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This species is accepted, and its native range is S. Bolivia to NW. Argentina. It is used as a medicine.

[CPLC]

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

[UPB]

The Useful Plants of Boyacá project

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

[KBu]

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).

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[UPB]
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).

Native to:

Argentina Northwest, Bolivia, Paraguay

Introduced into:

Albania, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Chile Central, Cuba, France, Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southwest, Peru, Puerto Rico, Sardegna, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela

Spanish
Cidrón.

Aloysia citrodora Paláu appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
Dombrowski, L.T. [7290], Brazil Aloysia triphylla K000941984

First published in Parte Práct. Bot. 1: 768 (1784)

Accepted by

  • O'Leary, N., Lu-Irving, P., Moroni, P. & Siedo, S. (2016). Taxonomic revision of Aloysia (Verbenaceae, Lantaneae) in South America Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 101: 568-609.
  • Villaseñor, J.L. (2016). Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 87: 559-902.
  • Cossu, T.A, Camarda, I. & Brundu, G. (2014). A catalogue of non-native weeds in irrigated crops in Sardinia (Italy) Webbia; Raccolta de Scritti Botanici 69: 145-156.
  • Dobignard, A. & Chatelain, C. (2013). Index synonymique de la flore d'Afrique du nord 5: 1-451. Éditions des conservatoire et jardin botaniques, Genève.
  • Dimopoulos, P., Raus, T., Bergmeier, E., Constantinidis, T., Iatrou, G., Kokkini, S., Strid, A., & Tzanoudakis, D. (2013). Vascular plants of Greece. An annotated checklist: 1-372. Botanic gardens and botanical museum Berlin-Dahlem, Berlin and Hellenic botanical society, Athens.
  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Castroviejo, S. & al. (eds.) (2010). Flora Iberica 12: 1-650. Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC, Madrid.
  • Wood, J.R.I. (2009). Aloysia axillaris (Verbenaceae), a new species, with notes on the genus in Bolivia Kew Bulletin 64: 513-523.
  • Govaerts, R. (2003). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Database in ACCESS: 1-216203. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Govaerts, R. (1995). World Checklist of Seed Plants 1(1, 2): 1-483, 1-529. MIM, Deurne.

Literature

Useful Plants of Boyacá Project

  • Kew's Economic Botany collection in The State of the World’s Plants Report–2016. (2016). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew https://stateoftheworldsplants.org/2016/
  • Alarcón, J. J. 2011. Plantas aromáticas y medicinales. Enfermedades de importancia y sus usos terapéuticos. Medidas para la temporada invernal. Bogotá: Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario.
  • Lagos-López, M. (2007). Estudio etnobotánico de especies vegetales con propiedades medicinales en seis municipios de Boyacá, Colombia. Actualidades Biológicas, 29(86), 87-96.

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • O'Leary, N., Lu-Irving, P., Moroni, P. & Siedo, S. (2016). Taxonomic revision of Aloysia (Verbenaceae, Lantaneae) in South America Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 101: 568-609.
  • Villaseñor, J.L. (2016). Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 87: 559-902.
  • Cossu, T.A, Camarda, I. & Brundu, G. (2014). A catalogue of non-native weeds in irrigated crops in Sardinia (Italy) Webbia; Raccolta de Scritti Botanici 69: 145-156.
  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela: 1-859. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela.

Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
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 Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. 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 Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

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