Anthoxanthum

{{Short description|Genus of grasses}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Anthoxanthum_odoratum.jpg |image_caption = ''Anthoxanthum odoratum'' |display_parents = 4 |parent_authority = A.Gray |taxon = Anthoxanthum |authority = L. |type_species = ''Anthoxanthum odoratum'' |type_species_authority = L.<ref>lectotype designated by Cope in Jarvis et al., Regnum Veg. 127: 19 (1993)</ref> |synonyms_ref = <ref name=j>[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=394025 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]</ref> |synonyms = * ''Ataxia'' R.Br. * ''Flavia'' Heist. ex Fabr. * ''Xanthonanthos'' St.-Lag. }}

'''''Anthoxanthum''''' (Latinised Greek for "yellow blossom"<ref>{{Cite book|last=Coombes|first=Allen J.|title=The A to Z of plant names : a quick reference guide to 4000 garden plants|date=2012|publisher=Timber Press|isbn=978-1-60469-196-2|edition=1st|location=Portland, Or.|pages=46|oclc=741564356}}</ref>), commonly known as '''hornworts''',<ref name="kor">{{Cite book|url=http://www.forest.go.kr/kna/special/download/English_Names_for_Korean_Native_Plants.pdf |title=English Names for Korean Native Plants |publisher=Korea National Arboretum |year=2015 |isbn=978-89-97450-98-5 |location=Pocheon |pages=354 |access-date=25 January 2016 |via=Korea Forest Service |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525105020/http://www.forest.go.kr/kna/special/download/English_Names_for_Korean_Native_Plants.pdf |archivedate=25 May 2017 }}</ref> '''vernal grasses''',<ref name="kor" /> or '''vernalgrasses''',<ref name="kor" /> is a genus of plants in the grass family.<ref>[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358049#page/40/mode/1up Linnaeus, Carl von. 1753. Species Plantarum 1: 28] in Latin</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://delta-intkey.com/grass/www/anthoxan.htm|title=The grass genera of the world: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval; including synonyms, morphology, anatomy, physiology, phytochemistry, cytology, classification, pathogens, world and local distribution, and references |accessdate=2009-08-19 |author=Watson L, Dallwitz MJ. |year=2008 |work=The Grass Genera of the World }}</ref><ref>[http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40016473 Tropicos, ''Anthoxanthum'' L.]</ref><ref>[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?8738,8806 Jepson Manual Treatment]</ref> The generic name means 'yellow flower' in Botanical Latin, referring to the colour of the mature spikelets.<ref>Gledhill D. 1985. ''The Names of Plants''. Cambridge University Press.{{ISBN|978-0-5213-6675-5}}</ref>

The members of ''Anthoxanthum'' are widespread in temperate and subtropical parts of Africa and Eurasia, with a few species in tropical mountains. Some species have become naturalized in Australia, New Zealand, and the Americas. ''Anthoxanthum odoratum'' is a common species of acidic grassland and bogs in northern Europe. All the species reportedly contain the compound coumarin, used medicinally in many countries.<ref>[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=102065 Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 336 <big>黄花茅属</big> huang hua mao shu ''Anthoxanthum'' Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 28. 1753]</ref><ref>[http://luirig.altervista.org/flora/taxa/floraspecie.php?genere=Anthoxanthum Altervista Flora Italiana, genere ''Anthoxanthum'']</ref>

The genus ''Hierochloe'' is included in ''Anthoxanthum'' by some recent authors. Others, however, continue to treat them as separate genera, and we provisionally treat them as such here pending further research.<ref name=j/><ref name=BSBI>Hope, Tom, & Gray, Alan, ''Grasses of the British Isles: BSBI Handbook No. 13'', Botanical Society of the British Isles, 2009, p 312. {{ISBN|978-0-901158-42-0}}.</ref>

; Species<ref name=j/><ref>[http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/search?q=Anthoxanthum The Plant List search for ''Anthoxanthum'']</ref> * ''Anthoxanthum aethiopicum'' - Ethiopia * ''Anthoxanthum amarum'' - Spain, Portugal * ''Anthoxanthum aristatum'' - Mediterranean and neighboring areas from Madeira and the Canary Islands to the Aegean * ''Anthoxanthum borii'' - India * ''Anthoxanthum dregeanum'' - Cape Province of South Africa * ''Anthoxanthum ecklonii''- South Africa, Lesotho, Malawi * ''Anthoxanthum gracile'' - Mediterranean from Morocco to the Aegean * ''Anthoxanthum hookeri'' - Guizhou, Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan, Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Myanmar * ''Anthoxanthum horsfieldii'' - Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Assam, Taiwan, Guizhou * ''Anthoxanthum japonicum'' - Honshu * ''Anthoxanthum madagascariense'' - Madagascar * ''Anthoxanthum nivale'' - mountains of central Africa (Zaïre, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania) * ''Anthoxanthum odoratum'' - widespread from Iceland to the Canary Islands to Mongolia; naturalized in North and South America, South Africa, Japan, East Asia, and various islands * ''Anthoxanthum ovatum'' - Mediterranean from Spain to the Aegean * ''Anthoxanthum pallidum'' - Sichuan, Yunnan * ''Anthoxanthum redolens'' - Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, and South America<ref>{{cite web |title=Anthoxanthum redolens |url=https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/anthoxanthum-redolens/ |website=New Zealand Plant Conservation Network |access-date=24 December 2024 |language=en}}</ref> * ''Anthoxanthum sikkimense'' - Nepal, Yunnan, Sikkim, Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh * ''Anthoxanthum tongo'' - Cape Province of South Africa

; formerly included<ref name=j/> numerous species now considered better suited to other genera. Most important is ''Hierochloe;'' others include ''Centotheca Crypsis Dichelachne Dimeria Festuca Perotis Saccharum''

==See also== * List of Poaceae genera

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Pooideae Category:Poaceae genera Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Pooideae-stub}}