ACORACEAE [Draft]

菖蒲科  chang pu ke

Li Heng (李恒 Li Hen)[1]; Zhu Guanghua (朱光华)[2]

Herbs perennial, aromatic, glabrous, growing in marshes or as emergent aquatics. Rhizome horizontal, bearing leaves at apex. Leaves linear, distichous, bases overlapping, venation parallel. Peduncle leaflike. Inflorescence (spadix) a dense, cylindric spadixlike spike, apparently lateral as subtended by erect, leaf-like bract. Flowers bisexual, tepals 6, free; stamens 6, filaments free, slender, flattened; anthers horseshoe-shaped, locules fused at apex, dehiscing introrsely by continuous slit parallel to outer edge; ovary 3-loculed, each locule with several apical ovules; stigma punctate. Fruit a few-seeded berry; seeds oblong with fleshy endosperm.

One genus and four species; N temperate regions, subtropical and tropical Asia; four species is China.

This family is treated here independent of Araceae without knowing its proper position among the flowering plants.

Li Heng. 1979. Araceae [Acorus]. Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 13(2): 4–9.

1. ACORUS Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 324. 1753.

菖蒲属  chang pu shu

Morphological characters and geographical distribution are the same as those for the family.

The rhizomes of all Acorus species are used for treatment of neurasthenia, chronic bronchitis, diarrhea, abdominal distention, chills, colds and externally for abscesses.

1a.       Leaves with distinct midrib; rhizome stout, 0.8–1.5 cm in diam. .........................  1. A. calamus

1b.       Leaves lacking distinct midrib; rhizome slender.

2a.       Leaf blade less than 6 mm wide; leaflike bract shorter, only 3–9 cm, 1–2 × longer than spadix ...........  4. A. gramineus

2b.       Leaf blade 7–13 mm wide.

3a.       Leaflike bract 13–25 cm, 2–5 × longer than spadix ..................................  2. A. tatarinowii

3b.       Leaf-lake bract to 45 cm, 7–8 × longer than spadix ................................  3. A. rumphianus

1. Acorus calamus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 324. 1753.

菖蒲  chang pu

Marsh or emergent aquatic herbs. Rhizome horizontal, 0.8–1.5 cm in diam., pinkish, aromatic, glabrous. Leaves asymmetric, apex very acute, 90–100(–150) × 1–2(–3) cm, midrib conspicuous on both side. Peduncle (15–)40–50 cm, trigonous. Leaflike bract 30–40 cm. Spadix straight or slightly curved, erect or oblique, narrowly conic to cylindric, 4.5–5.6(–8) cm × 6–12 mm. Flowers yellowish, tepals oblong, apex triangular-hooded, 1–2.5 × 0.4–1 cm, keeled, membranous; filaments ca. 3 × 1.25 mm; Ovary cylindric, 1.5–3.5 × 0. 8–2.3 mm, hexagonal-cylindric with conical, spongy apex. Filaments 1.2–2.4 × 0.3–0.5 mm; anthers ca. 0.5 mm, cream. Berry oblong, red. Fl. (Feb–)Jun–Sep. 2n = 36, 48*.

Swamps, pond sides, standing water, usually cultivated; below 2800 m. Throughout China [N temperate and subtropical regions in Europe, Asia, and North America].

1a. Key text?? .........................................................................................................  1a. var. calamus

1a. Rhizomes slender; leaves 6–8 mm wide; spadix narrow, 3–5 cm; leaflike bract 4–8 × longer than spadix ...............................................................................................................................  1b. var. verus

1a. Acorus calamus var. calamus

菖蒲(原变种)  chang pu (yuan bian zhong)

Description??

Swamps, standing water, usually cultivated; below 2800 m. Throughout China [N temperate and subtropical regions in Europe, Asia, and North America].

1b. Acorus calamus var. verus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 324. 1753.

细根菖蒲  xi gen chang pu

Rhizomes slender. Leaves 6–8 mm wide. Spadix narrow, 3–5 cm, Leaflike bract 4–8 × longer than spadix. Fl. May–Sep.

Swamps, pond sides; 1500–1750 m. Yunnan [Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka].

2. Acorus tatarinowii Schott, Oesterr. Bot. Z. 9: 101. 1859.

石菖蒲  shi chang pu

Acorus brevispathus K. M. Lio[not in IPNI]; A. latifolius Z. Y. Zhu.

Rhizomes aromatic, 2–5 mm in diam. Leaves herbaceous, apex acuminate, 20–30(–50) × 0.7–1.3 cm, midrib inconspicuous. Peduncle 4–15 cm, trigonous. Leaflike bract 13–25 cm, 2–5 × longer than spadix. Spadix cylindric, (2.5–)4–6.5(–8.5) cm × 4–7 mm, apex acute, straight or slightly curved. Flowers white. Berry yellowish or yellow white. Fl. Feb–Jun. 2n = 24.

Dense forests, moist rocky stream banks, meadows; below 2600 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu Jiangxi, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [NE India to Thailand–list each country].

3. Acorus rumphianus S. Y. Hu, Dansk Bot. Arkiv 23: 416. 1968.

长苞菖蒲  chang bao chang pu

Rhizome aromatic, ca. 1 cm in diam. Leaves linear, apex acuminate, 40–50 × 1.5–1.8 cm, midrib inconspicuous. Peduncle ca. 9.5 cm. Leaflike bract-linear, ca. 45 cm, (7–)8 × longer than spadix. Spadix cylindrical, white, erect, ca. 8 cm × 5 mm. Fl. Dec. 2n = 24.

Moist streamsides; below 1300 m. Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan [Thailand and Vietnam to Indonesia (Java)–list each country].

4. Acorus gramineus Solander in Aiton, Hort. Kew. 474. 1789.

金菖蒲  jin qian pu

Acorus gramineus var. flavomarginatus K. M. Liu; A. gramineus var. macrospadiceus Yamamoto; A. xiangyeus Z. Y. Zhu.

Herbs grasslike, rhizomatous. Rhizome creeping, short, 5–10 cm, aromatic, dense branched. Leaves linear, aromatic, 20–30 cm × less than 6 mm, apex acuminate, entire. Peduncle green (2.5–)10–15 cm, compressed-triangular; leaflike bract 1–2 × longer than spadix, sometimes shorter than spadix, 3–9(–14) mm × 1–2 mm; spadix narrowly cylindrical, 3–9 cm, densely flowered, yellow-green, 3–5 mm in diam. Capsules ovoid-globose, yellow, seeds hairy at base. Fl. Jun–Jul, fr. Jul–Aug. 2n = 24.

Moist rocks, rocky streams; below 1800 m. Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Philippines].



[1] Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Heilongtan, Kunming, Yunnan 650204, People’s Republic of China.

[2] Missouri Botanical Garden, P.O. Box 299, St. Louis, Missouri 63166-0299, U.S.A. (Zhu Guanghua died on 2 November 2005.)