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Opopanax chironium

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Species of flowering plant

Opopanax chironium
Opopanax chironium
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Apiaceae
Genus: Opopanax
Species: O. chironium
Binomial name
Opopanax chironium
(L.) W.D.J.Koch
Synonyms
List
  • Dorema chironium (L.) M.Hiroe
  • Laserpitium chironium L.
  • Malabaila opoponax Baill.
  • Malabaila orientalis Benth. & Hook.f. ex Arcang.
  • Maspeton chironium (L.) Raf.
  • Opopanax bulgaricus Velen.
  • Opopanax chironium subsp. bulgaricus (Velen.) N.Andreev
  • Opopanax glaber Bernh.
  • Opopanax opopanax (L.) H.Karst., not validly publ.
  • Pastinaca altissima Lam.
  • Pastinaca opopanax L.
  • Peucedanum opopanax (L.) M.Hiroe
  • Selinum opopanax (L.) Crantz
  • Siler chironium Crantz

Opopanax chironium, common name Hercules' all-heal, is a herb of the family Apiaceae.

Description

Opopanax chironium grows 1–3 metres (3 feet 3 inches – 9 feet 10 inches) high. This perennial herb has a branching stem, thick and rough close to the base. Leaves are serrate, pinnate, with long petioles. It produces a large, flat, yellow inflorescence at the top of the branches.

Distribution and habitat

The plant thrives in warm climates like Iran, Italy, Greece and Turkey, but also grows in cooler climates.

Uses

A gum resin (mostly gum) can be extracted from this plant by cutting at the base of a stem and sun-drying the juice that flows out. It has a strong unpleasant odor, unlike the perfumery's opopanax which is aromatic.

Flowers of Opopanax chironium

The resin has been used in the treatment of spasms, and, before that, as an emmenagogue, in the treatment of asthma, chronic visceral infections, hysteria and hypochondria. Opopanax resin is most frequently sold in dried irregular pieces, though tear-shaped gems are not uncommon.

References

  1. ^ "Opopanax chironium (L.) W.D.J.Koch". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  2. ^ "Opopanax chironium". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  3. ^ Remington, J.P.; Wood, H.C. (1918). The Dispensatory of the United States of America (20th ed.). Philadelphia & London: J.B. Lippincott Company. p. 1526.
  4. ^ "A Modern Herbal | Opoponax". botanical.com. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  5. "Opopònaco - Significato ed etimologia - Vocabolario". Treccani (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-11-03.

Further reading

  • Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964–1980. Flora Europaea.

External links

Taxon identifiers
Opopanax chironium
Category: