# Beesia

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***Beesia*** is a genus of [flowering plants](/source/Flowering_plant) in the [buttercup family](/source/Ranunculaceae). It was named in 1915[1] after the plant nursery firm [Bees of Chester](/source/Bees_of_Chester), who financed the plant hunting trips of [George Forrest](/source/George_Forrest_(botanist)) and [Frank Kingdon-Ward](/source/Frank_Kingdon-Ward) in China.[2]

## Species

There are two [species](/source/Species) of *Beesia*:[3]

- *[Beesia calthifolia](/source/Beesia_calthifolia)*, which is [native](/source/Native_species) to the following [WGSRPD](/source/World_Geographical_Scheme_for_Recording_Plant_Distributions) floristic regions: North-Central [China](/source/China), South-Central China, Southeast China, East Himalaya, and [Myanmar](/source/Myanmar).[4]
- *[Beesia deltophylla](/source/Beesia_deltophylla)*,[5] which is native to southeastern [Tibet](/source/Tibet_Autonomous_Region).[6]

## Description

### Morphology

Beesia is an [evergreen](/source/Evergreen) perennial and grows as a dense basal [rosette](/source/Rosette_(botany)) of heart-shaped [leaves](/source/Leaf) with delicate serrated edges. Leaves are soft and waxy; new growth of *B. deltophylla* flushes dark green to black, while *B. calthifolia* is a lighter shade of green. Small white [flowers](/source/Flower) bloom mid-summer off an upright spike. Flowers are star-like: although *Beesia* flowers do not have [petals](/source/Petal),[7] they do have 5 [elliptic](/source/Ellipse), petal-like [sepals](/source/Sepal).[8] Flowers also have many [stamens](/source/Stamen).[8]

### Phytochemistry

A class of [organic molecules](/source/Organic_compound) termed *beesiosides* have been isolated from *Beesia* plants.[9][10] Beesiosides are [cycloartane](/source/Cycloartane) [glycosides](/source/Glycoside) (a type of [triterpene](/source/Triterpene) that forms a [sugar](/source/Carbohydrate) and a non-sugar upon [hydrolysis](/source/Hydrolysis)).[9][11][12]

## Phylogeny

*[Anemonopsis](/source/Anemonopsis)*, a monotypic genus in the Ranunculaceae native to [Japan](/source/Japan),[13] is a [sister group](/source/Sister_group) to *Beesia.*[14][15] *[Eranthis](/source/Eranthis)* and *[Actaea](/source/Actaea_(plant))* are also closely related to *Beesia*.[16]

## Uses

### Ornamental

*Beesia* is easily divided or grown from seed, and can be grown in USDA hardiness zones 6a to 8b. It grows best in partial shade or filtered light in rich, moist [soil](/source/Soil).

### Medicinal

*Beesia* [rhizomes](/source/Rhizome) are used in [Chinese herbal medicine](/source/Chinese_herbology) as a treatment for [rheumatoid arthritis](/source/Rheumatoid_arthritis) and [influenza](/source/Influenza).[8]

## References

1. Greenman, J. M. (1916). "Current Taxonomic Literature". *Botanical Gazette*. **62** (6): 509–516. [doi:10.1086/331962](https://doi.org/10.1086/331962). [ISSN 0006-8071](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0006-8071). [JSTOR 2469388](https://www.jstor.org/stable/2469388). [S2CID 224845871](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:224845871)

1. [Roy Lancaster](/source/Roy_Lancaster) *Travels in China: A Plantsman's Paradise*

1. ["Beesia Balf.f. & W.W.Sm."](http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:33075-1). *Plants of the World Online*. Kew Science. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20201026211105/http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:33075-1) 2020-10-26 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-04-05.

1. ["Beesia calthifolia (Maxim. ex Oliv.) Ulbr."](http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:709225-1). *Plants of the World Online*. Kew Science. Retrieved 2021-04-05.

1. ["Index Nominum Genericorum (ING), Botany, Smithsonian Institution"](https://naturalhistory2.si.edu/botany/ing/). *naturalhistory2.si.edu*. Retrieved 2019-04-04.

