Medicinal root

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Medicinal root
Heilwurz (Seseli libanotis)

Heilwurz ( Seseli libanotis )

Systematics
Order : Umbelliferae (Apiales)
Family : Umbelliferae (Apiaceae)
Subfamily : Apioideae
Tribe : Selineae
Genre : Mountain fennel ( seseli )
Type : Medicinal root
Scientific name
Seseli libanotis
( L. ) WDJKoch

The medicinal herb ( Seseli libanotis ), more precisely called the mountain medicinal herb, is a plant species within the umbelliferae family (Apiaceae). It is widespread in Eurasia and North Africa.

description

Illustration from storm

Vegetative characteristics

The medicinal root is a deciduous two to perennial (up to 8 years) herbaceous plant and reaches heights of up to 1.5 meters. It dies after seed formation. The vegetative parts of the plant above ground are bare. The richly branched stem is only slightly hairy below the inflorescences. The leaf blades are single to double pinnate, the pinnate sections ovate-lanceolate, narrowed at the base wedge-shaped and prickly.

Generative characteristics

The flowering period extends from June to August. The umbellate inflorescence contains 20 to 40 umbilicals. Like the flower stalks, the stalks of the ciliate are more or less closely spaced. The flowers are hermaphroditic. The sepals are up to 1 millimeter long and ciliate on the edge. The petals are white.

The fruit is up to 4 millimeters long, about twice as long as it is wide and densely covered with protruding hairs ( trichomes ).

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 22 or 44.

ecology

The medicinal root is a hemicryptophyte .

There is pollination by insects or self-pollination .

The diaspores spread by the wind or Velcro.

Occurrence

The medicinal herb is widespread in Eurasia and North Africa. In Europe it occurs from southern Europe ( Iberian Peninsula , Apennines , Balkans ) north to south-east England , southern Norway , the Baltic Sea region. It occurs rarely to scattered in Central Europe .

In Germany the medicinal herb occurs very scattered or rarely in the central and southern part of the area. It is also rarely found in the Baltic Sea region.

Seseli libanotis grows in thermophilic perennial communities in Germany. It thrives best on sunny to slightly shaded, moderately dry, calcareous, basic soils . It is a character species of the Geranion-sanguinei association.

Seseli libanotis seems quite extraordinary under kick to suffer. Perhaps this is related to the one-time flowering and the necessary rejuvenation through seedlings in this context. There is no medicinal root on rock surfaces that are often used by climbers, for example.

Systematics

In the Austrian excursion flora of 2008, two subspecies are distinguished, other authors use synonyms:

  • Seseli libanotis (L.) WDJKoch subsp. libanotis : It occurs scattered on dry, rough meadows, in strips of lawn in the rock and on rocky slopes in the montane to subalpine and partly in the alpine altitude level in the federal states of Carinthia , Lower Austria , Upper Austria , Salzburg , Styria and Tyrol .
  • Seseli libanotis subsp. intermedium (Rupr.) PWBall : It occurs scattered but locally often on dry rough meadows, on semi-ruderal semi-arid grassland and in dry bush edges in the colline to submontane altitude range in the federal states of Vienna , Burgenland and Lower Austria . The occurrences are limited to the Pannonian area .

Medical use

The medicinal root or frankincense mountain fennel ( Seseli libanotis ) was already used in antiquity as a remedy (for example in the Materia medica of Pedanios Dioscorides , for example as a menstruation-promoting / fruit-expelling agent, for uterine cramps, shortness of breath, chronic cough, abdominal pain, bowel disease, fever, recidivism and as warming) recommended. Because of the risk of confusion with other, sometimes highly poisonous umbellifers such as the hemlock species, we advise against using wild plants that you have collected yourself.

photos

  • Double-gold inflorescences

  • The stalk has a noticeably strong angular furrow

  • Foliage with more or less triangular tips

  • The first-order plumage is sessile and therefore the lowest second-order plumage forms a striking cross

  • Herbarium evidence of the stem leaf

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Seseli libanotis (L.) Koch, Berg-Heilwurz. In: FloraWeb.de.
  2. ↑ a b Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp.  713 .
  3. ^ Manfred A. Fischer, Karl Oswald, Wolfgang Adler: Excursion flora for Austria, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol . 3rd, improved edition. Province of Upper Austria, Biology Center of the Upper Austrian State Museums, Linz 2008, ISBN 978-3-85474-187-9 , p. 844 .
  4. ↑ Christina Becela-Deller: Ruta graveolens L. A medicinal plant in terms of art and cultural history. (Mathematical and natural scientific dissertation Würzburg 1994) Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 1998 (= Würzburg medical-historical research. Volume 65). ISBN 3-8260-1667-X , p. 234.
  5. ↑ Landschaftspflegeverband Würzburg e. V.

literature

  • Henning Haeupler, Thomas Muer: picture atlas of the fern and flowering plants of Germany . Ed .: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (=  The fern and flowering plants of Germany . Volume 2 ). Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2000, ISBN 3-8001-3364-4 .
  • Wolfgang Adler, Karl Oswald, Raimund Fischer: Excursion flora of Austria . Ed .: Manfred A. Fischer. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart / Vienna 1994, ISBN 3-8001-3461-6 .
  • Christian Heitz: School and excursion flora for Switzerland. Taking into account the border areas. Identification book for wild growing vascular plants . Founded by August Binz. 18th completely revised and expanded edition. Schwabe & Co., Basel 1986, ISBN 3-7965-0832-4 .
  • Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora . With the collaboration of Theo Müller. 6th, revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1990, ISBN 3-8001-3454-3 .
  • Konrad von Weihe (ed.): Illustrated flora. Germany and neighboring areas. Vascular cryptogams and flowering plants . Founded by August Garcke. 23rd edition. Paul Parey, Berlin / Hamburg 1972, ISBN 3-489-68034-0 .

Web links

Commons : Heilwurz ( Seseli libanotis )  - album with pictures, videos and audio files