Cruciform milkweed

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Cruciform milkweed
Euphorbia lathyris - illustration by Jacob Sturm

Euphorbia lathyris - illustration by Jacob Sturm

Systematics
Rosids
Eurosiden I
Order : Malpighiales (Malpighiales)
Family : Spurge Family (Euphorbiaceae)
Genre : Spurge ( Euphorbia )
Type : Cruciform milkweed
Scientific name
Euphorbia lathyris
L.
Adult plant with fruit clusters
Euphorbia lathyris
Growing plant

The cruciferous milkweed ( Euphorbia lathyris ) is a species of plant in the genus Wolfsmilch ( Euphorbia ) from the family of the milkweed family (Euphorbiaceae).

Naming

The meaning of the botanical name is not clear. Lathyris possibly refers to the toxicity of the plants and the symptoms of poisoning caused, as they are also caused by some species of the genus of the flat peas ( Lathyrus ). The German name describes the typical cross-opposed leaf position of this milkweed species. Other common German names are Hexenmilch, Teufelsmilch, Poisonmilch, Spechtwurzel, Springkraut (-Wolfsmilch), Springwurz (el), Springwolfsmilch, Ruhrkraut, Vierzeilige Wolfsmilch, Spicy Wolfsmilch, Brachwurz, Wühlmauswolfsmilch and Wartenkraut.

description

The cruciferous milkweed is an evergreen , biennial , herbaceous plant that can reach heights of up to 1 m, but usually remains smaller. The stem , which is up to 2 cm thick, is usually unbranched or only branches after an injury. The sessile, crosswise opposite leaves are linear at the base , up to 15 cm long and have a characteristic central nerve. Further up the stem, the leaves become shorter and triangular.

In the second year of life, a terminal inflorescence , a two- to four-rayed sham - umbel, is formed over a whorl of four leaves . The bracts are yellowish green to yellow. The nectar glands of the cyathia are yellow to (rarely) purple, about semicircular and have two horn- to club-shaped extensions with mostly widened ends. The smooth, three-chamber capsule fruits have a diameter of 8 to 10 mm. The flattened egg-shaped, 4 to 6 mm long seeds carry an appendage ( caruncula ).

The flowering period extends from June to August, depending on the location.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 20.

ecology

The cruciate milkweed is biennial or winter annual. Despite the herbaceous nature of the plant, its renewal buds are more than 50 cm above the ground, which is a rare exception. There are "spring fruits" that are subject to self-spread as desiccant spreaders. The spreading range is up to over 3 m. The species is also transported with garden waste. The seeds contain 40–50% fatty oil. The abundant flowing latex contains 8–12% hydrocarbons as terpenes .

Toxicity

The cruciferous milkweed is poisonous. The main active ingredients are ingenol and ingeol esters . Ingenol and its derivatives can cause inflammation with edema and hyperplasia on the skin .

distribution

This species originally comes from Asia (from Georgia to Iran and Kazakhstan to Tibet ), but has long been naturalized in the Mediterranean region . In Central Europe it is often found in gardens and sometimes overgrown from it. According to R. Govaerts, the homeland is the area between Central Asia and Pakistan.

Cultivation and Use

The plants are usually biennial, with some forms and / or sometimes annual in some locations . As an ornamental plant , the cruciferous milkweed is particularly popular because of its fractal habit. Its alleged effect against voles is partially true. Voles and moles seem to keep their distance, at least in a closer radius of about 3 - 4 meters.

Cruciform milkweed has drawn interest in oleochemistry because of the exceptionally high oleic acid content of its seeds . Its seeds, like those of several other species, used to be used as laxatives , but in higher doses led to severe poisoning and sometimes even death. With the inflammation -inducing latex also previously warts and corns treated.

Cultural history

The so-called spring root was used in the past as a magic plant for magical purposes. According to popular belief, with their help one can find hidden treasures and open doors. Wilhelm von Grumbach , who was inclined to the supernatural, used this tempting quality to secure the allegiance of Duke Johann Friedrich of Saxony . During the Christmas tragedy in Jena , a treasure-guarding white woman was killed with the help of a spring root and Dr. Faustus' magic book " Höllenzwang " conjured up. In the concise dictionary of German superstition it is said that consecrated bread , raven stone and spring root could help a prisoner to freedom. Spurge was supposedly one of the ingredients of so-called witch ointments . In 1857 Georg Friedrich Krich dealt with the oil of the plant in his dissertation Experimenta quaedam pharmacologicae de oleis Ricini, Crotonis et Euphorbiae Lathyridis (some pharmacological experiments on castor oil, croton oil and the oil of cruciferous milkweed). This is interesting in terms of the history of science, since the work is based directly on Rudolf Buchheim's work, who first created pharmacology as a subject sui generis. The milkweed is one of the ingredients in the ballad of the blasphemous tongues by Paul Zech , which is known from the reading by Klaus Kinski and was set to music by Umbra et Imago .

literature

  • Carl von Linné: Euphorbia lathyris, Species Plantarum (ed. 1) : 457
  • Erich Hecker, Sigrid Sosath: Spurge plants (Euphorbiaceen) as renewable resources in oleochemistry - current bio-organic analysis and prognostic preventive toxicology . In: European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology. 91 (12), pp. 468-478.
  • Ruprecht Düll , Herfried Kutzelnigg : Pocket dictionary of plants in Germany and neighboring countries. The most common Central European species in portrait. 7th, corrected and enlarged edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-494-01424-1 .
  • Lutz Roth, Max Daunderer, Karl Kormann: Poisonous plants plant poisons. 6th revised edition. Nikol-Verlag, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86820-009-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . 8th edition. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 . Page 637.
  2. ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Euphorbia lathyris. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  3. ↑ Christian Rätsch: Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants . 7th edition. AT Verlag, Aarau / Switzerland 2004, ISBN 3-85502-570-3 , p. 753 .

Web links

Commons : Cruciform Spurge ( Euphorbia lathyris )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files