Editing Asarum

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|image = Asarum caudatum 1117.JPG
|image_caption = ''[[Asarum caudatum]]'' (western wild ginger)
|taxon = Asarum
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
|subdivision_ranks = Species
|subdivision = See text
|type_species=''[[Asarum europaeum]]''
}}

'''''Asarum''''' is a genus of plants in the birthwort family [[Aristolochiaceae]], commonly known as '''wild ginger'''.

''Asarum'' is from Greek [[wikt:ἄσαρον|ἄσαρον]], a name for ''[[Asarum europaeum]]''.

== Description ==
''Asarum'' is a genus of low-growing herbs distributed across the temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere, with most species in East Asia (China, Japan, and Vietnam) and North America, and one species in Europe. Biogeographically, ''Asarum'' originated in Asia.

They have characteristic kidney-shaped leaves, growing from creeping rhizomes, and bear small, [[wikt:axil|axil]]lary, brown or reddish flowers.

The plant is called wild ginger because the rhizomes and leaves taste and smell similar to [[ginger]] root, but the two are not particularly related. The FDA warns against consuming ''Asarum'', as it is [[nephrotoxic]] and contains the potent [[carcinogen]] [[aristolochic acid]].<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Schaneberg BT, Applequist WL, Khan IA |title=Determination of aristolochic acid I and II in North American species of ''Asarum'' and ''Aristolochia'' |journal=Pharmazie |volume=57 |issue=10 |pages=686–9 |date=October 2002 |pmid=12426949  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Aristolochic Acid: FDA Warns Consumers to Discontinue Use of Botanical Products that Contain Aristolochic Acid |date=April 11, 2001 |website= |publisher=U.S. Food and Drug Administration |url=https://www.fda.gov/Food/DietarySupplements/Alerts/ucm096388.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090710094540/http://www.fda.gov/Food/DietarySupplements/Alerts/ucm096388.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 10, 2009}}</ref>
<ref>[http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/advisories-avis/2001/2001_91_e.html Health Canada advising not to use products labelled to contain Aristolochia] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060216065115/http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/advisories-avis/2001/2001_91_e.html |date=February 16, 2006 }}.
</ref> The birthwort family also contains the genus ''[[Aristolochia]]'', known for [[carcinogens]].

Wild ginger favors moist, shaded sites with [[humus]]-rich soil.  The deciduous, heart-shaped [[leaf|leaves]] are opposite, and borne from the rhizome which lies just under the soil surface.  Two leaves emerge each year from the growing tip.  The curious jug-shaped [[flower]]s, which give the plant an alternate name, '''little jug''', are borne singly in spring between the leaf bases.

Wild ginger can easily be grown in a [[shade garden]], and makes an attractive [[groundcover]].
[[File:Asarum europaeum flower 050403.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''[[Asarum europaeum]]'' flower]]

== Taxonomy ==
Traditionally, the genus ''Asarum'' was considered as a single genus with about 85 species. However, a trend exists among some botanists to segregate the genus into separate genera, based on considerations of chromosome number and floral morphology:
* ''Asarum'' [[Sensu#Common qualifiers|''sensu stricto'']] (about 17 species), distributed in Asia (mainly China), North America, and Europe
* ''[[Heterotropa (plant)|Heterotropa]]'' (about 50 species), distributed in Asia
* ''[[Asiasarum]]'' (three or four species), distributed in Asia
* ''[[Geotaenium]]'' (three or four species), distributed in Asia
* ''[[Hexastylis]]''  (ten species), distributed in North America

Study of the [[internal transcribed spacer]] region (ITS) of nuclear [[ribosomal DNA]], combined with morphological data, has yielded a better-resolved phylogenetic hypothesis,  supporting a recognition of two subgenera, ''Asarum'' and ''Heterotropa'' each containing two sections, rather than the segregated genera above.<ref>{{cite journal | author=Lawrence M. Kelley| title=Phylogenetic relationships in ''Asarum'' (Aristolochiaceae) based on morphology and ITS sequences| journal=American Journal of Botany| year=1998| volume=85| pages=1454–67 | issue=10 | doi=10.2307/2446402 | pmid=21684897| jstor=2446402}}</ref>

