Eight sesquiterpene lactones were isolated from Centaurea solstitialis (yellow starthistle). They are solstitialin A, repin, subluteolide, acroptilin, janerin, cynaropicrin, and the new &tones solstitiolide and episolstitiolide.

These paper deals with 45 taxa, seven of which are new to the Balearic Islands flora: Agrostis capillaris L., Centaurea solstitialis L. Chenopodium strictum Roth, Datura wrigthii Regel, Kickxia elatine (L.) Dumort. subsp. elatine, Ranunculus xatardii Lapeyr. and Senecio inaequidens DC. On the other hand, six taxa [Catananche caerulea L., Centaurea apula Lam., Filago micropodioides Lange, Legous...

In the search for new sources of sesquiterpene lactones, six Centaurea species have been analyzed. The activity against the fungus Cunninghamella echinulata of (+)-cnicin (1) and (+)-salonitenolide (2), isolated from the Centaurea plants, as well as that of (+)-costunolide (3), (-)-dehydrocostuslactone (4), (-)-lychnopholide (5) and (-)-eremantholide C (6), has been evaluated. Compounds 3 and 4...

Human modification of the environment is causing both loss of species and changes in resource availability. While studies have examined how species loss at the local level can influence invasion resistance, interactions between species loss and other components of environmental change remain poorly studied. In particular, the manner in which native diversity interacts with resource availability...

BACKGROUND Anti-inflammatory activities of medicinal plants have largely been attributed to their content of sesquiterpene lactones (SLs). SLs are predominantly found in the sunflower family Asteraceae and have been isolated from many plants of this family, particularly Centaurea. The anti-inflammatory activities of extract of Centaurea ainetensis, a Lebanese endemic plant, and the isolated act...

Numerous species of the Asteraceae, the composites, are famous for their use in both traditional and conventional medicine. Reliable anatomical descriptions of these plants and of possible adulterations provide a basis for fast identification and cheap purity controls of respective medicinal drugs by means of light microscopy. Nevertheless, detailed comparative studies on root and rhizome anato...