Flavonoids and anthocyanins from six Cassytha taxa (Lauraceae) as taxonomic markers Yoshinori Murai a, * , Goro Kokubugata a, b , Masatsugu Yokota c , Junichi Kitajima d , Tsukasa Iwashina a, b a Laboratory of Plant Chemotaxonomy, Graduate School of Agriculture, Ibaraki University, 3-21-1 Chuo, Ami, Ibaraki 300-0393, Japan b Department of Botany, National Museum of Nature and Science, 4-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0005, Japan c Laboratory of Ecology and Systematics, Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus, 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan d Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, Showa Pharmaceutical University, 3 Higashi-tamagawagakuen, Machida, Tokyo 194-8543, Japan article info Article history: Received 25 February 2008 Accepted 7 June 2008 Keywords: Cassytha Lauraceae Flavonols Anthocyanins Flavonoids Chemotaxonomy 1. Subject and source The genus Cassytha (Lauraceae) is a parasitic herb, which contains ca. 20 species and is distributed in Pacific Rim countries, mainly Australia, Africa, America and Japan (Mabberley, 1997). The leaves are degenerated and almost assimilate into the stem, which has small elliptical haustoria (Weber, 1981). Three Cassytha taxa, Cassytha filiformis L. var. filiformis, C. filiformis var. duripraticola Hatus. and Cassytha pergracilis Hatus., are distributed in Japan, and the latter two are listed as endangered plants by the Ministry of Environment, Japan. However, their taxonomic treatment underwent various changes (Hatusima, 1971, 1975, 1978; Hatusima and Amano, 1994). Based on the specimens in Australia, Hatusima and Amano (1994) and Hatusima (1978) treated C. filiformis var. duripraticola as Cassytha pubescens R. Br., and C. pergracilis as Cassytha glabella R. Br. However, it was difficult to classify them with only morphological characters. In this study, we describe the flavonoids from the aerial parts of six Cassytha taxa and chemotaxonomically discuss them. The Cassytha species examined in this study were collected in the sites described in Table 1 . Voucher specimens were deposited in the Herbarium of National Museum of Nature and Science, Japan (TNS). 2. Previous work Phylogenetic analyses of the family Lauraceae including Cassytha, Cassytha ciliolata Nees, C. filiformis and C. pubescens have been carried out (Rohwer, 2000; Chanderbali et al., 2001). As chemical components in Cassytha species, many aporphine * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ81 29 851 5159; fax: þ81 29 853 8998. E-mail address: murai@kahaku.go.jp (Y. Murai). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Biochemical Systematics and Ecology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biochemsyseco 0305-1978/$ – see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.bse.2008.06.007 Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 36 (2008) 745–748