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Dorema ammoniacum

Common name:	Ammoniacum	Family:	Umbelliferae
Author:	D.Don.	Botanical references:	1, 74
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	W. Asia - Iran to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Habitat:	Loess loams in desert areas[74]. Dry rocky areas[238].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	3

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Ammoniacum [H], Ammoniak [E], Ammoniakum [P], Cadirusagi [E], False Sumbul [H], Gum Ammoniac [H], Zuh [E],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Apiales. Renamed to Apiaceae -- Carrot family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Europe France India Iran Turkey

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 2.5m by 1m . . The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 0/5 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 semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antispasmodic Carminative Diaphoretic Diuretic Expectorant Poultice Stimulant Vasodilator.

Ammoniacum has been used in Western herbal medicine for thousands of years and is still seen as an effective remedy for various complaints of the chest[254].
A gum resin is found in cavities in the tissues of stems, roots and petioles[4]. It often exudes naturally from holes in the stems caused by beetles[238] though this is not so pure as that obtained from the plant tissues[4]. The resin is antispasmodic, carminative, diaphoretic, mildly diuretic, expectorant, poultice, stimulant and vasodilator[4, 46, 64, 165, 238]. It is often used internally in the treatment of chronic bronchitis (especially in the elderly), asthma and catarrh[4, 238]. Externally, it is used as a plaster for swellings of the joints and indolent tumours[4, 238].
The resin exudes as a milky gum from holes made in the stems. This gum is pressed into blocks and then ground into a powder[254].

Other Uses

Porcelain Resin.

A medicinal gum or resin called 'Ammoniacum' is exuded from insect damaged stems[46, 61, 64, 174]. It is also used in perfumery and in porcelain cement[238] as well as for plasters[46, 61, 64, 174].

Cultivation details

Easily grown in an ordinary garden soil[1]. Prefers a well-drained to dry soil in a sunny position[238].
This species is not hardy in all parts of Britain, it tolerates temperatures down to at least -5° c[238].
A monocarpic species, growing for a number of years before it flowers but then dying after flowering[238]. It is said to produce viable seed in this country[238].

Propagation

Seed - sow in an outdoor seedbed in April[175]. It might be better to sow the seed in the autumn in a cold frame or greenhouse[K]. The seed germinates in 2 - 6 weeks at 15° c[175]. If seed is in short supply we would recommend sowing it in a pot in a cold frame and pricking out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring of the following year.

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

[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.

[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.

[64] Howes. F. N. Vegetable Gums and Resins. Faber
A very good book dealing with the subject in a readable way.

[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.

[165] Mills. S. Y. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
An excellent small herbal.

[174] Kariyone. T. Atlas of Medicinal Plants.
A good Japanese herbal.

[175] Bird. R. (Editor) Focus on Plants. Volume 5. (formerly 'Growing from seed') Thompson and Morgan. 1991
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. A good article on Corydalis spp.

[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.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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