Tag: Pseudanthium

Centaurea solstitalis

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Botanical Name : Centaurea solstitalis
Family:   Asteraceae
Tribe:   Cynareae
Genus:   Centaurea
Species:C. solstitialis
Kingdom:Plantae
Order:   Asterales

Synonym: St. Barnaby’s Thistle.

Common Names: yellow star-thistle, golden starthistle, yellow cockspur and St. Barnaby’s thistle (or Barnaby thistle)

Habitat : Centaurea solstitalis is native to the Mediterranean Basin region. It grows on cultivated land and waste ground.

Description:
Centaurea solstitalis forms a scrubby bush, 18 inches to 2 feet high, with the lower part of the stems very stiff, almost woody, the branches when young very soft, with broad wings, decurrent from the short, strap-shaped leaves. The lower leaves are deeply cut into, the upper ones narrow and with entire margins. The spines of the flower-heads are very long, 1/2 inch to 1 inch in length, pale yellow. The whole plant is hoary.
CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

This plant obtains its name from being supposed to flower about St. Barnabas’ Day, June 11 (old style).

During the vegetative stage if forms a rosette of non-spiny leaves (5–20 cm diameter). As the summer approaches, it produces a flowering stem (1 m) which will produce numerous spinous capitula containing numerous (10-50) yellow flowers. Flowers within capitula are pollinated by insects and each capitula will produce a mix of (10-50) pappus and non-pappus seeds. It is an annual semelparous species, and will die after reproduction is completed, normally by the end of the summer.
Cultivation:
Succeeds in ordinary garden soil. Prefers a well-drained fertile soil and a sunny position. Tolerates dry, low fertility and alkaline soils. A good bee and butterfly plant the flowers are rich in nectar. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer.

Propagation:
Seed – sow April in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out into their permanent positions in the summer. If you have sufficient seed it can be sown in situ in the spring, and an autumn swing in situ might also be worth trying.

Edible Uses: The plant is eaten as a vegetable. The part used is not specified.

Medicinal Uses:
Parts Used: Herb, seeds, root

It has been used for the same purposes as the Common Star Thistle. Many species of Centaurea grow wild in Palestine, some of formidable size. Canon Tristram mentions some in Galilee through which it was impossible to make way till the plants had been beaten down. ‘Thistle’ mentioned several times in the Bible refers to some member of this family (Centaurea), probably C. Calcitrapa, which is a Palestinian weed.

The powdered seed is used as a remedy for stone. The powdered root is said to be a cure for fistula and gravel.

Known Hazards: There is a report that the plant causes brain lesions and a nervous syndrome called ‘chewing disease’ in horses.

Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaurea_solstitialis
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/t/thistl11.html#com

http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Centaurea+solstitialis

Tags Barnabas, Botanical name, Centaurea, Centaurea solstitialis, Common Name, Galilee, Mediterranean Basin, Pseudanthium

Herbs & Plants

Graphalium uliginosum

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Botanical Name: Graphalium uliginosum
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Gnaphalium
Species: G. uliginosum
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Asterales

Synonyms: Cotton Weed. March Everlasting.

Common Name:Marsh Cudweed

Habitat:Graphalium uliginosum is found in the British Isles and Europe. It grows in marshy places in most parts of Europe.

Description:
Graphalium uliginosum is a very wooly annual plant, growing 4–20 cm tall.

The leaves are wooly on both sides. They are 1 to 5 cm long, narrow oblong shaped.

The flower heads are 3 to 4 mm long. They are arranged in clusters of 3 to 10, surrounded by long leaves. The flower head bracts are wooly, and pale below, with dark chaffy hairless tips. The florets are brownish yellow. The stigmas are pale.

It flowers from July until September.
Fruits: Achenes small, nerveless.

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Stalk branched, diffused; flowers crowded, termina tiny; leaves elliptical, tapering into a long foot-stalk, slightly downy and greenish above, whitish and more downy underneath. The ends of the branches crowded with nurnerous heads of nearly sessile flowers which appear in August.

Medicinal Uses:
Part Used: Herb.
Quinsy, gargle astringent, infusion 1 OZ. to 1 pint boiling water taken internally in wineglassful; also used as a gargle.

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnaphalium_uliginosum
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/c/cudwe126.html

Tags Annual plant, Asterales, Botanical name, British Isles, Gnaphalium, Graphalium, Plant, Pseudanthium, Wool

Herbs & Plants

Arrowleaf Balsamroot

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Botanical Name :Arrowleaf Balsamroot

Family: Asteraceae
Tribe: Heliantheae
Genus: Balsamorhiza
Species: B. sagittata
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Asterales

Common Name :Balsamorrhiza sagittata

Habitat : Arrowleaf Balsamroot is native to much of western North America from British Columbia to California to the Dakotas, where it grows in many types of habitat from mountain forests to grassland to desert scrub. It is drought tolerant.

Description:
Arrowleaf Balsamroot is a taprooted perennial herb growing a hairy, glandular stem 20 to 60 centimeters tall. The branching, barky root may extend over two meters deep into the soil. The basal leaves are generally triangular in shape and are large, approaching 50 centimeters in maximum length. Leaves farther up the stem are linear to narrowly oval in shape and smaller. The leaves have untoothed edges and are coated in fine to rough hairs, especially on the undersides.

