Withania
Withania is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae, with 19 to 23 species that are native to parts of North Africa, western Asia, south Asia, southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Canary Islands. Withania was initially included within Physalis by Linnaeus in 1753 but has since become its own genus. This grouping was due to the shared feature of an inflated calyx that surrounds and protects the fruit.
Species
GENUS
- KingdomPlantae
- PhylumTracheophyta
- ClassMagnoliopsida
- OrderSolanales
- FamilySolanaceae
Native toAfghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Assam, Baleares, Bangladesh, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Cape Verde
General: Hepper (1991) considered Withania to be composed of ten
via GBIF · Kew POWO
Research
1,985 papersvia PubMed
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Withania frutescens.JPG
Article
3 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Species
- References
Withania is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae, with 19 to 23 species that are native to parts of North Africa, western Asia, south Asia, southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Canary Islands. Withania was initially included within Physalis by Linnaeus in 1753 but has since become its own genus. This grouping was due to the shared feature of an inflated calyx that surrounds and protects the fruit.
Two of the species, W. somnifera (ashwagandha) and W. coagulans (ashutosh booti), are economically significant, and are cultivated in several regions for their medicinal uses.