Template:Short description Template:Automatic taxobox
Murraya (Template:IPAc-en)<ref>Template:Cite Merriam-Webster</ref> is a genus of flowering plants in the citrus family, Rutaceae. It is distributed in Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands.<ref name=china>Murraya. Flora of China.</ref> The center of diversity is in southern China and Southeast Asia.<ref name=but>But, P. P., et al. (1986). A chemotaxonomic study of Murraya (Rutaceae) in China. Acta Phytotax. Sin 24(3), 186-92.</ref> When broadly circumscribed, the genus has about 17 species. A narrower circumscription contains only eight species, others being placed in Bergera and Merrillia.
DescriptionEdit
Plants in the genus Murraya are shrubs or trees with pinnate leaves arranged alternately, usually glandular, aromatic, and leathery to membranous in texture. The leaflets vary in shape and have smooth or toothed edges.<ref name=fb>Murraya. FloraBase. Western Australian Herbarium.</ref> The inflorescence is a panicle, cyme, or small raceme of flowers growing at the ends of branches or in the leaf axils;<ref name=china/> some flowers are solitary.<ref name=fb/> The fragrant flowers have 4 or 5 sepals and white petals and up to 10 straight stamens.<ref name=china/><ref name=fb/> The fruit is a fleshy berry with pulp but without the juice vesicles present in some related fruits.<ref name=china/> It is up to Template:Convert long and orange, red, or black.<ref name=fb/>
TaxonomyEdit
The genus Murraya was first formally described in 1771 by Carl Linnaeus in Mantissa Plantarum Altera from an unpublished description by Johann Gerhard König.<ref name=APNI>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="L.">Template:Cite book</ref> The genus name commemorates the 18th-century German-Swedish herbal doctor Johan Andreas Murray, a student of Linnaeus.<ref>Missouri Botanical Garden</ref> In 1986, Paul P.-H. But and co-authors separated off some species of Murraya as M. sect. Bergera based on chemical evidence.<ref name=ButKongNgChan86/> Evidence from pollen morphology and multiple molecular phylogenetic studies showed that when broadly circumscribed, Murraya was not monophyletic, and treating M. sect. Bergera as the separate genus Bergera has widespread support.<ref name=MouZhan09/><ref name=MouTuChenZhan17/><ref name=AppeBaylHeslGrop21/><ref name=MouPengLiHu21/>
Murraya is in the subfamily Aurantioideae, which also includes the genus Citrus.<ref name=AppeBaylHeslGrop21/> It is in the tribe Clauseneae.<ref name=MouTuChenZhan17/>
Species listEdit
Studies have repeatedly shown that two sections into which Murraya has been divided, M. sect. Murraya and M. sect. Bergera, should be treated as separate genera. Murraya sensu stricto was revised in 2021, with eight species being accepted:<ref name=MouPengLiHu21>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- Murraya alata Drake – China Southeast, Hainan, Vietnam
- Murraya elongata A.DC. ex Hook.f. – Myanmar
- Murraya glenieii Thwaites ex Oliv. – Sri Lanka
- Murraya lucida (G.Forst.) Mabb. – Vanuatu
- Murraya omphalocarpa Hayata
- Murraya paniculata (L.) Jack – Tropical Asia to Vanuatu and Australia
- Murraya sumatrana Roxb.
- Murraya zollingeri (Tanaka) F.J.Mou
Species that have been placed in Murraya sect. Bergera belong in Bergera, although Template:As of, names for many have not been published. Further species still accepted in Murraya by Plants of the World Online are:<ref name=POWO>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Murraya caloxylon Ridl. – Malayasia, Thailand; synonym of Merrillia caloxylon
- Murraya crenulata (Turcz.) Oliv. – Taiwan (Lan Yü) to Malesia and SW. Pacific; placed in M. sect. Bergera<ref name=FOC_121339/>
- Murraya cyclopensis Astuti & Rugayah – W. New Guinea
- Murraya euchrestifolia Hayata – China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Taiwan; placed in M. sect. Bergera<ref name=FOC_121339/>
- Murraya exotica L. – China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Taiwan
- Murraya glabra (Guillaumin) Swingle – Vietnam
- Murraya heptaphylla Span. – Lesser Sunda Islands (Timor)
- Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng. – Indian Subcontinent to China (S. Yunnan, Guangdong) and Indo-China, S. Hainan; synonym of Bergera koenigii
- Murraya kwangsiensis (C.C.Huang) C.C.Huang – China (SE. Yunnan, W. & SW. Guangxi); placed in M. sect. Bergera<ref name=MouZhan09/>
- Murraya macrophylla (C.C.Huang) F.J.Mou & D.X.Zhang – China
- Murraya microphylla (Merr. & Chun) Swingle – China (Guangdong), Hainan; placed in M. sect. Bergera<ref name=MouZhan09/>
- Murraya tetramera C.C.Huang – China (SE. Yunnan, W. Guangxi); placed in M. sect. Bergera<ref name=MouZhan09/>
UsesEdit
Murraya species are used in landscaping.<ref name=but/> Some species can be grafted onto citrus rootstocks.<ref name=swing/> Species have been used in traditional medicine, with various parts of the plants used to treat fever, pain, and dysentery. M. paniculata has been used to induce labor.<ref name=but/> It has been used in Cuba for painful inflammatory conditions.<ref name=cas>Casado Martín, C. M., et al. (2011). Acercamiento al género Murraya (Rutaceae) ya la especie Murraya paniculata (L.) Jack. Revista Cubana de Plantas Medicinales 16(4), 408-18. (Spanish)</ref>
In Myanmar, Murraya species are used to make thanaka, a cosmetic paste that is typically applied onto the face.<ref name=kollner>Template:Cite book</ref>
ChemistryEdit
Compounds isolated from Murraya include many types of coumarins and alkaloids. The novel alkaloid yuehchukene was found in M. paniculata, and it has since been isolated from other Murraya. It is found in red-fruited species with larger petals, but not in black-fruited species with smaller petals. Some species also contain the carbazole girinimbine.<ref name=but/>
Spelling competitionEdit
In July 2021, 14-year old Zaila Avant-garde of Harvey, Louisiana, won the final of the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee by correctly spelling the word "Murraya", and was the first African American to win the 96-year-old event.<ref name=Time />