*'''''Asarum''''' ''sensu stricto'' (''s.s.'') : the North American species are [[monophyletic]] and are derived from within the [[paraphyletic]] Asian species group.
* '''''Geotaenium''''' is a sister to ''Asarum'' ''s.s.'', showing its close relationship to ''Asarum'' ''s.s.''.
* '''''Asiasarum''''' is a sister to the ''Hexastylis'' + ''Heterotropa'' clade, showing several [[Synapomorphy|synapomorphies]] with this clade.
* '''''Hexastylis''''': this genus has been recognized solely on the study by H.L. Blomquist.<ref name="Blomquist">{{cite journal | author=H.L. Blomquist| title=A revision of Hexastylis of North America| journal=Brittonia| year=1957| volume=8| pages=255–281|jstor=2804978 | issue=4 | doi=10.2307/2804978| bibcode=1957Britt...8..255B| s2cid=34632340}}</ref> However, the above-mentioned DNA study provided indications that ''Hexastylis'' is not monophyletic and that some species of ''Hexastylis'' are more closely related to Asiatic species of  ''Heterotropa'' than they are to other species of ''Hexastylis''. The recognition of ''Hexastylis'' has likely persisted due to regional botanists' contrasting the morphology of that section with the regionally co-occurring ''Asarum canadense'', which is the sole species of Asarum subgenus Asarum in the southeastern United States. However, the morphological character states used to support the recognition of section Hexastylis at the generic level are plesiomorphic. For example, Blomquist <ref>Blomquist</ref> provides an enumeration of character states supporting ''Hexastylis'', all of are plesiomorphic with respect to one or another ''Asarum'' lineage. The presence of persistent, variegated leaves is often invoked by amateur botanists as a characteristic unique to section Hexastylis amongst North American ''Asarum'' species, however ''[[Asarum marmoratum]]'', an ''Asarum'' Subgenus Asarum species found in the western United States also has persistent and variegated leaves ([https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=736 see Calflora page for detailed photographs])
* '''''Heterotropa''''': this is a complex monophyletic group, well nested within the ''Asiasarum'' + ''Hexastylis'' + ''Heterotropa'' clade.

.

== Species ==
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
*''[[Asarum arifolium]]''
*''[[Asarum asperum]]''
*''[[Asarum bashanense]]''
*''[[Asarum campaniflorum]]''
*''[[Asarum canadense]]''
*''[[Asarum caudatum]]''
*''[[Asarum caudigerellum]]''
*''[[Asarum caudigerum]]''
*''[[Asarum caulescens]]''
*''[[Asarum chengkouense]]''
*''[[Asarum chinensis]]''
*''[[Asarum controversum]]''
*''[[Asarum crassisepalum]]''
*''[[Asarum crassum]]''
*''[[Asarum crispulatum]]''
*''[[Asarum debile]]''
*''[[Asarum delavayi]]''
*''[[Asarum dimidiatum]]'' (synonym of ''Asiasarum dimidiatum'')
*''[[Asarum epigynum]]'' (synonym of ''[[Geotaenium epigynum]]'')
*''[[Asarum europaeum]]''
*''[[Asarum forbesii]]'' (synonym of ''Heterotropa forbesii'')
*''[[Asarum fukienense]]''
*''[[Asarum geophilum]]'' (synonym of ''Geotaenium geophilum'')
*''[[Asarum gusuk]]''
*''[[Asarum hartwegii]]''
*''[[Asarum hayatanum]]''
*''[[Asarum heterotropoides]]'' (synonym of ''Asiasarum heterotropoides'')
*''[[Asarum himalaicum]]''
*''[[Asarum hongkongense]]''
*''[[Asarum hypogynum]]''
*''[[Asarum ichangense]]''
*''[[Asarum inflatum]]''
*''[[Asarum insignis]]''
*''[[Asarum kooyanum]]''
*''[[Asarum lemmonii]]''
*''[[Asarum leptophyllum]]''
*''[[Asarum longerhizomatosum]]''
*''[[Asarum macranthum]]''
*''[[Asarum magnificum]]''
*''[[Asarum majale]]''
*''[[Asarum marmoratum]]''
*''[[Asarum maruyamae]]''
*''[[Asarum maximum]]''
*''[[Asarum mikuniense]]''
*''[[Asarum minus]]''
*''[[Asarum mitoanum]]''
*''[[Asarum nanchuanense]]''
*''[[Asarum nobilissimum]]''
*''[[Asarum petelotii]]''
*''[[Asarum porphyronotum]]''
*''[[Asarum pulchellum]]''
*''[[Asarum renicordatum]]''
*''[[Asarum rosei]]''
*''[[Asarum sagittarioides]]''
*''[[Asarum senkakuinsulare]]''
*''[[Asarum sieboldii]]'' (synonym of ''Asiasarum sieboldii'')
*''[[Asarum splendens]]''
*''[[Asarum taipingshanianum]]''
*''[[Asarum tohokuense]]''
*''[[Asarum tongjiangense]]''
*''[[Asarum wagneri]]''
*''[[Asarum wulingense]]''
*''[[Asarum yunnanense]]'' (synonym of ''Geotaenium yunnanse'')
}}

