Bitter candytuft
| Bitter candytuft | ||||||||||||
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Bitter candytuft |
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| Iberis amara | ||||||||||||
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The bitter candytuft ( Iberis amara ), also known as Bitter Bauer mustard referred to, is a plant species that for the genus of Iberis ( Iberis ) in the family of the Brassicaceae part (Brassicaceae). The specific epithet amara is derived from the Latin word amarus for bitter and indicates its strongly bitter-tasting ingredients.
description
The bitter candytuft is usually a one-year , rarely biennial herbaceous plant . The upright, up to 40 cm high and mostly branched stem has short hairs. The leaves are wedge-shaped to spatulate and blunt-toothed.
The inflorescence is initially umbelliferous , later elongated. The fragrant flowers are white, rarely pale purple. The flowering period is between May and August. The unevenly large petals are 3 to 10 mm long. Almost circular pods (4 to 7 mm long, 4 to 6 mm wide) are formed as fruits on protruding stems.
The species has chromosome number 2n = 14.
Occurrence, ecology and endangerment
The bitter candytuft is a western and southern European species that has its eastern border in western central Europe. It is originally found in Spain, France, Italy, England, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. In Eastern, Southeastern and Northern Europe, in North and South America and in New Zealand it is a neophyte. Preference is given to colonizing warm, dry, calcareous and stony loamy soils. The species (an archaeophyte ), which used to play a role in Germany as a field weed , is only found sporadically in the Rhine-Main area at ruderal locations and is threatened with extinction in Germany (but not across Europe).
In Central Europe it is a character species of the Adonido-Iberidetum amarae from the Caucalidion lappulae association; seldom it occurs in Sisymbrion societies or occurs as a feral ornamental plant on rubble sites.
Taxonomy
The scientific name Iberis amara was first published in 1753 by Carl von Linné in Species Plantarum .
Ingredients and pharmacological use
The slightly poisonous bitter candytuft contains mustard oil glycosides , flavonols (including quercetin and kaempferol ) and very bitter-tasting cucurbitacins . Because of its bitter taste, it has stimulating effects on gastric and biliary secretion; it also has antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory properties.
The bitter candytuft is no longer used medicinally today, but its fresh plant extracts, along with other active ingredients, are an essential component of some ready-to-use preparations. Indications are gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable stomach, irritable bowel syndrome, cramps, inflammation of the mucous membranes, stomach ulcers, indigestion and nausea.
The seeds have the highest cucurbitacin content in the whole plant. They are used in homeopathy for heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias and to strengthen the heart after acute illnesses and operations.
Other use
Large-flowered varieties of the bitter candytuft are occasionally used as a garden ornament, along with other species of the genus Iberis .
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literature
- Martin Hanf: color atlas field flora: wild herbs and weeds. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-8001-4074-8 .
- Oskar Sebald, Siegmund Seybold, Georg Philippi (Hrsg.): The fern and flowering plants of Baden-Württemberg . tape 2 : Special part (Spermatophyta, subclass Dilleniidae): Hypericaceae to Primulaceae . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1990, ISBN 3-8001-3312-1 .
- Ingrid Schönfelder, Peter Schönfelder : The new manual of medicinal plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-440-09387-5 .
- Gottfried-Wilhelm Bischoff: Textbook of botany. Volume 3, Part 1 Special Botany. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, 1840, p. 383, digitized
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . 8th edition. Page 446. Stuttgart, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, 2001. ISBN 3-8001-3131-5
- ^ Iberis in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
- ↑ Carl von Linné: Species Plantarum. Volume 2, Lars Salvius, Stockholm 1753, p. 649 ( digitized version ).
Web links
- Bitter candytuft. In: FloraWeb.de.
- Distribution map for Germany. In: Floraweb .
- Iberis amara L. In: Info Flora , the national data and information center for Swiss flora .
- Thomas Meyer: Data sheet with identification key and photos at Flora-de: Flora von Deutschland (old name of the website: Flowers in Swabia )
- The species as a medicinal plant .