Volatile constituents of Hypericum L. section Myriandra (Clusiaceae): Species of the H. fasciculatum Lam. alliance

Abstract

The chemical composition of the volatiles extracted from eleven (11) closely-related taxa belonging to Hypericum (section Myriandra) native to the southeastern United States were investigated. Microdistillation of dried and ground aerial material, collected from flowering plants, yielded volatile constituents that were subsequently analyzed by GC/MS. The major component(s) were identified as follows: beta-bisabolene (53.4%) in H. brachyphyllum; beta-eudesmol (31.5%) in H. chapmanii; beta-bisabolene (11.7%) and undecane (18.7%) in H. (densiflorum; decyl acetate (12.2%) and gamma-muurolene (12.7%) in H. fasciculatum; (E)-nerolidol (13.2%), alloaroma-dendrene (18.9%) and caryophyllene oxide (20.7%) in H. frondosum; caryophyllene oxide (12.9%), guaia-6,10(14)-dien-4 beta-ol (18.5%) and an unidentified component (Unknown A) (21.8%) in H. galioides; caryophyllene oxide (29.3%) in H. lloydii; spathulenol (11.8%) and (Z, Z)-farnesol (45.1%) in H. nitidum ssp. cxile; gamma-muurolene (19.3%) in H. nitidum ssp. nitidum; alpha-muurolene (12.4%) and gamma-muurolene (20.3%) in H. prolificum; and beta-acoradiene (12.9%) and caryophyllene oxide (16.7%) in H. tenuifolium.