|
Chelidonium majus - L.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Common Name
|
Greater Celandine
|
| Family
|
Papaveraceae
|
| Synonyms
|
|
| Known Hazards
|
The whole plant is poisonous[7, 10, 19]. It is of very low toxicity and this is greatly reduced by drying the plant[65]. The stem juice is highly irritating and allergenic, it may cause paralysis[222]. Large doses cause sleepiness, skin irritation, respiratory tract irritation, violent coughing and dyspnoea[268]. It also stains the urine bright yellow and may cause ulcers[268].
|
| Habitats
|
Rubble, damp ground, banks, hedgerows and by walls[7, 17], nearly always close to human habitations[4].
|
| Range
|
Most of Europe, including Britain, east to N. Asia.
|
Edibility Rating 
|
|
| Medicinal Rating
|
| | Care
|
|
| Physical Characteristics
|
|
 
PERENNIAL growing to 0.5 m (1ft 8in) by 0.4 m (1ft 4in) at a fast rate.
It is hardy to zone 6 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from May to August, and the seeds ripen from Jul to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees, flies, beetles, self.The plant is self-fertile.
The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils.The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils..It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade.It requires moist soil.
|
|
 |
|
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:23_Chelidonium_majus.jpg |
 |
| http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Bogdan |
|
|
| |
| Habitats
|
|
|
Woodland Garden Dappled Shade; Shady Edge; not Deep Shade; Ground Cover; Hedgerow; North Wall. In.
|
| Edible Uses
|
|
Edible Parts: Leaves.
Leaves - cooked in small quantities[177]. They contain small amounts of toxic alkaloids[179]. The leaves are boiled with clean earth, the mixture is left overnight and then thoroughly washed in several changes of water[179]. Very much a famine food, to be used when all else fails!![K].
|
|
|
|
| Medicinal Uses
|
Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.
Acrid; Alterative; Anodyne; Antispasmodic; Cancer; Cholagogue; Diaphoretic; Diuretic; Hydrogogue; Narcotic; Ophthalmic;
Purgative; Stomachic; Warts.
Greater celandine has a long history of herbal use[4]. Traditionally it was employed as an ophthalmic to treat and clear the eyesight whilst in modern herbal medicine it is used more as a mild sedative, antispasmodic and detoxifying herb, relaxing the muscles of the bronchial tubes, intestines and other organs[254]. The latex is much used externally to treat warts. Caution should be employed, especially when the plant is used internally however, because it contains toxic alkaloids[7, 21].
The leaves and the sap are acrid, alterative, anodyne, antispasmodic, caustic, cholagogue, diaphoretic, diuretic, hydrogogue, narcotic, purgative[4, 7, 9, 21, 46, 165, 238]. They are used in the treatment of bronchitis, whooping cough, asthma, jaundice, gallstones and gallbladder pains[254]. The plant is harvested in the spring as it comes into flower, it is best used fresh[7], but can also be dried for later use[9]. The roots can also be used, these are harvested in the autumn and dried for later use[9].
The plant has anticancer properties and is analgesic[4, 218]. It is an important component of a stomach ulcer drug[218].
The plant has an abundant acrid bright-orange sap that stains the skin strongly and is powerfully irritant[4]. It is used as an external treatment to get rid of warts, ringworm and corns[13, 187, 222, 244] and has also been used to remove films from the cornea of the eye[4].
The plant contains the alkaloid chelidonine, which is similar to the alkaloid papaverine found in poppies. This alkaloid has antispasmodic and sedative effects on the bile ducts and bronchi. However, results have been inconsistent, especially if the preparation is not fresh[244].
The plant also contains the alkaloid sparteine, which restores normal rhythm to feeble arrhythmic myocardia[207].
|
|
| Other Uses
|
Ground cover; Oil.
Plants rapidly form a ground cover, but should only be used in wild places because of their invasive nature[200].
