Chaerophyllum temulum

Last updated

Chaerophyllum temulum
Illustration Chaerophyllum temulentum0.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Apiaceae
Genus: Chaerophyllum
Species:
C. temulum
Binomial name
Chaerophyllum temulum
L.
Synonyms [1]
  • Bellia temulentaBubani nom. illeg.
  • Chaerophyllum geniculatumGilib. nom. inval.
  • Chaerophyllum temulentumL.

Chaerophyllum temulum, the rough chervil, [2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae.

Contents

Unlike several other species in the genus, Chaerophyllum temulum is poisonous. [3]

Etymology

The generic name Chaerophyllum is a compound of the Greek elements chairo 'to please' and phyllon a leaf, giving the meaning 'having pleasant foliage'. The specific name temulum or temulentum means 'drunken' - from the similarity of the symptoms elicited by poisoning by the plant to those of alcoholic intoxication. [4] [5]

Description

Somewhat hispid, biennial herb. Stems to 100 centimetres (39 in), solid, swollen below nodes, purple-spotted or wholly purple. Leaves bi- to tri-pinnate, dark green, appressed-hairy on both surfaces, longipetiolate: lobes mostly 10–20 millimetres (0.39–0.79 in), ovate in outline, deeply toothed, the teeth contracted abruptly at the apex. Umbels compound, bearing usually 6-12 (occasionally as few as 4 or as many as 15) hairy rays usually 1.5–5 centimetres (0.59–1.97 in) long; peduncle longer than rays, hairy; terminal umbel with mostly hermaphrodite flowers, overtopped by lateral umbels, which have mostly male flowers. Bracts absent, or rarely 1–2; bracteoles 5–8, shorter than pedicels, ciliate, eventually deflexed. Flowers white; sepals absent; outer petals not radiating; styles with enlarged base, forming stylopodium. Fruit usually 5–6 millimetres (0.20–0.24 in), slightly laterally compressed, oblong but narrowing toward apex, constricted at commissure; mericarps having broad, rounded ridges; carpophore present; vittae solitary, conspicuous; pedicels without a ring of hairs at apex; styles roughly as long as stylopodium, recurved; stigma capitate. Cotyledons tapered gradually at base without distinct petiole. Flowering time (in U.K.) : late May to early July.

Ploidy

Chromosome number of Chaerophyllum temulum and infraspecific taxa 2n = 14, 22.

Distribution

Chaerophyllum temulum is found throughout most of Europe, although it is rare in the Mediterranean region. Its range also extends into the Maghreb and Western Asia, including Turkey and the Caucasus. [6] Within the United Kingdom the plant is common in most of England and Wales, but local and mainly Eastern in distribution in Scotland. In Ireland the plant is local and confined mainly to the Eastern half of the country. In much of England the plant is distinguishable from other Umbelliferae by being the first of the common roadside species to flower after Anthriscus sylvestris , with other distinguishing features including hairy, purple-spotted stems and swollen tops to the internodes. [7]

Habitat

Chaerophyllum temulum is a ruderal or pioneer species which will grow in a variety of situations, from damp places, such as waterside thickets, to open woodland, woodland edges, waste places, by walls and fences, in both lowland and hilly country. [3]

Ecology

Pollen is collected by solitary bees. [8]

Toxicity

Chaerophyllum temulum contains (mainly in the upper parts and fruits) a volatile alkaloid chaerophylline, as well as other (probably glycosidally bound) toxins, the chemistry and pharmacology of which has, as yet, been but little studied[ citation needed ]. Externally, the sap of the plant can cause inflammation of the skin and persistent rashes. If consumed, the plant causes gastro-intestinal inflammation, drowsiness, vertigo and cardiac weakness. Human poisonings have seldom been observed, because the plant lacks aromatic essential oils that could lead to its being confused with edible umbellifers used to flavour food. It is, however, used occasionally in folk medicine. Animal poisonings by the plant are commoner than those of humans, pigs and cattle thus intoxicated exhibiting a staggering gait, unsteady stance, apathy and severe, exhausting colic, ending sometimes in death. Such symptoms recall those caused by the toxic grass Lolium temulentum , the common darnel. Chaerophyllum bulbosum and Chaerophyllum hirsutum have also been reported to be toxic. [3] Chaerophyllum temulum has been reported to contain the polyyne falcarinol and the compound falcarinone. [9]

Use in herbal medicine

Chaerophyllum temulum has been used in folk medicine, in small doses, to treat arthritis, dropsy, and chronic skin complaints, and as a spring tonic. The early modern physician Boerhaave (1668–1738) once successfully used a decoction of the herb combined with Sarsaparilla to treat a woman suffering from leprosy – in the course of which treatment temporary blindness was a severe side effect following each dose.

