Asarina

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Lamiids
Ordo: Lamiales

Familia: Plantaginaceae
Tribus: Antirrhineae
Genus: Asarina
Species: A. procumbens
Name

Asarina Mill. Gard. Dict. (ed. 7) (1759)
monotypic taxon (Probably)

References

The Plant List 2013. Asarina in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published online. Accessed: 2014 May 12.
Tropicos.org 2014. Asarina. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 12 May 2014.
International Plant Names Index. 2014. Asarina. Published online. Accessed: May 12 2014.

Vernacular names
čeština: Asarína
suomi: Vaulat

Asarina is a flowering plant genus of only one species, Asarina procumbens Mill. [2] the trailing snapdragon,[3] which is native to France and Spain and introduced in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Hungary.[4] Originally placed in the Scrophulariaceae (figwort family), the genus has more recently been moved to the Plantaginaceae (plantain family).[5] Species from North America formerly placed in the genus Asarina are now placed in Holmgrenanthe, Lophospermum, Mabrya and Maurandya,[6] as well as Neogaerrhinum. Asarina is now regarded as exclusively an Old World genus.[7][8]
Contents

1 Description
2 Endangered habitat
3 Distribution in France and Spain
4 Cultivation
5 Weed status in Australia
6 Species reassigned to other genera
7 References

Description

The single remaining species of the now monotypic genus, A. procumbens is a foetid, strongly pubescent, viscid subshrub of trailing/mat-forming habit reaching a height of only 10-20cm. The somewhat woody main stems give rise to lax creeping/cascading stems bearing opposite, long-petioled, hairy, lobed, reniform-to-cordate leaves with crenate and often red-tinged margins. Flowers solitary or in short racemes of only two or three, fragrant, insect pollinated, borne in the leaf axils. Corolla cream-coloured, somewhat resembling that of Antirrhinum, the tube bearing faint violet striations, the upper part divided into two keel-like lips, the lower bearing paired inflated lobes, concealing the corolla tube, with a three-lobed margin; stamens four. Calyx tubular, five-toothed, densely hairy. Fruit a dry capsule, glabrous, subglobose, shorter than the calyx and dehiscing at the apex by three valves. Seed distribution is by epizoochory, the sticky calyces of the seed capsules becoming attached to the fur of mammals or the feathers of birds.[9]
Endangered habitat

A. procumbens is a semi-evergreen alpine chasmophyte, favouring partial shade, its preferred habitat being crevices in silica-rich, non-sedimentary rocks. This type of habitat - "Mediterranean siliceous inland cliff" - is designated by endangered habitat code H3.1d by the European Red List of Habitats. The term siliceous cliffs (in this context) refers to those which are composed chiefly of quartz-rich rocks (making them of an acidic character) of either igneous type, such as granite, diorite and andesite, or metamorphic type, such as gneiss, slate, schist and quartzite. Low-altitude cliffs of this type - as favoured by A. procumbens - are more affected by human disturbances than high mountain cliffs, as the latter often occur within nature reserves and other protected areas. Cliffs at low altitudes, by contrast, are susceptible to a wide variety of threats including the shoring-up of cliffs over roads and railway lines, sport and leisure activities -particularly rock-climbing - and, at lower elevations, mining, quarrying and invasive/alien plants.[10] In the French part of its range A. procumbens is seldom to be found growing at altitudes below 400m, with an upper limit of some 1800m.[9][11]
Distribution in France and Spain

A. procumbens is not a common species in the French part of its range, even having protected status in the Auvergne region. Its strongholds in France comprise the Pyrénées-Orientales (taking in the Franco-Catalan area of historic Rousillon) and the Massif central - notably the Cévennes. In Spain the plant is native to the Pyrenean region, but may be found naturalised elsewhere.[9]
Cultivation

A. procumbens grows best in partial shade. Soil: well-drained, sandy/gravelly, humus-rich, moderately moist: dislikes excessive winter wetness. Blooms most profusely in climates in which summers are not excessively hot. Pollinated by bumblebees. Plant is evergreen in mild climates, although may be killed outright by heavy frost, in which case may be propagated afresh: self-seeds readily. Uses: trailing alpine or ground cover. Thrives and increases rapidly as a container plant. Not usually invasive in gardens,though one report of aggressive growth from southeastern U.S.A. [12] Pruning: not usually needed, though may be cut back in autumn if foliage is spent or untidy. Hardiness zone: U.K. H3. USDA zones 8,9 & 10.[13][14][12]
Weed status in Australia

A. procumbens has escaped from cultivation to become an attractive (and not, at present, invasive) weed in the inner suburbs of the Australian city of Melbourne, managing to grow in such harsh urban habitats as cracks in the mortar of brick walls and kerbstones and the juncture between brick walls and tarmac. Such weedy populations are short-lived and do not produce abundant seed, because of the current absence of bumblebees from the Australian insect fauna (in its native habitats in France and Spain Asarina is buzz-pollinated by bumblebee species): the Australian native bees and introduced honeybees of Melbourne find Asarina flowers resistant to their attempts at pollination. This situation is, however, likely to change for the worse, should bumblebee species already present in neighbouring Tasmania cross the Bass Strait, in which case bumblebee-pollinated species - such as Asarina - hitherto considered "safe" (i.e. non-invasive) garden plants in the state of Victoria - would rapidly become invasive due to increased production of viable seed. Michael Cook hypothesises that the Asarina colonies currently observable in suburban Melbourne may be more the result of wind-blown drift of packaged seed sown by local gardeners than of the setting of seed by garden plants and plants maintaining a foothold as weeds. [15]
Species reassigned to other genera

