Canary Islands.[2][3] Withania was initially included within Physalis by Linnaeus in 1753 but has since become its own genus.[4] This grouping was due to the shared feature of an inflated calyx that surrounds and protects the fruit.
| Withania | |
|---|---|
| |
| Withania somnifera | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Solanales |
| Family: | Solanaceae |
| Subfamily: | Solanoideae |
| Tribe: | Physaleae |
| Genus: | Withania Pauquy (1825), nom. cons. |
| Species | |
|
19; see text | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Two of the species, W. somnifera (ashwagandha) and W. coagulans (ashutosh booti), are economically significant, and are cultivated in several regions for their medicinal uses.[2]
Etymology
Withania is thought to have been named in honour of Henry Witham, a British geologist and writer on fossil botany beginning in 1830.[5]
Species
19 species are accepted.[1]
- Withania adpressa Coss. ex Batt.
- Withania adunensis Vierh.
- Withania aristata (Aiton) Pauquy
- Withania chamaesarachoides (Makino) Hunz.
- Withania coagulans (Stocks) Dunal — ashutosh booti, Indian rennet, panirband, vegetable rennet
- Withania echinata (Yatabe) Hunz.
- Withania frutescens (L.) Pauquy
- Withania grisea (Hepper & Boulos) Thulin
- Withania heterophylla (Hemsl.) Hunz.
- Withania japonica (Franch. & Sav.) Hunz.
- Withania kweichouensis (Kuang & A.M.Lu) Hunz.
- Withania qaraitica A.G.Mill. & Biagi
- Withania reichenbachii Bitter
- Withania riebeckii Schweinf.
- Withania sinensis (Hemsl.) Hunz.
- Withania sinica (Kuang & A.M.Lu) Hunz.
- Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (synonym Withania chevalieri A.E.Gonç.) — ashwaganda, Indian ginseng, winter cherry[6][7]
- Withania sphaerocarpa Hepper & Boulos
- Withania yunnanensis (Kuang & A.M.Lu) Hunz.
