Asarum europaeum

Last updated

European wild ginger
Asarum europaeum 170406.jpg
Flower and emerging spring leaves on a specimen from the Schwäbisch-Fränkischer Forest in Germany
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Piperales
Family: Aristolochiaceae
Genus: Asarum
Species:
A. europaeum
Binomial name
Asarum europaeum
L.

Asarum europaeum, commonly known as asarabacca, European wild ginger, hazelwort, and wild spikenard, historically cabarick, is a species of flowering plant in the birthwort family Aristolochiaceae, native to large parts of temperate Europe, and also cultivated in gardens. It is a creeping evergreen perennial with glossy green, kidney shaped leaves and solitary dull purple flowers hidden by the leaves. Though its roots have a ginger aroma, it is not closely related to the true culinary ginger Zingiber officinale, which originates in tropical Asian rainforests. It is sometimes harvested for use as a spice or a flavoring. In former days, it was used in snuff and also medicinally as an emetic and cathartic. [1] [2]

Contents

Description

The prostrate stems are 10–15 centimetres (3.9–5.9 in) long, each bearing two reniform leaves with long petioles. The leaves are about 10 cm wide. The upper surface of the leaves is shiny, and they have a pepper-like taste and smell. There are also 2 to 3 stipules present that occur in two rows opposite each other on the stem. The flowers are solitary, terminal and nodding. The flower tube is composed of fused tepals that ends with 3 petal-like projections that are brownish towards their ends and dark purple toward the centre. There are 12 stamens present. The flowers emerge in the late winter and spring. [3]

Distribution and habitat

Asarum europaeum has a wide distribution in Europe. It ranges from southern Finland and northern Russia south to southern France, Italy, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Bulgaria. It is absent from the British Isles and Scandinavia, and also from northwestern Germany [3] and the Netherlands. Within Europe, the plant is grown outside of its range in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. [4]

It occurs mostly in deciduous woodland or coniferous forests, especially in calcareous (chalky) soils.

Subspecies

There are two recognised subspecies other than the type, including A. europaeum ssp. caucasicum, which is confined to the southwestern Alps, and A. europaeum ssp. italicum, which is found in central and northern Italy as well as in the Skopska Crna Gora mountains of North Macedonia and Kosovo.

Cultivation

A. europaeum is quite shade-tolerant and is often employed as groundcover where little else will grow. This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Boesenbergia rotunda</i> Species of flowering medicinal and culinary plant

Boesenbergia rotunda, commonly known as Chinese keys, fingerroot, lesser galangal or Chinese ginger, is a medicinal and culinary herb from China and Southeast Asia. In English, the root has traditionally been called fingerroot, because the shape of the rhizome resembles that of fingers growing out of a center piece.

<i>Ficaria verna</i> Species of flowering plant in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae)

Ficaria verna, commonly known as lesser celandine or pilewort, is a low-growing, hairless perennial flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. It has fleshy dark green, heart-shaped leaves and distinctive flowers with bright yellow, glossy petals. Native to Europe and Western Asia, it is now introduced in North America, where it is known by the common name fig buttercup and considered an invasive species. The plant is poisonous if ingested raw and potentially fatal to grazing animals and livestock such as horses, cattle, and sheep. For these reasons, several US states have banned the plant or listed it as a noxious weed. It prefers bare, damp ground and is considered by horticulturalists in the United Kingdom as a persistent garden weed; nevertheless, many specialist plantsmen, nursery owners and discerning gardeners in the UK and Europe collect selected cultivars of the plant, including bronze-leaved and double-flowered ones. Emerging in late winter with flowers appearing late February through May in the UK, its appearance across the landscape is regarded by many as a harbinger of spring.

<i>Asarum</i> Genus of flowering plants

Asarum is a genus of plants in the birthwort family Aristolochiaceae, commonly known as wild ginger.

<i>Allium ursinum</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae

Allium ursinum, known as wild garlic, ramsons, cowleekes, cows's leek, cowleek, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, Eurasian wild garlic or bear's garlic, is a bulbous perennial flowering plant in the amaryllis family Amaryllidaceae. It is native to Europe and Asia, where it grows in moist woodland. It is a wild relative of onion and garlic, all belonging to the same genus, Allium. There are two recognized subspecies: A. ursinum subsp. ursinum and A. ursinum subsp. ucrainicum.

<i>Anemonoides nemorosa</i> Species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae

Anemonoides nemorosa, the wood anemone, is an early-spring flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to Europe. Other common names include windflower, European thimbleweed, and smell fox, an allusion to the musky smell of the leaves. It is a perennial herbaceous plant growing 5–15 cm (2–6 in) tall.

<i>Persicaria odorata</i> Species of plant

Persicaria odorata, with common names Vietnamese coriander, rau răm, laksa leaf, Vietnamese cilantro, phak phai, praew leaf, hot mint, Cambodian mint and Vietnamese mint, is an herb whose leaves are used in Southeast Asian and Northeast Indian cooking.

<i>Althaea officinalis</i> Species of plant

Althaea officinalis, the marsh mallow or marshmallow, is a species of flowering plant indigenous to Europe, Western Asia and North Africa, which is used in herbalism and as an ornamental plant. A confection made from the root since ancient Egyptian times evolved into today's marshmallow treat, but most modern marshmallow treats no longer contain any marsh-mallow root.

<i>Primula vulgaris</i> Species of flowering plant

Primula vulgaris, the common primrose, is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, native to Eurasia. The common name is primrose, or occasionally common primrose or English primrose to distinguish it from other Primula species referred to as primroses.

