Beesia

Beesia is a genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family. It was named in 1915[2] after the plant nursery firm Bees of Chester, who financed the plant hunting trips of George Forrest and Frank Kingdon-Ward in China.[3]

Beesia
Beesia deltophylla
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Ranunculaceae
Subfamily: Ranunculoideae
Tribe: Cimicifugeae
Genus: Beesia
Balf.f. & W.W.Sm.
Species[1]

Species

There are two species of Beesia:[1]

  • Beesia calthifolia, which is native to the following WGSRPD floristic regions: North-Central China, South-Central China, Southeast China, East Himalaya, and Myanmar.[4]
  • Beesia deltophylla,[5] which is native to southeastern Tibet.[6]

Description

Morphology

Beesia is an evergreen perennial and grows as a dense basal rosette of heart-shaped leaves 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 bloom mid-summer off an upright spike. Flowers are star-like: although Beesia flowers do not have petals,[7] they do have 5 elliptic, petal-like sepals.[8] Flowers also have many stamens.[8]

Phytochemistry

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

Phylogeny

Anemonopsis, a monotypic genus in the Ranunculaceae native to Japan,[13] is a sister group to Beesia.[14][15] Eranthis and Actaea 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.

Medicinal

Beesia rhizomes are used in Chinese herbal medicine as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and influenza.[8]

References
  1. "Beesia Balf.f. & W.W.Sm". Plants of the World Online. Kew Science. Archived from the original on 2020-10-26. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  2. Greenman, J. M. (1916). "Current Taxonomic Literature". Botanical Gazette. 62 (6): 509–516. doi:10.1086/331962. ISSN 0006-8071. JSTOR 2469388. S2CID 224845871.
  3. Roy Lancaster Travels in China: A Plantsman's Paradise
  4. "Beesia calthifolia (Maxim. ex Oliv.) Ulbr". Plants of the World Online. Kew Science. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  5. "Index Nominum Genericorum (ING), Botany, Smithsonian Institution". naturalhistory2.si.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  6. "Beesia deltophylla C.Y.Wu". Plants of the World Online. Kew Science. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  7. 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. doi:10.1073/pnas.1219690110. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 3612624. PMID 23479615.
  8. "Beesia in Flora of China @ efloras.org". www.efloras.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. Archived from the original on 2006-02-13. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  9. 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". Journal of Natural Products. 65 (1): 42–47. doi:10.1021/np010293p. ISSN 0163-3864. PMID 11809062.
  10. 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". Journal of Natural Products. 65 (2): 147–152. doi:10.1021/np010294h. ISSN 0163-3864. PMID 11858746.
  11. "cycloartane (CHEBI:37778)". www.ebi.ac.uk. 30 January 2019. Archived from the original on 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  12. "glycoside", The Free Dictionary, retrieved 2021-04-05
  13. "Anemonopsis Siebold & Zucc". Plants of the World Online. Kew Science. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  14. Ro, Kyung‐Eui; Han, Ho‐Yeon; Lee, Sangtae (1999). "Phylogenetic contributions of partial 26s rDNA sequences to the tribe helleboreae (ranunculaceae)". Korean Journal of Biological Sciences. 3 (1): 9–15. doi:10.1080/12265071.1999.9647459. ISSN 1226-5071.
  15. Compton, James A.; Culham, Alastair (2002). "Phylogeny and Circumscription of Tribe Actaeeae (Ranunculaceae)". Systematic Botany. 27 (3): 502–511. ISSN 0363-6445. JSTOR 3093958.
  16. 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. ISSN 1095-8339.


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