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Vincetoxicum hirundinaria

Common name:	Swallow Wort	Family:	Asclepiadaceae
Author:	Medik.	Botanical references:	1, 50, 200
Synonyms:	Vincetoxicum officinale (Moench.), Cynanchum vincetoxicum ((L.) Pers.)
Known Hazards:	The plant is poisonous[51].
Range:	Europe to E. Asia.
Habitat:	Wood margins and open places, north to latitude 60° 30' north in Europe[50].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Asclepias vincetoxicum[G] Cynanchum vicetoxicum[E]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Panzehirotu [E], Schwalbenwurz [E], Swallowwort [E], Vencetosigo [E], Vincetoxicum [L], White Swallow-wort [B], White Swallowwort [P], Witte Engbloem [D],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Gentianales. Milkweed family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Europe Germany Spain Turkey

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1m. . It is in flower in May. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 1/5 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 moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Diaphoretic Diuretic Emetic Skin.

Diaphoretic, diuretic, emetic[4, 61]. Used in the treatment of dropsy[4]. The juice of the plant is applied to boils and pimples[272].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Succeeds in ordinary garden soil[1].
A polymorphic species.

Propagation

Seed - we have no information on this species but suggest sowing the seed in a greenhouse in spring. When they are large enough to handle, prick out the seedlings into individual pots and grow them on in a lightly shaded position in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Division in spring.

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]
[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

References for Cynanchum vicetoxicum (a possible synonym).

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.

References for Cynanchum vincetoxicum (a possible synonym).

[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.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for Vincetoxicum officinale (a possible synonym).

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.

References for vincetoxicum hirundinaria (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

References for the family Asclepiadaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

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.

[50] ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964
An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.

[51] Polunin. O. and Stainton. A. Flowers of the Himalayas. Oxford Universtiy Press 1984
A very readable and good pocket guide (if you have a very large pocket!) to many of the wild plants in the Himalayas. Gives many examples of plant uses.

[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.

[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.

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
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
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?Vincetoxicum+hirundinaria
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Vincetoxicum+hirundinaria

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