Cymbopogon

Cymbopogon, better known as lemongrass (UK:

/lmnrs/; US: /lmnrs/) is a genus of Asian,
African, Australian, and tropical island plants in the
grass family.* [5]* [6]* [7]* [8]

duction of citronella oil, which is used in soaps, as an

insect repellent (especially mosquitoes)* [11] in insect
sprays and candles, and in aromatherapy, which is famous
in Bintan Island, Indonesia, and the Philippines.* [12]
Therefore, its origin is assumed to be Indonesia. The
principal chemical constituents of citronella, geraniol and
citronellol, are antiseptics, hence their use in household
disinfectants and soaps. Besides oil production, citronella
grass is also used for culinary purposes, as a avoring.

Some species (particularly Cymbopogon citratus), are

commonly cultivated as culinary and medicinal herbs because of their scent, resembling that of lemons (Citrus
limon). Common names include lemon grass, lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, citronella
grass, cha de Dartigalongue, fever grass, tanglad, hi- Citronella is usually planted in home gardens to ward o
erba Luisa, or gavati chaha, amongst many others.
insects such as whitey adults. Its cultivation enables
growing some vegetables (e.g. tomatoes and broccoli)
without applying pesticides. Intercropping should include
physical barriers, for citronella roots can take over the
1 Uses
eld.* [13]

Lemongrass oil, used as a pesticide and preservative, is

put on the ancient palm-leaf manuscripts found in India as
a preservative. It is used at the Oriental Research Institute
Mysore, the French Institute of Pondicherry, the Association for the Preservation of the Saint Thomas Christian
Heritage in Kerala, and many other manuscript collections in India. The oil also injects natural uidity into the
brittle palm leaves, and the hydrophobic nature of the oil
keeps the manuscripts dry so the text is not lost to decay
due to humidity.

Lemongrass is widely used as a culinary herb in Asian

cuisine and also as medicinal herb in India. It has a subtle citrus avor and can be dried and powdered, or used
fresh. It is commonly used in teas, soups, and curries.
It is also suitable for use with poultry, sh, beef, and
seafood. It is often used as a tea in African countries such
as Togo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and
Latin American countries such as Mexico. Lemongrass
oil is used as a pesticide and a preservative. Research
shows that lemongrass oil has antifungal properties.* [9]
Despite its ability to repel insects, its oil is commonly
used as a lureto attract honey bees. Lemongrass
works conveniently as well as the pheromone created by
the honeybee's Nasonov gland, also known as attractant
pheromones. Because of this, lemongrass oil can be used
as a lure when trapping swarms or attempting to draw the
attention of hived bees.* [10]

East Indian lemon grass (Cymbopogon exuosus), also

called Cochin grass or Malabar grass (Malayalam:
(inchippullu), is native to Cambodia, Vietnam, India, Sri
Lanka, Burma, and Thailand, while West Indian lemon
grass (Cymbopogon citratus) is native to South Asia and
maritime Southeast Asia. It is known as serai in Malaysia
and Brunei, serai or sereh in Indonesia, and salai or
tanglad in the Philippines. While both can be used interchangeably, C. citratus is more suitable for cooking.
In India, C. citratus is used both as a medical herb and
in perfumes. C. citratus is consumed as a tea for anxiety in Brazilian folk medicine,* [14] but a study in humans found no eect.* [15] The tea caused a recurrence
of contact dermatitis in one case.* [16]
Lemon grass is also known as gavati chaha ( )
in the Marathi language (gavat = grass; chaha = tea), and
is used as an addition to tea, and in preparations such as
kadha, which is a traditional herbal 'soup' used against
coughs, colds, etc. It has medicinal properties and is used
extensively in Ayurvedic medicine. It is supposed to help
with relieving cough and nasal congestion.* [17]

C. citratus from the Philippines, where it is locally known as

tanglad

Citronella grass (Cymbopogon nardus and Cymbopogon

winterianus) grow to about 2 m (6.6 ft) and have magentacolored base stems. These species are used for the pro1

2 IMAGES

Images
Lemon grass at a market
Prepared lemon grass

Species* [3]
1. Cymbopogon ambiguus Australian lemon-scented
grass - Australia, Timor
2. Cymbopogon annamensis - Yunnan, Laos, Vietnam,
Thailand
3. Cymbopogon bhutanicus - Bhutan

21. Cymbopogon globosus - Maluku, New Guinea,

Queensland
22. Cymbopogon goeringii - China incl Taiwan, Korea,
Japan incl Ryukyu Islands, Vietnam
23. Cymbopogon gratus - Queensland
24. Cymbopogon jwarancusa - Socotra, Turkey, Middle East, Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan,
Indian Subcontinent, Tibet, Sichuan, Yunnan, Vietnam
25. Cymbopogon khasianus - Yunnan, Guangxi, Assam,
Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand
26. Cymbopogon liangshanensis - Sichuan

4. Cymbopogon bombycinus silky oilgrass - Australia

27. Cymbopogon mandalaiaensis - Myanmar

5. Cymbopogon caesius - Sub-Saharan Africa, Indian

Subcontinent, Yemen, Afghanistan, Madagascar,
Comoros, Runion

28. Cymbopogon marginatus - Cape Province of South

Africa

6. Cymbopogon calcicola - Thailand, Kedah

29. Cymbopogon martini palmarosa - Indian Subcontinent, Myanmar, Vietnam

7. Cymbopogon calciphilus - Thailand

30. Cymbopogon mekongensis - China, Indochina

8. Cymbopogon cambogiensis - Thailand, Cambodia,

Vietnam

31. Cymbopogon microstachys Indian Subcontinent,

Myanmar, Thailand, Yunnan

9. Cymbopogon citratus lemon grass (Chinese:

; pinyin: xing mo co) - Sri Lanka, northeast
and southern India, Southeast Asia

32. Cymbopogon microthecus - Nepal, Bhutan, Assam,

West Bengal, Bangladesh

10. Cymbopogon clandestinus - Thailand, Myanmar,

Andaman Islands
11. Cymbopogon coloratus - Madhya Pradesh, Tamil
Nadu, Myanmar, Vietnam
12. Cymbopogon commutatus - Sahel, East Africa, Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan

