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Centaurium erythraea
| Common name: |
Centaury |
Family: |
Gentianaceae |
| Author: |
Rafn. |
Botanical references: |
17 |
| Synonyms: |
Erythraea centaurium (Auct.), Centaurium umbellatum (Gilib.), Centaurium minus (Auct.) |
| Known Hazards: |
None known |
| Range: |
Europe, including Britain, from Sweden to the Mediterranean and east to S. W. Asia. |
| Habitat: |
Open woods, meadows and dry grasslands[9, 13], often on chalky soils[4]. |
| Edibility Rating (1-5): |
1 | Medicinal Rating (1-5): | 3 |
| Other Possible Synonyms: | From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below. |
| C. littorale[G,HPIC,L,P]
C. minus auct. non[P]
C. umbellatum auct. non[P]
Chironia littoralis[G]
Erythraea minus[H]
Gentiana centaurium[H]
|
| Other Common Names: | From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below. |
| Centaura Menor [E], Centaury [H,E,L], Centre Of The Sun [H], Echt Duizendguldenkruid [D], European Centaury [B,P], Kantaron [E], Seaside Centaury [L,P], |
| Systematics: | From a USDA Plants Database |
|
Order: Gentianales. Gentian family
|
| Other Range Info: |
From the Ethnobotany Database |
|
Europe
Spain Turkey
|
Physical Characteristics
Annual/Biennial growing to 0.25m by 0.15m . . It is in flower from June to October, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees, flies and beetles.
The plant is self-fertile.
We rate it 1/5 for edibility and
3/5 for medicinal use.
The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil.
The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils.
It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade.
It requires dry or moist soil.
Habitats and Possible Locations
Meadow, Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge.Edible Uses
Condiment.
The plant is used as a flavouring in bitter herbal liqueurs and is an
ingredient of vermouth[268].
Medicinal Uses
Disclaimer
Appetizer
Aromatic Bach Bitter Cholagogue Diaphoretic Digestive Emetic Febrifuge Hepatic Homeopathy Poultice Stomachic Tonic.
One of the most useful bitter herbs, centaury strengthens digestive
function, especially within the stomach[254]. By increasing stomach
secretions it hastens the breakdown of food, it also stimulates the appetite
and increases bile production[254]. The plant needs to be take over a number
of weeks and an infusion should be slowly sipped so that the components
(their bitterness can be detected at a dilution of 1:3,500) can stimulate
reflex activity throughout the upper digestive tract[254].
The whole herb is appetizer, aromatic, bitter, cholagogue, diaphoretic,
digestive, emetic, weakly febrifuge, hepatic, stomachic and tonic[9, 13, 21,
165, 268]. It acts on the liver and kidneys, purifies the blood and is an
excellent tonic for the digestive system[4, 238]. Externally, the fresh green
herb is said to be a good application to wounds and sores[4]. It is often
used in combination with other herbs such as camomile (Chamaemelum nobile),
meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) and marshmallow (Althaea officinalis)[238].
The whole plant is harvested when in flower and can be dried for later use[4,
238].
The plant is used in Bach flower remedies - the keywords for prescribing it
are 'Weak willed', 'Too easily influenced' and 'Willing servitors'[209].
A homeopathic remedy is made from the plant[9]. It is used in the treatment
of liver and gall bladder ailments[9]. We have a more details factsheet on the history and medicinal use of this plant. Email webmaster@pfaf.org for details.
Other Uses
Dye.
A long-lasting bright yellowish-green dye is obtained from the
flowers[13, 100].
Cultivation details
Prefers a well-drained sandy loam with some peat[1] and a sunny
position[238]. It avoids wet or rich soils[115].
Plants are not easy to grow in a garden[4].
The flowers only open in fine weather and close at midday[4].
Although the growing plant is scentless, if the cut stems are immersed in
warm water for 24 hours a most penetrating odour will be observed on
distillation[245].
A very variable plant, some botanists divide it into a number of separate
species[4].
Propagation
Seed - sow February to May in situ or as soon as it is ripe in
situ[17]. Germination is usually rapid.
Scent
-
Plant: Dried
- Although the growing plant is scentless, if the cut stems are immersed in warm water for 24 hours a most penetrating odour will be observed on distillation.
Suppliers
For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.
Web References
- Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
- [H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
- [B] Data
(Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
- [C] Taxon data.
from the CalFlora database.
- Images
from the CalPhoto database.
- [PHARM] Phytochemical Data
(common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
- [G] Data
(Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
- [P] Data.
(uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
- [V] Images
from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
- [HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
References for Centaurium littorale (a possible synonym).
- [G] Data
(Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
- [P] Data.
(uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
References for Centaurium minus (a possible synonym).
- [H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
References for Centaurium umbellatum (a possible synonym).
References for Erythraea centaurium (a possible synonym).
References for centaurium erythraea (a possible synonym).
References for centaurium littorale (a possible synonym).
References for the family Gentianaceae.
See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.
Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.
[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
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. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.
[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
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. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.
[100] Polunin. O. Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. Oxford University Press 1969 ISBN 0192176218
An excellent and well illustrated pocket guide for those with very large pockets. Also gives some details on plant uses.
[115] Johnson. C. P. The Useful Plants of Great Britain.
Written about a hundred years ago, but still a very good guide to the useful plants of Britain.
[165] Mills. S. Y. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
An excellent small herbal.
[209] Chancellor. P. M. Handbook of the Bach Flower Remedies C. W. Daniel Co. Ltd. 1985 ISBN 85207 002 0
Details the 38 remedies plus how and where to prescribe them.
[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
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.
[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.
[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.
[268] Stuart. M. (Editor) The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism Orbis Publishing. London. 1979 ISBN 0-85613-067-2
Excellent herbal with good concise information on over 400 herbs.
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Plant information taken from the
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