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Twenty-first Century Centauries: An Updated Review on Centaurium Hill and Allies (Gentianaceae)

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The Gentianaceae - Volume 1: Characterization and Ecology

Abstract

Centauries have a long tradition in human medicine and botanical accounts. Early indications of centauries refer to the famous works of Theophraste (fourth century BC), Pline, and Dioscoridis (first century), who dedicated the herb to the Centaur Chiron. First preserved, albeit idealistic, representations date back to the sixth century. Since typification of Gentiana centaurium and Chironia by Linnaeus (1753), the classifications of Centauries were debated by renowned botanists until the end of the twentieth century. This chapter presents an overview of the current and accepted delimitations of centauries, as well as new insights into their taxonomic and evolutionary history.

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Acknowledgments

I thank Prof. Jan Rybczyński for organizing this special issue on the Gentianaceae, Dr. Alessia Guggisberg for revising and improving a first version of this manuscript, and Dr. Louis Zeltner for sharing unpublished results on Centauries. The following institutes are acknowledged for providing information and material; Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem (B), The Natural History Museum, London (BM), Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève (G), Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K), University of Texas at Austin (LL), Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne (MEL), University of Minnesota (MIN), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (MSB), and Université de Neuchâtel (NEU). “Un grand merci” to Prof. Philippe Küpfer (Neuchâtel, Switzerland) for the opportunity to study this amazing group of plant.

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  1. Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 6–8, 14195, Berlin, Germany

    Guilhem Mansion

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  1. Botanical Garden-Center for Biological Diversity Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland

    Jan J. Rybczyński

  2. Plant and Crop Sciences Division, University of Nottingham School of Biosciences, Loughborough, United Kingdom

    Michael R. Davey

  3. Botanical Garden-Center for Biological Diversity Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland

    Anna Mikuła

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Mansion, G. (2014). Twenty-first Century Centauries: An Updated Review on Centaurium Hill and Allies (Gentianaceae). In: Rybczyński, J., Davey, M., Mikuła, A. (eds) The Gentianaceae - Volume 1: Characterization and Ecology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54010-3_8

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