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Chamaelirium luteum

Common name:	Blazing Star	Family:	Melanthiaceae
Author:	(L.)A.Gray.	Botanical references:	43, 200
Synonyms:	Veratrum luteum (L.), Helonias lutea, Helonias dioica, Chamaelirium carolinianum (Willd.)
Known Hazards:	This plant is a cardiac toxin in large quantities[4].
Range:	Eastern N. America - New York to Florida, west to Arkansas, Illinois and Michigan.
Habitat:	Low moist ground[4] in meadows, thickets and rich woods[43].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	3

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	C. obovale[B,P] Chamaelirion luteum[HORTIPLEX]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Fairywand [B,P], False Unicorn [E], False Unicorn Root [H], Fausse Unicorne [E], Helonias [E], Starwort [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	luteum = yellow
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Britain France Germany Netherlands Us Us(Amerindian) Us(Appalachia)

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.5m by 0.3m . It is hardy to zone 4. It is in flower from May to June. The flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required). The plant not is self-fertile. We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 3/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils. The plant prefers acid soils and can grow in very acid soil. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Adaptogen Diuretic Emetic Tonic Uterine tonic Vermifuge.

Blazing star is a traditional remedy of the North American Indians where it was used mainly as a woman's herb[254]. It is widely used in Western herbal medicine where it is seen as a balancing herb for the female reproductive system and has proved to be a beneficial remedy for menstrual problems and ovarian cysts - it can also be of help in the menopause[254].
The root is adaptogen, diuretic, emetic, uterine tonic and vermifuge[4, 46, 61, 105, 238]. Small doses of the dried and powdered root are used[222]. It is employed in the treatment of amenorrhoea, dysmenorrhoea and leucorrhoea[207] and also for a variety of ailments associated with the male and female reproductive organs[222]. It should be used with caution since an excess causes vomiting[238]. The root is harvested in the autumn and dried for later use[238].

We have a more details factsheet on the history and medicinal use of this plant. Email webmaster@pfaf.org for details.

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires a moist fertile humus-rich acidic soil in sun or light dappled shade[1, 200]. Prefers a cool peaty soil[233].

Propagation

Seed - sow as soon as it is ripe just below the surface of a peat/sand mix in pots in a cold frame[164]. Keep cool and moist. Germination usually takes place within 1 - 6 months at 10° c[164]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in pots plunged in a nursery bed for 1 - 2 years, giving protection from severe weather. Plant out in spring when the plants are large enough[164].
Division.

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
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany 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.
[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.
[S] Illustration from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine

References for Chamaelirion luteum (a possible synonym).

[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Chamaelirium carolinianum (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database

References for Helonias dioica (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.

References for Helonias lutea (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database

References for Veratrum luteum (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[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.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
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.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[164] Bird. R. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 4. Thompson and Morgan. 1990
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. A good article on Yuccas, one on Sagebrush (Artemesia spp) and another on Chaerophyllum bulbosum.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
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. Facts on File. 1993 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
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 J. M. Dent & Sons, London. 1990 ISBN 0 460 86048 8
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. 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.

[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.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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