Withania
Withania frutescens
Withania is a genus of the family Solanaceae. Depending on the author, the genus is closely circumscribed with only about ten species or more, with about 20 species.
Description
Withania are shrubs or perennial herbaceous plants. They are occupied with branched or unbranched trichomes partially. The highly branched stem axis grows upright. The simple, stalked leaves are available individually or in pairs. You can be glabrous or hairy. If they are hairy, the trichomes are often branched.
The flowers appear singly or in crowded groups in the axils. The flower stalks are short. The calyx is bell-shaped and filled with calyx teeth, the petals are fused and form a narrow bell-shaped crown, the incisions between the petals often range up to half of the crown.
The stamens are the same diverse and set near the base of the corolla tube to. The stamens are easily trimmed, the anthers are often inclined to each other. The base of the flower is very pronounced and annularly surrounds the base of the ovary. This is zweikammerig and includes a plurality of seed plants. The stylus is slim.
At fruit maturity increases the calyx, enclosing the spherical, shiny berry and closes at the top. The seeds are pressed in kidney-shaped, the embryo is screwed right on the edge of the seed.
System
The scope of the genus is interpreted differently by different authors. While Heppner (1991 ), includes only ten species that occur from the Canary Islands to Africa and Nepal in the genus, Armando Hunziker (2001 ) summarizes the genera Withania (sensu Heppner ), Physaliastrum, Mellissia and Archiphysalis so that the genus includes about 20 species. In the classification by Olmstead (2007), the four genera are, however, again conducted separately.
The following types can be called (selection):
- Withania aristata ( Aiton ) Pauquy
- Withania coagulans ( Stocks ) Dunal
- Withnia frutescens (L.) Pauquy
- Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal )
Use
The Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera ) is in Africa, India and Pakistan is an important part of folk medicine. It contains, like all members of the genus a large proportion of withanolides and alkaloids. My Indian name is " Ashwagandha ", often the plant is referred to as " Indian Ginseng ".