Verbenaceae
Aloysia

Aloysia citrodora Paláu

First published in Parte Práct. Bot. 1: 768 (1784)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is S. Bolivia to NW. Argentina. It is a shrub and grows primarily in the subtropical biome. It is used as a medicine, has environmental uses and for food.

Descriptions

Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Distribution
Cultivada en Colombia; Alt. 250 - 2800 m.; Andes, Llanura del Caribe, Orinoquia, Valle del Cauca.
Morphology General Habit
Hierba, arbusto
[CPLC]

Distribution
Biogeografic region: Andean, Caribbean, Orinoquia. Elevation range: 250–2800 m a.s.l. Cultivated in Colombia. Colombian departments: Antioquia, Boyacá, Caldas, Cauca, Cundinamarca, Meta, Putumayo, Santander, Valle del Cauca.
Habit
Herb, Shrub.
Ecology
Habitat according IUCN Habitats Classification: forest and woodland, artificial - terrestrial.
[UPFC]

The Useful Plants of Boyacá project

Ecology
Alt. 250 - 2800 m.
Distribution
Cultivated in Colombia.
Morphology General Habit
Herb.
Conservation
Not Evaluated.
[UPB]

Wood, J.R.I. 2009. Aloysia axillaris (Verbenaceae), a new species, with notes on the genus in Bolivia. Kew Bulletin 64: 513. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-009-9131-5

Type
Unnumbered illustration by B. Salvador y Caruna in Palau (1784), lectotype selected by Armada & Barra (1992: 89).
Morphology General Habit
Aromatic shrub smelling strongly of lemon
Morphology Leaves
Leaves in whorls of 3, occasionally in opposite pairs, entire (rarely, outside Bolivia, serrate), lanceolate, 3.5 – 7.5 × 1 – 1.5 cm. Glabrous or nearly so
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence of 1 – several spike-like racemes from each leaf-like bract, each up to 6 cm in length, thus often forming a compound, lax inflorescence.
Distribution
Apparently native in northern Argentina (Salta, Jujuy, La Rioja and Catamarca) and southern Bolivia (Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, Potosi and Tarija), where it is a local, but sometimes abundant component of arid bushland in the dry inter-Andean valleys between 2300 – 3250 m. Also widely cultivated in Bolivia and throughout tropical and subtropical America for use as a herbal tea and in traditional medicine.
Note
A serrate-leaved form from Argentina was described by Moldenke (1964: 170) as a “distinctive species” under the name Aloysiasleumeri. Botta (1979: 102) reduced this to synonomy with A. citrodora after finding entire and serrate-leaved plants growing together in the same area. Serrate-leaved plants have never been collected in Bolivia. Synonym: Aloysia triphylla (L’Hér.) Britton (1925: 140). Synonym: Lippia triphylla (L’Hér.) Kuntze (1898: 253). Synonym: Verbena triphyllaL’Hér. (1786: 21). Type: C. L. L’Héritier de Brutelles.n. (P, n.v.), a cultivated plant grown from seed sent by Commerson from Montevideo, lectotype selected by Moldenke & Moldenke (1983: 232). The epithet citrodora is as spelt by the original author rather than the more common, erroneous and less logical citriodora. Synonym: Lippia citriodora (Palau) Kunth (1818: 269).
[KBu]

Bernal, R., G. Galeano, A. Rodríguez, H. Sarmiento y M. Gutiérrez. 2017. Nombres Comunes de las Plantas de Colombia. http://www.biovirtual.unal.edu.co/nombrescomunes/

Vernacular
alegría, cedrón, cidrón, luisa, luisa de Chile, yerbaluisa
[UNAL]

Vernacular
Cedrón, Cidrón, Lemon verbena, Saca ojo, Yerba luisa, Zorrillo
[UPFC]

Uses

Use Environmental
Environmental uses.
Use Food
Used for food.
Use Materials
Used as material.
Use Medicines
Medical uses.
[UPFC]

Use Medicines Digestive System Disorders
Stems - Used in liquid medicines (Lagos-López 2007). Leaves - Used in liquid medicines (Lagos-López 2007).
Use Medicines Mental Disorders
Stems and leaves - Used in liquid medicines as a sedative (Lagos-López 2007).
Use Medicines Nutritional Disorders
Leaves - Used as a tonic (Alarcón 2011).
Use Medicines Unspecified Medicinal Disorders
Medicinal (State of the World's Plants 2016).
[UPB]

Common Names

Spanish
Cidrón.

Sources

  • Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Colombian resources for Plants made Accessible

    • ColPlantA 2021. Published on the Internet at http://colplanta.org
    • https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2023. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2022 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Bulletin

    • Kew Bulletin
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2023. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2022 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • Universidad Nacional de Colombia

    • ColPlantA database
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Useful Plants of Boyacá Project

    • ColPlantA database
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/