1. ["Beesia deltophylla C.Y.Wu"](http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:709227-1). *Plants of the World Online*. Kew Science. Retrieved 2021-04-05.

1. Zhang, R.; Guo, C.; Zhang, W.; Wang, P.; Li, L.; Duan, X.; Du, Q.; Zhao, L.; Shan, H.; Hodges, S. A.; Kramer, E. M. (2013-03-26). "Disruption of the petal identity gene APETALA3-3 is highly correlated with loss of petals within the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae)". *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences*. **110** (13): 5074–5079. [Bibcode:2013PNAS..110.5074Z](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013PNAS..110.5074Z). [doi:10.1073/pnas.1219690110](https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1219690110). [ISSN 0027-8424](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0027-8424). [PMC 3612624](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3612624). [PMID 23479615](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23479615)

1. ["Beesia in Flora of China @ efloras.org"](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=103691). *www.efloras.org*. Missouri Botanical Garden. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20060213052435/http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=103691) 2006-02-13 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-04-05.

1. Ju, Jian-hua; Liu, Dong; Lin, Geng; Xu; Han, Bing; Yang, Jun-shan; Tu, Guang-zhong; Ma, Li-bin (2002). ["Beesiosides A−F, Six New Cycloartane Triterpene Glycosides from Beesia calthaefolia"](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/np010293p). *Journal of Natural Products*. **65** (1): 42–47. [Bibcode:2002JNAtP..65...42J](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002JNAtP..65...42J). [doi:10.1021/np010293p](https://doi.org/10.1021/np010293p). [ISSN 0163-3864](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0163-3864). [PMID 11809062](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11809062)

1. Ju, Jian-hua; Liu, Dong; Lin, Geng; Zhang, Yu-mei; Yang, Jun-shan; Lu, Yang; Gong, Ning-bo; Zheng, Qi-tai (2002). ["Beesiosides G, H, and J−N, Seven New Cycloartane Triterpene Glycosides from Beesia c althifolia"](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/np010294h). *Journal of Natural Products*. **65** (2): 147–152. [Bibcode:2002JNAtP..65..147J](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002JNAtP..65..147J). [doi:10.1021/np010294h](https://doi.org/10.1021/np010294h). [ISSN 0163-3864](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0163-3864). [PMID 11858746](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11858746)

1. ["cycloartane (CHEBI:37778)"](https://www.ebi.ac.uk/chebi/searchId.do?chebiId=37778). *www.ebi.ac.uk*. 30 January 2019. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20201029133819/https://www.ebi.ac.uk/chebi/searchId.do?chebiId=37778) 2020-10-29 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-04-05.

1. ["glycoside"](https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/glycoside), *The Free Dictionary*, retrieved 2021-04-05

1. ["Anemonopsis Siebold & Zucc."](http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:33060-1). *Plants of the World Online*. Kew Science. Retrieved 2021-04-05.

1. Ro, Kyung-Eui; Han, Ho-Yeon; Lee, Sangtae (1999). ["Phylogenetic contributions of partial 26s rDNA sequences to the tribe helleboreae (ranunculaceae)"](http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/12265071.1999.9647459). *Korean Journal of Biological Sciences*. **3** (1): 9–15. [doi:10.1080/12265071.1999.9647459](https://doi.org/10.1080/12265071.1999.9647459). [ISSN 1226-5071](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1226-5071)

1. Compton, James A. & Culham, Alastair (2002). ["Phylogeny and Circumscription of Tribe Actaeeae (Ranunculaceae)"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/3093958). *Systematic Botany*. **27** (3): 502–511. [ISSN 0363-6445](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0363-6445). [JSTOR 3093958](https://www.jstor.org/stable/3093958)

1. Yuan, Qiong & Yang, Qin-Er (2006). "Tribal relationships of Beesia, Eranthis and seven other genera of Ranunculaceae: evidence from cytological characters". *Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society*. **150** (3): 267–289. [doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2006.00477.x](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8339.2006.00477.x). [ISSN 1095-8339](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1095-8339)

## External links

- [GRIN Genus Profile](https://web.archive.org/web/20110605142939/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?1355)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Beesia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesia) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beesia?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.