33. Cymbopogon minor - Yunnan

34. Cymbopogon minutiorus - Sulawesi
35. Cymbopogon nardus citronella grass (In Thai language (ta-khrai hom) - Indian Subcontinent, Indochina, central + southern Africa, Madagascar, Seychelles
36. Cymbopogon nervatus - Myanmar, Thailand, central
Africa

13. Cymbopogon densiorus - central + south-central

Africa

37. Cymbopogon obtectus Silky-heads - Australia

14. Cymbopogon dependens - Australia

38. Cymbopogon osmastonii - India, Bangladesh

15. Cymbopogon dieterlenii - Lesotho, Namibia, South

Africa
16. Cymbopogon distans - Gansu, Guizhou, Shaanxi,
Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan, Nepal, northern Pakistan,
Jammu & Kashmir
17. Cymbopogon exsertus - Nepal, Assam
18. Cymbopogon exuosus East Indian lemon grass - Indian Subcontinent, Indochina
19. Cymbopogon gidarba - Indian Subcontinent, Myanmar, Yunnan
20. Cymbopogon giganteus - Africa, Madagascar

39. Cymbopogon pendulus - Yunnan, eastern Himalayas,

Myanmar, Vietnam
40. Cymbopogon polyneuros - Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka,
Myanmar
41. Cymbopogon pospischilii - eastern + southern Africa,
Oman, Yemen, Himalayas, Tibet, Yunnan
42. Cymbopogon procerus - Australia, New Guinea,
Maluku, Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi
43. Cymbopogon pruinosus - islands of Indian Ocean
44. Cymbopogon queenslandicus - Queensland
45. Cymbopogon quinhonensis - Vietnam

3
46. Cymbopogon rectus - Lesser Sunda Islands, Java
47. Cymbopogon refractus barbed wire grass - Australia
incl Norfolk Island
48. Cymbopogon schoenanthus camel hay or camel grass
- Sahara, Sahel, eastern Africa, Arabian Peninsular,
Iran
49. Cymbopogon tortilis - China incl Taiwan, Ryukyu +
Bonin Is, Philippines, Vietnam, Maluku
50. Cymbopogon tungmaiensis - Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan
51. Cymbopogon winterianus citronella grass - Borneo,
Java, Sumatra
52. Cymbopogon xichangensis - Sichuan
Formerly included* [3]
Numerous species now regarded as better suited to other
genera including Andropogon, Exotheca, Hyparrhenia,
Iseilema, Schizachyrium, and Themeda.

References

[1] Sprengel, Curt (Kurt, Curtius) Polycarp Joachim 1815.

Plantarum Minus Cognitarum Pugillus 2: 14
[2] lectotype designated by N.L. Britton & P. Wilson, Bot.
Porto Rico 1: 27 (1923)
[3] Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
[4] Tropicos, Cymbopogon Spreng.
[5] Soenarko, S. 1977. The genus Cymbopogon Sprengel
(Gramineae). Reinwardtia 9(3): 225375
[6] Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 624 xiang mao shu
Cymbopogon Sprengel, Pl. Min. Cogn. Pug. 2: 14. 1815.
[7] Atlas of Living Australia, Cymbopogon Spreng., Lemon
Grass
[8] Bor, N. L. 1960. Grass. Burma, Ceylon, India & Pakistan
i767. Pergamon Press, Oxford
[9] Shadab, Q., Hanif, M. & Chaudhary, F.M. (1992) Antifungal activity by lemongrass essential oils. Pak. J. Sci.
Ind. Res. 35, 246-249.
[10] Wikibooks:Beekeeping/Guide to Essential Oils
[11] Edmon Agron. Lemon grass as mosquito repellent WorldNgayon | WorldNgayon". Worldngayon.com.
Retrieved 2013-10-17.
[12] Philippines
[13] Takeguma, Massahiro. Gowing Citronella. Retrieved
12 June 2013.

[14] Blanco MM, Costa CA, Freire AO, Santos JG, Costa M
(March 2009). Neurobehavioral eect of essential oil
of Cymbopogon citratus in mice. Phytomedicine 16 (2
3): 26570. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2007.04.007. PMID
17561386.
[15] Leite JR, Seabra Mde L, Maluf E; et al. (July 1986).
Pharmacology of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus
Stapf). III. Assessment of eventual toxic, hypnotic and
anxiolytic eects on humans. J Ethnopharmacol 17
(1): 7583. doi:10.1016/0378-8741(86)90074-7. PMID
2429120.
[16] Bleasel N, Tate B, Rademaker M (August 2002).
lergic contact dermatitis following exposure to
tial oils. Australas. J. Dermatol. 43 (3):
doi:10.1046/j.1440-0960.2002.00598.x.
3.
12121401.

Alessen211
PMID

[17] Lemongrass Health Benets And Healing Properties |

Ayurvedic Wellness & Lifestyle. Planetwell.com. 201204-03. Retrieved 2013-10-17.

4 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

4.1

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Cymbopogon Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymbopogon?oldid=700702208 Contributors: Heron, D, Ahoerstemeier, Stan Shebs,

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4.2

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File:Cymbopogon_citratus_leaves.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Cymbopogon_citratus_leaves.

jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Obsidian Soul

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