View source for Lindera

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}
{{for|the moth genus which shares this name|Lindera (moth){{!}}''Lindera'' (moth)}}
{{Redirect-synonym|Spice bush|Triunia}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|image = Lindera melissifolia.jpg
|image_caption = ''Lindera melissifolia''
|taxon = Lindera
|authority = [[Thunb.]]
|subdivision_ranks = Species
|subdivision = See text
|synonyms =
*''Benzoin'' <small>[[Boerh.]] ex [[Schaeff.]]</small>
*''Daphnidium'' <small>[[Nees]]</small>
*''Iteadaphne'' <small>[[Carl Ludwig Blume|Blume]]</small>
*''Parabenzoin'' <small>[[Takenoshin Nakai|Nakai]]</small>
*''Sinosassafras'' <small>[[H.W.Li]]</small>
}}
[[file:Lindera neesiana Dried fruit Nepal.jpg|thumb|Dried fruits of ''Lindera neesiana'' used as spice <br/>(coll.[[MHNT]])]]
'''''Lindera''''' is a genus of about 80–100<ref name="fna">[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=118626 1. Lindera Thunberg], ''[[Flora of North America]]''</ref> species of [[flowering plant]]s in the family [[Lauraceae]], mostly native to eastern [[Asia]] but with three species in eastern [[North America]].<ref name="fna"/><ref name="china">[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=118626 5. Lindera Thunberg], ''Flora of China''</ref> The species are [[shrub]]s and small [[tree]]s;<ref name="china"/> common names include '''spicewood''', '''spicebush''', and '''Benjamin bush'''.
==Name==
The Latin name ''Lindera'' commemorates the Swedish doctor [[Johan Linder]] (1676–1724).<ref name=AZPLA>{{cite book|last=Coombes|first=Allen J.|title=The A to Z of plant names|year=2012|publisher=Timber Press|location=USA|isbn=978-1-60469-196-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781604691962}}</ref>
==Description==
[[File:Lindera umbellata,紅葉するクロモジ（黒文字）B221157.JPG|thumb|''Lindera umbellata'']]
''Lindera'' are [[evergreen]] or [[deciduous]] trees or shrubs.<ref name="china"/> The leaves are alternate, entire or three-lobed, and strongly spicy-aromatic. ''Lindera'' are [[plant sexuality|dioecious]], with male and female flowers on separate trees. The inflorescences are composed of 3 to 15 small flowers existing as pseudo-umbels. They are sessile or on short shoots. The flowers are from greenish to white, greenish-yellow, or yellowish, with six tepals arranged in a star shape.<ref name="china"/> The male flowers have 9 to 15 fertile stamens; the innermost circle of stamens can be found at the base of the stamen glands. Usually the stamens are longer than the anthers, which in turn consist of two chambers and are directed inwards or sideways. The vestigial ovary is negligible or absent. The base of the flower is small and flat. The female flowers have a varying number of staminodes. [[Pollination]] is done by [[bee]]s and other [[insect]]s. ''Lindera'' fruit have a [[hypocarpium]] at the base of the fruit, which in some cases forms a cup that encloses the bottom part of the fruit.<ref name="china"/> The fruit is a small red, purple or black [[drupe]] containing a single [[seed]], dispersed mostly by birds. Many species reproduce vegetatively by [[stolon]]s.
==Ecology==
The genus appears to be able to occupy widely different habitats as long as its requirements for water are met.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} [[Habitat fragmentation]] severely affects dioecious{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} species like ''[[Lindera melissifolia]]'' (pondberry), because populations with plants of a single sex can only vegetatively reproduce. With significant habitat loss, plants become ever more isolated, lessening the likelihood that pollinators will travel from male to female plants.
Most are found on the bottoms and edges of shallow seasonal ponds in old dune fields, but in drier areas they occur in low riverine habitat.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}
Most ''Lindera'' colonies occur in light shade beneath a forest canopy, but a few grow in almost full sunlight.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}
In warmer areas they occur in bottomland hardwood forests.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}
The North American species of ''Lindera'' are relicts that originally were more common when the climate of North America was more humid, and they are not so widespread geographically as in the past.
The [[hermit thrush]] has been identified as a dispersal agent of seeds of ''L. melissifolia''.<ref name="Smith">{{Cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Carl G. |last2=Hamel |first2=Paul B. |last3=Devall |first3=Margaret S. |last4=Schiff |first4=Nathan M. |date=March 2004 |title=Hermit Thrush is the First Observed Dispersal Agent for Pondberry (Lindera melissifolia) |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2179/0008-7475(2004)069<0001:htitfo>2.0.co;2 |journal=Castanea |volume=69 |issue=1 |pages=1–8 |doi=10.2179/0008-7475(2004)069<0001:htitfo>2.0.co;2 |s2cid=3694410 |issn=0008-7475}}</ref>
''Lindera'' species are used as food plants by the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]] species, including [[the engrailed]] and the [[Papilio troilus|spicebush swallowtail]].
==Selected species==
{|
|- valign=top
|
*''[[Lindera aggregata]]''
*''[[Lindera akoensis]]''
*''[[Lindera angustifolia]]''
*''[[Lindera benzoin]]'' - common spicebush, Benjamin bush
*''[[Lindera chienii]]''
*''[[Lindera chunii]]''
*''[[Lindera citriodora]]''
*''[[Lindera communis]]''
*''[[Lindera doniana]]''
*''[[Lindera erythrocarpa]]''
*''[[Lindera flavinervia]]''
*''[[Lindera floribunda]]''
*''[[Lindera foveolata]]''
*''[[Lindera fragrans]]''
*''[[Lindera glauca]]''
*''[[Lindera gracilipes]]''
*''[[Lindera guangxiensis]]''
*''[[Lindera kariensis]]''
*''[[Lindera kwangtungensis]]''
*''[[Lindera latifolia]]''
*''[[Lindera limprichtii]]''
*''[[Lindera longipedunculata]]''
*''[[Lindera lungshengensis]]''
*''[[Lindera megaphylla]]''
*''[[Lindera melissifolia]]'' - southern spicebush
|
*''[[Lindera metcalfiana]]''
*''[[Lindera monghaiensis]]''
*''[[Lindera motuoensis]]''
*''[[Lindera nacusua]]''
*''[[Lindera neesiana]]''
*''[[Lindera obtusiloba]]''
*''[[Lindera praecox]]''
*''[[Lindera prattii]]''
*''[[Lindera pulcherrima]]''
*''[[Lindera reflexa]]''
*''[[Lindera reticulosa]]''
*''[[Lindera robusta]]''
*''[[Lindera rubronervia]]''
*''[[Lindera setchuenensis]]''
*''[[Lindera strychnifolia]]''
*''[[Lindera subcoriacea]]'' - bog spicebush
*''[[Lindera supracostata]]''
*''[[Lindera thomsonii]]''
*''[[Lindera tienchuanensis]]''
*''[[Lindera tonkinensis]]''
*''[[Lindera triloba]]''
*''[[Lindera umbellata]]''
*''[[Lindera villipes]]''
*''[[Lindera wrayi]]''
|}
==Uses==
The bark, twigs, and leaves of some species can be used to make tea. The berries have also sometimes been used. The young bark can be chewed to parch thirst.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Angier|first=Bradford|url=https://archive.org/details/fieldguidetoedib00angi/page/210/mode/2up|title=Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants|publisher=Stackpole Books|year=1974|isbn=0-8117-0616-8|location=Harrisburg, PA|pages=210|oclc=799792|author-link=Bradford Angier}}</ref>
''Lindera umbellata'' contains [[linderatin]], [[methyllinderatin]] and [[linderachalcone]] which are structurally related to [[cannabidiol]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ichino |first=Kazuhiko |date=January 1989 |title=Two flavonoids from two ''Lindera umbellata'' varieties |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0031942289801566 |journal=Phytochemistry |language=en |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=955–956 |doi=10.1016/0031-9422(89)80156-6 |bibcode=1989PChem..28..955I |s2cid=84302225}}</ref>{{verification needed|date=July 2023}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Transient receptor potential channel modulators}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q311790}}
[[Category:Lindera| ]]
[[Category:Lauraceae genera]]
[[Category:Dioecious plants]]