Arnica montana
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Arnica montana | ||||||||||||||
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Arnica montana L. |
Arnica montana (also known as leopard's bane, wolf's bane, mountain tobacco and mountain arnica),[1] is a European flowering plant with large yellow capitula.
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[edit] Distribution and habitat
A. montana is endemic to Europe, from southern Iberia to southern Scandinavia and the Carpathians. It is absent from the British Isles and the Italian and Balkan Peninsulas. A. montana grows in nutrient-poor silcaceous meadows up to nearly 3000 m. It is rare overall, but may be locally abundant. It is becoming rarer, particularly in the north of its distribution, largely due to increasingly intensive agriculture. In more upland regions, it may also be found on nutrient-poor moors and heaths.
[edit] Form
A. montana has tall stems (20–60 cm), supporting usually a single flower head. Most of the leaves are in a basal rosette, but one or two pairs may be found on the stem and are, unusually for composites, opposite. The flower heads are yellow, approximately 5 cm in diameter, and appear from May to August. It is used in homeopathy for traumatic injuries.