<i>Rhamphospermum nigrum</i> Species of plant

Rhamphospermum nigrum, black mustard, is an annual plant cultivated for its dark-brown-to-black seeds, which are commonly used as a spice. It is native to cooler regions of North Africa, temperate regions of Europe, and parts of Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cicely</span> Genus of flowering plants in the celery family Apiaceae

Myrrhis odorata, with common names cicely, sweet cicely, myrrh, garden myrrh, and sweet chervil, is a herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the celery family Apiaceae. It is the only species in the genus Myrrhis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Costaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Costaceae, known as the Costus family or spiral gingers, is a family of pantropical monocots. It belongs to the order Zingiberales, which contains horticulturally and economically important plants such as the banana (Musaceae), bird-of-paradise (Strelitziaceae), and edible ginger (Zingiberaceae). The seven genera in Costaceae together contain about 143 known species. They are native to tropical climates of Asia, Africa, Central America, and South America. Several species are frequently found in cultivation.

Edible plant stems are one part of plants that are eaten by humans. Most plants are made up of stems, roots, leaves, flowers, and produce fruits containing seeds. Humans most commonly eat the seeds, fruit, flowers, leaves, roots, and stems (e.g. asparagus of many plants. There are also a few edible petioles such as celery or rhubarb.

<i>Raphanus raphanistrum</i> Species of flowering plant

Raphanus raphanistrum, also known as wild radish, white charlock or jointed charlock, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. The species is native to western Asia, Europe and parts of Northern Africa. It has been introduced into most parts of the world and is regarded as a habitat threatening invasive species in many areas, for example, Australia. It spreads rapidly and is often found growing on roadsides or in other places where the ground has been disturbed. The cultivated radish, widely used as a root vegetable, is sometimes considered to be one of its subspecies as Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. sativus.

<i>Narcissus pseudonarcissus</i> Species of plant

Narcissus pseudonarcissus, commonly named the wild daffodil or Lent lily, is a perennial flowering plant.

<i>Asarum canadense</i> Species of flowering plant

Asarum canadense, commonly known as Canada wild ginger, Canadian snakeroot, and broad-leaved asarabacca, is a herbaceous, perennial plant which forms dense colonies in the understory of deciduous forests throughout its native range in eastern North America, from the Great Plains east to the Atlantic Coast, and from southeastern Canada south to around the Fall Line in the southeastern United States.

<i>Cirsium eriophorum</i> Species of plant

Cirsium eriophorum, the woolly thistle, is a herbaceous biennial species of flowering plant in the genus Cirsium of the family Asteraceae. It is widespread across much of Europe. It is a large biennial plant with sharp spines on the tips of the leaves, and long, woolly hairs on much of the foliage. The flower heads are large and nearly spherical, with spines on the outside and many purple disc florets but no ray florets.

<i>Erysimum cheiri</i> Species of flowering plant

Erysimum cheiri, syn. Cheiranthus cheiri, the wallflower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae (Cruciferae), native to Greece, but widespread as an introduced species elsewhere. It is also treated as a hybrid under the name Erysimum × cheiri. It is widely cultivated as a garden plant.

<i>Eriocapitella hupehensis</i> Species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae

Eriocapitella hupehensis, a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, is native to Asia. The specific epithet hupehensis, which means "from Hupeh province, China", refers to a region where the species is known to occur. In Chinese, it is called dǎ pò wǎn huā huā (打破碗花花), which means "broken bowl flower".

<i>Althaea cannabina</i> Species of flowering plant

Althaea cannabina, commonly called palm-leaf marshmallow or hemp-leaved hollyhock, is a perennial herb belonging to the genus Althaea of the family Malvaceae. The leaves resemble those of hemp, hence the specific epithet cannabina ("hemp-like").

<i>Hesperocodon</i> Genus of flowering plants

Hesperocodon hederaceus, synonym Wahlenbergia hederacea, also known as the ivy-leaved bellflower, is a species of flowering plant that is found throughout Europe. It is the only species in the genus Hesperocodon. The delicate, patch-forming, hairless perennial herb has thin, creeping stems about 20 cm in length. Its pale green leaves are long-stalked and have an ivy-shaped, rounded structure. These leaves can be described as having a cordate shape and are approximately 5–12 mm long and wide. The plant has erect, solitary, pale blue flowers in summer and autumn, with bell-shaped corolla with 5 short lobes. The flowers are 6–10 mm long x 5–8 mm wide and sit on fine stalks 1–4 cm long. It is suggested that the long pedicels are an adaptation to assist in seed dispersal.

References

  1. Seidemann, Johannes (July 2005). World Spice Plants: Economic Usage, Botany, Taxonomy (1 ed.). Germany: Springer. p. 57. ISBN   3-540-22279-0.
  2. Katzer, Gernot. "Geographic Spice Index". Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages.
  3. 1 2 Schmeil, Otto; Fitschen, Jost; Seybold, Siegmund (2006). Flora von Deutschland, 93. Auflage (in German). Wiebelsheim: Quelle & Meyer Verlag. p. 190. ISBN   3-494-01413-2.
  4. T. G. Tutin; V. H. Heywood; N. A. Burges; D. H. Valentine; S. M. Walters; D. A. Webb (eds.). "Asarum europaeum". Flora Europaea. Cambridge University Press.
  5. "RHS Plantfinder - Asarum europaeum". Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 12 January 2018.