Houttuynia

Houttuynia
Houttuynia cordata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Piperales
Family: Saururaceae
Genus: Houttuynia
Thunb.
Species

Houttuynia is a genus of two species in the Saururaceae native to Southeast Asia. One species, H. cordata, is widely cultivated as a culinary herb. The genus was originally described in 1783 by Carl Peter Thunberg when he formally described H. cordata as the only species. It remained a monotypic genus until 2001 when Zheng Yin Zhu and Shi Liang Zhang discovered and described a second species native to China, H. emeiensis but the validity still unestablished.[1] It was named after Dutch naturalist Martinus Houttuyn.

References

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  1. ^ Wu Wei, Zheng Youliang, Chen Li, Wei Yuming, Yan Zehong, and Yang Ruiwu. 2005. PCR-RFLP analysis of cpDNA and mtDNA in the genus Houttuynia in some areas of China. Hereditas 142: 24-32.