Jj. Brophy et al., THE ESSENTIAL OILS OF AUSTRALIAN MEMBERS OF THE GENUS ASTEROMYRTUS (MYRTACEAE), Biochemical systematics and ecology, 22(4), 1994, pp. 409-417
The foliage of the six mainland Australian members of the recently rei
nstated genus Asteromyrtus has yielded essential oils which qualitativ
ely contain the same mixtures of mono- and sesquiterpenes. Quantitativ
ely, however, the oils differ from each other and could be used to dif
ferentiate the species. Asteromyrtus angustifolia contains an oil whos
e principal components are alpha-pinene (10%), 1,8-cineole (31%) and b
eta-caryophyllene (23%). The oil of A. arnhemica contains alpha-pinene
(92%) as its principal component. Asteromyrtus brassii yields an oil
whose principal components are alpha-pinene (6%), 1,8-cineole (24%), g
amma-terpinene (21%). The principal components of the oil from A. lysi
cephala are alpha-pinene (11.2%), 1,8-cineole (49%) and alpha-terpinyl
acetate (4%), while for that of A. magnifica they are alpha-pinene (1
4%), beta-cineole (20%) and 1,8-cineole (36%). The oil from A. symphyo
carpa is rich in alpha-pinene (16%) and 1,8-cineole (40%). Principal c
oordinate and single linkage cluster analyses were used to determine t
he infrageneric relationships based upon the essential oil data. The a
nalyses do not provide support for a classification of the species bas
ed upon morphological-reproductive features.