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Chelidonium majus
| Common name: |
Greater Celandine |
Family: |
Papaveraceae |
| Author: |
L. |
Botanical references: |
17, 200 |
| 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]. |
| Range: |
Most of Europe, including Britain, east to N. Asia. |
| Habitat: |
Rubble, damp ground, banks, hedgerows and by walls[7, 17], nearly always close to human habitations[4]. |
| Edibility Rating (1-5): |
2 | Medicinal Rating (1-5): | 3 |
| Other Common Names: | From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below. |
| Celandine [H,E], Celandine, Greater [S], Celidonia [E], Common Celandine [H], Garden Celandine [H], Greater Celandine [B,L,H,S,P], Kelta Ruoho [E], Kirlangicotu [E], Kusanowo [E], Otompui Kina [E], Schelkraut [E], Stinkende Gouwe [D], Svalert [E], |
| Systematics: | From a USDA Plants Database |
|
Order: Papaverales. Poppy family
|
| Other Range Info: |
From the Ethnobotany Database |
|
Austria
Britain China Estonia Europe Finland Germany Germany(Badan) Guatemala Japan(Ainu) Lithuania Morocco Norway Spain Spain(Balearic I) Turkey Uruguay Us Us(Amerindian) Ussr
|
Physical Characteristics
Perennial growing to 0.5m by 0.4m 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 July to September. The 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 2/5 for edibility and
3/5 for medicinal use.
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.
Habitats and Possible Locations
Woodland, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge, Deep Shade, Walls, Ground Cover.Edible Uses
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
Disclaimer
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]. We have a more details factsheet on the history and medicinal use of this plant. Email webmaster@pfaf.org for details.
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].
Suppliers
For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.
PFAF Web Pages
This plant is mentioned in the following web pages
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
- [L] Scientific and Common Names (some photos)
from Lepidoptera and some other life forms
- [E] Ethnobotany Data
(common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
- [V] Images
from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
- [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.
- [S] Image
from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
- [S] Image
from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
- [G] Data
(Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
- [PHARM] Phytochemical Data
(common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
- [P] Data.
(uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
- [HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
References for chelidonium majus (a possible synonym).
References for the family Papaveraceae.
See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.
Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.
[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 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.
[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.
[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.
[10] Altmann. H. Poisonous Plants and Animals. Chatto and Windus 1980 ISBN 0-7011-2526-8
A small book, reasonable but not very detailed.
[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.
[19] Stary. F. Poisonous Plants. Hamlyn 1983 ISBN 0-600-35666-3
Not very comprehensive, but easy reading.
[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
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. 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.
[65] Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. Wolfe 1984 ISBN 0723408394
Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far.
[74] Komarov. V. L. Flora of the USSR. Israel Program for Scientific Translation 1968
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. Collingridge 1926
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. 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.
[165] Mills. S. Y. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
An excellent small herbal.
[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
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. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre 1977
A translation of an ancient Chinese book on edible wild foods. Fascinating.
[187] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Perennials Volumes 1 and 2. Pan Books 1991 ISBN 0-330-30936-9
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. 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.
[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
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 Collins 1983 ISBN 0-00-219220-0
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. 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.
[244] Phillips. R. & Foy. N. Herbs Pan Books Ltd. London. 1990 ISBN 0-330-30725-8
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 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
Plants For A Future -
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Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963 This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Chelidonium+majus
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