Dendroviguiera is a genusofflowering plants in the sunflower family.[2] Its native range stretches from Mexico into Central America. Formerly part of the Viguiera genus, until a DNA study in 2011 separated out all the shrub/tree species of the Viguiera genus.
Dendroviguiera species generally are shrubs and trees with phyllaries (modified leaves) with oblong, indurated (hardened) bases and short, triangular herbaceous apices (leaf-tips). The pappus (flowerhead) has awns (hair r bristle-like appendages) which are usually broad, greater than 3 mm (0.1 in) mm across. The abaxial (underneath) leaf surfaces usually not densely pubescent (downy; covered with short, soft hairs).[3]
Originally the (woody) species of Viguiera were placed in Viguiera ser. MaculataeS.F.Blake, Contr. Gray Herb. 54: 62. (1918) in 1918.[4]
Molecular phylogenetic studies by Schilling in 1991, suggested that there is an unexpectedly close relationship between Iostephane (genus of Mexican flowering plants in the family Asteraceae) and Dendroviguiera (formerly Viguiera sect. Maculatae).[5]
Botanists Edward E. Schilling and José Luis Panero in 2002 and 2011, studied the subtribe Helianthinae based on molecular sequences of nuclear ITS, ETS, and cpDNA, coming to a conclusion that that the genus ViguieraKunth, did not constitute a monophyletic group. Among their conclusions they proposed to reclassify the genus, dividing and relocating its species in at least eleven genera: AldamaLa Llave, BahiopsisKellogg, Calanticaria(B.L. Rob. & Greenm.) E.E. Schill. & Panero, DavilanthusE.E. Schill. & Panero, DendroviguieraE.E. Schill. & Panero, Gonzalezia, HeliomerisNutt., HeiseriaE.E. Schill. & Panero, HymenostephiumBenth., SidneyaE.E. Schill. & Panero, and ViguieraKunth.[6][3]
The genus name of Dendroviguiera is in honour of Louis Guillaume Alexandre Viguier (1790–1867), who was a French doctor and botanist,[7] preceded by the Greek words dendron meaning 'tree'.[8]
They are normally found in tropical deciduous forests.[3]
Like Dendroviguiera splendens which is found within temperate forests, oak forests and subtropical dry shrublands and at altitudes of 1,600–2,300 m (5,200–7,500 ft) above sea level.[12]
While Dendroviguiera splendens (Vara blanca) has been assessed for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2021 and was listed as vulnerable, due to threats from livestock farming & ranching and logging & wood harvesting, damaging the local habitats.[12]
While Dendroviguiera puruana, Dendroviguiera quinqueradiata and Dendroviguiera sphaerocephala have all been assessed as near threatened (NT) for similar reasons.[13]
Secondary metabolites (or organic compounds) such as germacrolides (GERM), heliangolides (HELI) and furanoheliangolides (FUHE) and tetracyclic diterpenes (TETD) have been characterized from various Dendroviguiera species.[14]
Sesquiterpene lactones 52 and 96, were isolated from Dendroviguiera sylvatica have found to inhibited the nitric oxide production and phagocytosisofmacrophages (Dupuy et al. 2008).[15]
They and millerenolide and thieleanin have also been used on the growth of melanoma tumors in mice (Taylor et al. 2008).[16]
^Panero, J.L.; Schilling, E.E. (1988). "Revision of Viguiera sect. Maculatae (Asteraceae: Heliantheae)". Systematic Botany. 13: 371–406.
^Schilling, E. E. and J. L. Panero. 1991. Evidence for a close relationship between Iostephane and Viguiera sect. Maculatae (Asteraceae: Heliantheae). American Journal of Botany 78: 1054-1062.
^Harrison, Lorraine (2012). Latin for Gardeners: Over 3,000 Plant Names Explained and Explored. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. ISBN978-0226009193.
^ abRedonda-Martínez, R.; Zacarias-Correa, A.G.; Machuca Machuca, K.; Samain, M.-S. (24 March 2021). "Dendroviguiera splendens : e.T164060443A167074084". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
^Dupuy, O.A.L.; Murillo, R.; Bonilla, J.A. (2008). "Lactonas sesquiterpénicas de las plantas Viguiera sylvaticayDecachaeta thieleana (Asteraceae) modulan la producción de óxido nítrico y la fagocitosis de macrófagos RAW". Revista de Biología Tropical. 56: 1063–1073.
^Taylor, P.G.; Dupuy, Loo O.A.; Bonilla, J.A.; Murillo, R. (2008). "Anticancer activities of two sesquiterpene lactones, millerenolide and thieleanin isolated from Viguiera sylvatica and Decachaeta thieleana". Fitoterapia. 79: 428–432. doi:10.1159/000074240.
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