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The inflorescence bears one or more flower heads. Each head has a center of long yellowish tubular disc florets and a fringe of bright yellow ray florets, each up to 4 centimeters long. The fruit is a hairless achene about 8 millimeters long. Grazing animals find the plant palatable, especially the flowers and developing seed heads.

Edible Uses: All of the plant can be eaten. It can be bitter and pine-like in taste. The seeds were particularly valuable as food or used for oil

Medicinal Uses:
The root of the plant is sometimes used as an expectorant and mild immunostimulant. Native Americans used the sticky sap as a topical antiseptic for minor wounds. Medicinally, the Indians used the large coarse Balsamroot leaves as a poultice for burns. The roots were boiled and the solution was applied as a poultice for wounds, cuts and bruises. Indians also drank a tea from the roots for tuberculosis and whooping cough. As an antibacterial the tincture may be applied to infections and hard to heal wounds. The tincture of the root and bark may be used internally or externally for bacterial problems. Perhaps the most common use for arrowleaf balsamroot is as an immune system enhancer. Use the tincture as you would Echinacea, taking 1 tsp. twice daily to strengthen the immune system.
Many Native American groups, including the Nez Perce, Kootenai, Cheyenne, and Salish, utilized the plant as a food and medicine.

Disclaimer:The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balsamorhiza_sagittata
http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_AB.htm
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/images/arrowleafbalsamroot/balsamorhiza_sagittata_lg.jpg

Artemisia frigida (findmeacure.com)
Eriophyllum confertiflorum (findmeacure.com)
Sunflowers (arozinov.wordpress.com)
Helenium amarum (findmeacure.com)
Persicaria amphibia (findmeacure.com)
Desert willow (findmeacure.com)
Echinacea (arozinov.wordpress.com)
Grindelia nuda var. aphanactis (findmeacure.com)
Trillium sessile (findmeacure.com)
Cleome serrulata (findmeacure.com)

Tags Advanced Encryption Standard, Alternation of generations, Architectural Digest, Asteraceae, Autumn leaf color, Bacillus subtilis, Balsamorhiza, British Columbia, California, Dakotas, Echinacea, Head (botany), Leaf, Native Americans in the United States, Plant, Pseudanthium, South Africa

Herbs & Plants

Mountain Dandelion (Agoseris glauca)

Post author By Mukul
Post date March 18, 2010
No Comments on Mountain Dandelion (Agoseris glauca)

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Botanical Name :Agoseris glauca
Family : Compositae/Asteraceae
Subfamily: Cichorioideae
Genus: Agoseris

Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Asterales
Tribe: Cichorieae
Species: A. glauca

Synonyms : Agoseris villosa – Rydb. Troxicum glaucum – Pursh.

Other common names: Mountain Dandelion ,false dandelion,pale agoseris and prairie agoseris.

Habitat : It is native to northern and western North America from Alaska to Ontario to New Mexico, where it grows in many habitat types. Western N. America – British Columbia to Manitoba, south to California and New Mexico. Meadows and other open places at all elevations in moderately dry to moist or even wet soils.

Description: –
Agoseris glauca is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family .This is a perennial herb which varies in general appearance. It produces a basal patch of leaves of various shapes which may be as long as the plant is high. There is no stem but the plant flowers in a stemlike inflorescence which is sometimes erect, reaching heights near half a meter or taller. The flower head is one to three centimeters wide with layers of pointed phyllaries. The head is ligulate, bearing many yellow ray florets and no disc florets. The fruit is an achene with a body up to a centimeter long and a pappus which may be almost 2 centimeters in lengt

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

It is hardy to zone 0. It is in flower from May to June, and the seeds ripen from June to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects.
The plant prefers light (sandy) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Varieties:-
Agoseris glauca var. dasycephala
Agoseris glauca var. glauca

Cultivation:–
Prefers full sun and a sandy or gravelly loam low in nutrients. The sub-species A. glauca villosa is used for its gum.

Propagation:-
Seed – sow spring in a greenhouse. The seed usually germinates in 2 – 6 weeks at 15°c. As soon as the seedlings are large enough to handle, prick them out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer or late in the following spring. Division with care in spring. The plants do not like a lot of root disturbance so it is best to pot up the divisions and keep them in a cold frame or greenhouse until they are established.

Edible Uses:-
Edible Uses: Gum.

The solidified sap (latex) of the stem is chewed as a gum.

Medicinal Actions & Uses:-

Laxative; Poultice; Warts.

The following reports refer to the sub-species A. glauca dasycephala (Torr.&Gray.)Jepson. An infusion of the entire plant is used as a wash for sores and rashes. The milky latex is applied to warts in order to remove them. This requires constant applications over a period of weeks for it to be effective. A poultice made from the latex is applied to sores. An infusion of the root is used as a laxative.

Disclaimer:The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Other Uses
Latex.

A latex in the plant contains rubber, but not in sufficient quantities to make it commercially valuable.

Resources:
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Agoseris+glauca

Click to access Agoseris_glauca.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agoseris_glauca

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