At one time placed in Asarina:[6]

Asarina acerifolia (Pennell) Pennell = Mabrya acerifolia (Pennell) Elisens
Asarina antirrhiniflora (Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.) Pennell = Maurandya antirrhiniflora Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.
Asarina barclayana (Lindl.) Pennell = Maurandya barclayana Lindl.
Asarina erubescens (D.Don) Pennell = Lophospermum erubescens D.Don
Asarina filipes (A.Gray) Pennell = Neogaerrhinum filipes (A.Gray) Rothm.[16]
Asarina flaviflora (I.M.Johnst.) Pennell = Mabrya flaviflora (I.M.Johnst.) D.A.Sutton[17]
Asarina geniculata (B.L.Rob. & Fernald) Pennell = Mabrya geniculata (B.L.Rob. & Fernald) Elisens
Asarina hirsuta Pennell = Mabrya erecta (Hemsley) Elisens
Asarina lophospermum (L.H.Bailey) Pennell = Lophospermum scandens D.Don
Asarina petrophila (Coville & C.V. Morton) Pennell = Holmgrenanthe petrophila (Coville & C.V.Morton) Elisens[18]
Asarina purpusii (Brandegee) Pennell = Lophospermum purpusii (Brandegee) Rothm.
Asarina rosei (Munz) Pennell = Mabrya rosei (Munz) Elisens
Asarina scandens (Cav.) Pennell = Maurandya scandens (Cav.) Pers.
Asarina stricta (Hook. & Arn.) Pennell = Neogaerrhinum strictum (Hook. & Arn.) Rothm.[19]
Asarina wislizeni (Engelm. ex A.Gray) Pennell = Maurandya wislizeni Engelm. ex A.Gray

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Asarina.

"The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved 10 February 2015.
Search for "Asarina", The Plant List, retrieved 2014-08-13
BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
Kew Plants of the World Online https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:799434-1 Retrieved at 10.21 on Sunday 12/6/22.
Stevens, Peter F. (2001), List of Genera in PLANTAGINACEAE, Angiosperm Phylogeny Website, Version 10, retrieved 2010-11-27
Elisens, Wayne J. (1985), "Monograph of the Maurandyinae (Scrophulariaceae-Antirrhineae)", Systematic Botany Monographs, 5: 1–97, doi:10.2307/25027602, JSTOR 25027602
Ghebrehiwet, Medhanie; Bremer, Birgitta & Thulin, Mats Thulin (2000), "Phylogeny of the tribe Antirrhineae (Scrophulariaceae) based on morphological and ndhF sequence data", Plant Systematics and Evolution, 220 (3–4): 223–239, doi:10.1007/bf00985047
Vargas, P; Rosselló, J.A.; Oyama, R. & Güemes, J. (2004), "Molecular evidence for naturalness of genera in the tribe Antirrhineae (Scrophulariaceae) and three independent evolutionary lineages from the New World and the Old", Plant Systematics and Evolution, 249 (3–4): 151–172, doi:10.1007/s00606-004-0216-1
http://erick.dronnet.free.fr/belles_fleurs_de_france/asarina_procumbens1.htm Retrieved at 11.07 on Thursday 9/6/22.
https://forum.eionet.europa.eu/european-red-list-habitats/library/terrestrial-habitats/h.-sparsely-vegetated/h3.1d-mediterranean-siliceous-inland-cliff/download/en/1/H3.1d%20Mediterranean%20siliceous%20inland%20cliff.pdf Retrieved at 9.43 on Saturday 11/6/22.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/1676/asarina-procumbens/details Retrieved at 23.57 on Friday 10/6/22.
Rainy Side Gardeners https://www.rainyside.com/plant_gallery/perennials/Asarina_procumbens.html Retrieved at 9.37 on Tuesday 14/6/22.
Missouri Botanical Garden https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=287086&isprofile=0& Retrieved at 13.11 on Saturday 11/6/22.
Shoot Gardening https://www.shootgardening.co.uk/plant/asarina-procumbens Retrieved at 22.46 on Sunday 12/6/22.
Michael David Cook, Weeds of Melbourne https://weedsofmelbourne.org/trailing-snapdragon-asarina-procumbens Retrieved at 10.54 on Sunday 12/6/22.
"ITIS Standard Report Page: Asarina filipes", Integrated Taxonomic Information System, retrieved 2014-08-13
"Maurandya flaviflora I.M. Johnst.", Tropicos.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, retrieved 2014-08-13
"Holmgrenanthe petrophila (Coville & C.V.Morton) Elisens", Tropicos.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, retrieved 2014-07-20

"ITIS Standard Report Page: Asarina stricta", Integrated Taxonomic Information System, retrieved 2014-08-13

Ellison, Don (1999) Cultivated Plants of the World. London: New Holland (1st ed.: Brisbane: Flora Publications International, 1995)
Graf, Alfred Byrd (1986) Tropica: color cyclopedia of exotic plants and trees for warm-region horticulture—in cool climate the summer garden or sheltered indoors; 3rd ed. East Rutherford, N.J.: Roehrs Co
Lord, Tony (2003) Flora : The Gardener's Bible : More than 20,000 garden plants from around the world. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-36435-5
Botanica Sistematica