Chemical contributions to taxonomy and phylogeny in the genus artemisia

Abstract

The sesquiterpenic lactones of the family Compositae represent a group of compounds that appear to be of common origin and formed by closely allied biosynthetic processes. They provide an attractive means for further assessing the potential value of chemical characters in chemosystematics, and for examining presently accepted classifications within the family. The genus Artemisia, which is divided into several morphologically differentiated sections, provides a unified group of plants for such a study and is reviewed with respect to the present state of the chemistry of its lactonic constituents. The results of recent studies in the author’s laboratory, along with those of others, are considered in detail with regard to what the chemical constituents reveal in respect to the taxonomy and phylogeny of the genus. Related genera are discussed in the same context. © 1970, Walter de Gruyter. All rights reserved.