== Uses ==
The FDA warns against consuming ''Asarum'', as it is [[nephrotoxic]] and contains the potent [[carcinogen]] [[aristolochic acid]].<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Schaneberg BT, Applequist WL, Khan IA |title=Determination of aristolochic acid I and II in North American species of ''Asarum'' and ''Aristolochia'' |journal=Pharmazie |volume=57 |issue=10 |pages=686–9 |date=October 2002 |pmid=12426949  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Aristolochic Acid: FDA Warns Consumers to Discontinue Use of Botanical Products that Contain Aristolochic Acid |date=April 11, 2001 |website= |publisher=U.S. Food and Drug Administration |url=https://www.fda.gov/Food/DietarySupplements/Alerts/ucm096388.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090710094540/http://www.fda.gov/Food/DietarySupplements/Alerts/ucm096388.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 10, 2009}}</ref>
<ref>[http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/advisories-avis/2001/2001_91_e.html Health Canada advising not to use products labelled to contain Aristolochia] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060216065115/http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/advisories-avis/2001/2001_91_e.html |date=February 16, 2006 }}.</ref>
Before this was known, sources said that wild ginger can be cooked in the same fashion as ginger root, and can also be candied or used to make medicine.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Angier|first=Bradford|url=https://archive.org/details/fieldguidetoedib00angi/page/238/mode/2up|title=Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants|publisher=Stackpole Books|year=1974|isbn=0-8117-0616-8|location=Harrisburg, PA|pages=238|oclc=799792|author-link=Bradford Angier}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wikispecies|Asarum}}
{{Commons}}
*{{cite journal | author=Takashi Sugawara| title=Taxonomic studies of ''Asarum sensu lato''| journal=Journal of Plant Research| year=1982| volume=95| issue=3| pages=295–302| doi=10.1007/bf02488540| s2cid=115785096}}
*{{cite journal | author=Lawrence M. Kelly| title=Taxonomy of Asarum Section Asarum (Aristolochiaceae)| journal=Systematic Botany| year=2001| volume=26| issue=1| pages=17–53| url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1043/0363-6445-26.1.17 | doi=10.1043/0363-6445-26.1.17 | doi-broken-date=1 November 2024}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120224132425/http://www.vc-net.ne.jp/~oota/asarum2.htm List of ''Asarum'' species]
*[http://www.iarc.fr/ The International Agency for Research on Cancer].

{{Taxonbar|from=Q157718}}

[[Category:Asarum| ]]
[[Category:Piperales genera]]
[[Category:Herbs]]