Related Research Articles

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

Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus Apium, and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants, with more than 3,800 species in about 446 genera, including such well-known, and economically important plants as ajwain, angelica, anise, asafoetida, caraway, carrot, celery, chervil, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, lovage, cow parsley, parsley, parsnip and sea holly, as well as silphium, a plant whose exact identity is unclear and it may be extinct.

<i>Anthriscus sylvestris</i> Species of flowering plant

Anthriscus sylvestris, known as cow parsley, wild chervil, wild beaked parsley, Queen Anne's lace or keck, is a herbaceous biennial or short-lived perennial plant in the family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae),. It is also sometimes called mother-die, a name that is also applied to the common hawthorn. It is native to Europe, western Asia and northwestern Africa. It is related to other diverse members of Apiaceae, such as parsley, carrot, hemlock and hogweed. It is often confused with Daucus carota, another member of the Apiaceae also known as "Queen Anne's lace" or "wild carrot".

<i>Scandix pecten-veneris</i> Species of flowering plant

Scandix pecten-veneris is a species of edible plant belonging to the family Apiaceae. It is native to Eurasia, but is known to occur elsewhere. It is named for its long fruit, which has a thickened body up to 1.5 centimeters long and a beak which can measure up to 7 centimeters long and is lined with comblike bristles.

<i>Calamagrostis stricta</i> Species of flowering plant

Calamagrostis stricta, known as slim-stem small reed grass or narrow small-reed, is a species of bunchgrass in the family Poaceae of the Holarctic Kingdom.

<i>Iberis umbellata</i> Species of flowering plant

Iberis umbellata, common name garden candytuft or globe candytuft, is a herbaceous annual flowering plant of the genus Iberis and the family Brassicaceae.

<i>Corynephorus canescens</i> Species of grass

Corynephorus canescens, common name grey hair-grass or gray clubawn grass, is a species of plants in the grass family, native to Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa but widely naturalized in North America. In the United Kingdom it is rare. It can be found at sites such as Wangford Warren and Carr, a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Breckland area of Suffolk.

<i>Cotoneaster glaucophyllus</i> Species of flowering plant

Cotoneaster glaucophyllus, commonly known as glaucous cotoneaster' or bright bead cotoneaster, is a native plant of China and the Himalayas.

<i>Melica amethystina</i> Species of grass

Melica amethystina is a grass species in the family Poaceae that can be found in southern Europe.

Melica brasiliana, is a grass species in the family Poaceae that is endemic to Brazil and southern South America.

<i>Melica violacea</i> Species of grass

Melica violacea, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae endemic to Chile.

Melica pappiana is a species of grass found in China. It grows on grassy mountain slopes and larch forests at 500–2,000 metres (1,600–6,600 ft) above sea level.

Melica longiligulata is a species of grass endemic to the Sichuan province of China.

<i>Agrostis vinealis</i> Species of grass

Agrostis vinealis is a species of grass known by the common names brown bentgrass and brown bent, which can be found from Russia to Mongolia, China, Pakistan, India and Alaska. It was introduced to Greenland and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

Festuca abyssinica is a species of grass which is endemic to Africa.

<i>Festuca dolichophylla</i> Species of grass

Festuca dolichophylla is a species of grass which is endemic to western South America with an occurrence in Costa Rica.

Festuca pseudodalmatica is a species of grass which can be found in Central, Eastern and southeastern Europe.

<i>Festuca psammophila</i> Species of grass

Festuca psammophila is a species of grass which is endemic to Central Europe.

Festuca polycolea is a species of grass which is endemic to India.

Festuca pilgeri is a species of grass which is endemic to East Africa.

Festuca picturata is a species of grass which can be found in Central, Eastern and southeastern Europe.

References

  1. The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species , retrieved 22 December 2015
  2. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  3. 1 2 3 Starý, František, Poisonous Plants (Hamlyn colour guides) – pub. Paul Hamlyn April, 1984, translated from the Czech by Olga Kuthanová.
  4. Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening pub. Oxford University Press 1984 Volume I : A to Cocculus
  5. Botanical Latin Stearn, William T., revised and annotated second edition first pub. 1973, 3rd impression 1980 David and Charles, Newton Abbot, Devon, U.K.
  6. "Chaerophyllum temulum L" . Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  7. Umbellifers of the British Isles Tutin T.G. BSBI Handbook No.2. Pub. Botanical Society of the British Isles,1980.
  8. Wood, Thomas J.; Holland, John M.; Goulson, Dave (2016). "Providing foraging resources for solitary bees on farmland: current schemes for pollinators benefit a limited suite of species" (PDF). Journal of Applied Ecology. 54: 323–333. doi:10.1111/1365-2664.12718.
  9. "Taumelkälberkropf (Chaerophyllum temulum)" . Retrieved 7 June 2017.