• Horticultural Science & Technology
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.550-557
• /
• 2014

Heloniopsis koreana and Heloniopsis tubiflora (Melanthiaceae) are endemic herbaceous species of the Korean Peninsula. The Melanthiaceae family has been described as having seeds with small, underdeveloped embryos at the time of dispersal, and morphological (MD) or morphophysiological dormancy (MPD). However, there are few reports on embryo growth, morphology, and seed germination in Heloniopsis species. The aims of this study were to investigate embryo growth and seed dormancy, and to determine the type of dormancy exhibited by these species. The effects of incubation temperatures, light conditions, and gibberellic acid ($GA_3$) on dormancy break and seed germination were tested. Freshly matured seeds of the two species had small embryos that occupied about 9-11% of the length of the endosperm, and which increased by more than 300% in length before radicle emergence, indicating that the embryos are underdeveloped at the time of dispersal. Embryos in the seeds grew under warm temperature regimes (between $25/15^{\circ}C$ and $30/20^{\circ}C$). $GA_3$ application (tested only in the light) overcame seed dormancy and promoted germination. Approximately 30% of the seeds of H. koreana and approximately 40% of the seeds of H. tubiflora germinated in suitable environmental conditions (light and temperature) within 4 weeks. Therefore, 30-40% of the seeds of the two species exhibited MD, and the rest of the seeds had non-deep simple MPD. Light was found to be one of the critical factors for germination because no seed of either of the two Heloniopsis species germinated under constant dark conditions, and thus, these species have the potential to form a persistent soil seed bank. Understanding these germination requirements will help in development of effective strategies to increase the establishment of seedlings in their native habitat.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.449-465
• /
• 2002

A systematic review for Korean Liliopsida was carried out with rbcL and atpB sequence data. Congruent phylogenetic trees were obtained from two different data sets. Korean Liliopsida consists of the three orders, Asparagales, Liliales, and Dioscoreales sensu Dahlgren et al. Members of Dioscoreales were used as an outgroup for inferring relationships among Asparagales and Liliales in the molecular studies. Iridaceae showed close relationship to Asparagales both in the rbcL and atpB sequence trees rather than to Liliales. Family Nartheciaceae (previously included within Melanthiaceae s. lat.) appeared as a paraphyletic assemblage basal within Liliales, but did not show relationships to other orders. Genera of Ruscaceae (previously Convallariaceae) like Disporum, Clintonia, and Streptopus had to be transferred to Colchicaceae, Liliaceae, and Calochortaceae, respectively. A revised list of families for Korean members of Liliopsida is suggested.

• CELLMED
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.15.1-15.12
• /
• 2015

Comparative studies have established that the North-Eastern (NE) region of India which is a part of the Eastern Himalayan region is affluent in both traditional knowledge based phytomedicine and biodiversity. About 1953 ethno-medicinal plants are detailed from the NE region of India out of which 1400 species are employed both as food and ethnopharmacological resources. Nearly 70% of species diversity has been reported from the two Indian biodiversity hotspots-The Western Ghats and the Eastern Himalayas and these hotspots are protected by tribal communities and their ancient traditional knowledge system. Paris polyphylla Smith belongs to the family Melanthiaceae and is a traditional medicinal herb which is known to cure some major ailments such as different types of Cancer, Alzheimer's disease, abnormal uterine bleeding, leishmaniasis etc. The major phytoconstituents are dioscin, polyphyllin D, and balanitin 7. Phylogeny of Paris was inferred from nuclear ITS and plastid psbA-trnH and trnL-trnF DNA sequence data. Results indicated that Paris is monophyletic in all analyses. Rhizoma Paridis, which is the dried rhizome of Paris polyphylla is mainly used in Traditional Chinese Medicine and its mode of action is known for only a few cancer cell lines. The current review determines to sketch an extensive picture of the potency, diversity, distribution and efficacy of Paris polyphylla from the Eastern Himalayan region and the future validation of its phytotherapeutical and molecular attributes by recognizing the Intellectual Property Rights of the Traditional Knowledge holders.