Seed contains 50 - 66% of a fatty oil[74]. No more details given.
|
|
| Cultivation details
|
|
|
Succeeds in any soil other than boggy conditions[1, 111, 233]. Prefers a rich soil of a woodland nature[1, 31]. Shade tolerant[31]. Plants grow well on walls if they are given a semi-shaded position and a pocket of soil into which to root[219].
A short-lived perennial[187], but it self-sows freely and can easily become a weed[200]. It quickly colonizes waste ground and thin woodland areas[233]. Once established, the plant is very difficult to eradicate.
|
|
|
|
|
| Propagation
|
|
|
Seed - sow in situ February to May or August to November. Germination usually takes place within 1 - 12 months[164, 200]. The plant self-sows freely and should not need much encouragement.
Division in March[111]. The plant bleeds profusely so this method is not recommended[200].
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Botanical References
|
|
| 17200
|
|
|
|
|
| Links / References
|
|
[K] Ken Fern Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.
| [1]F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956
|
| Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).
|
|
| [4]Grieve. A Modern Herbal.
|
| Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
|
|
| [7]Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants.
|
| Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.
|
|
| [9]Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants.
|
| Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.
|
|
| [13]Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants.
|
| Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.
|
|
| [17]Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles.
|
| A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
|
|
| [21]Lust. J. The Herb Book.
|
| Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.
|
|
| [31]Brown. Shade Plants for Garden and Woodland.
|
|
|
|
| [46]Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants.
|
| An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
|
|
| [74]Komarov. V. L. Flora of the USSR.
|
| An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers.
|
|
| [111]Sanders. T. W. Popular Hardy Perennials.
|
| A fairly wide range of perennial plants that can be grown in Britain and how to grow them.
|
|
| [164]Bird. R. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 4.
|
| Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. A good article on Yuccas, one on Sagebrush (Artemesia spp) and another on Chaerophyllum bulbosum.
|
|
| [165]Mills. S. Y. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
|
| An excellent small herbal.
|
|
| [177]Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption.
|
| An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
|
|
| [179]Reid. B. E. Famine Foods of the Chiu-Huang Pen-ts'ao.
|
| A translation of an ancient Chinese book on edible wild foods. Fascinating.
|
|
| [187]Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Perennials Volumes 1 and 2.
|
| Photographs of over 3,000 species and cultivars of ornamental plants together with brief cultivation notes, details of habitat etc.
|
|
| [200]Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992.
|
| Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
|
|
| [207]Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers.
|
| A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.
|
|
| [218]Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China
|
| Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.
|
|
| [219]Grey-Wilson. C. & Matthews. V. Gardening on Walls
|
| A nice little book about plants for growing against walls and a small section on plants that can grow in walls.
|
|
| [222]Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America.
|
| A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.
|
|
| [233]Thomas. G. S. Perennial Garden Plants
|
| A concise guide to a wide range of perennials. Lots of cultivation guides, very little on plant uses.
|
|
| [238]Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses.
|
| A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
|
|
| [244]Phillips. R. & Foy. N. Herbs
|
| Deals with all types of herbs including medicinal, culinary, scented and dye plants. Excellent photographs with quite good information on each plant.
|
|
| [254]Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants
|
| An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rate This Plant |
|
|
Please rate this plants for how successful you have found it to be. You will need
to be logged in to do this. Our intention is not to create a list of 'popular' plants
but rather to highlight plants that may be rare and unusual and that have been found
to be useful by website users. This hopefully will encourage more people to use
plants that they possibly would not have considered before. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Add a comment/link
|
|
|
If you have important information about this plant that may help other users please add a comment or link below. Only comments or links that are felt to be directly relevant to a plant will be included. If you think a comment/link or information contained on this page is inaccurate or misleading we would welcome your feedback at admin@pfaf.org. If you have questions about a plant please use the Forum on this website as we do not have the resources to answer questions ourselves.
* Please note: the comments by website users are not necessarily those held by PFAF and may give misleading or inaccurate information.
| Subject : Chelidonium majus |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Discussion Monitor
|
|
To have posts to this page mailed to you enter your email address here:
(Your email address will not appear on the
webpage or be passed on to third parties).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|