Potentilla erecta
| Potentilla erecta | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Rosaceae |
| Genus: | Potentilla |
| Species: | P. erecta |
| Binomial name | |
| Potentilla erecta Uspenski ex Ledeb. | |
Potentilla erecta (syn. Tormentilla erecta, Potentilla tormentilla, known as the (common) tormentil or septfoil[1]) is a herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the rose family (Rosaceae).
Characteristics
Potentilla erecta is a low, clumb-forming plant with slender, procumbent to arcuately upright stalks, growing 10–30 centimetres (3.9–11.8 in). tall and with non-rooting runners. It grows wild all over Asia and northern Europe, mostly in a wide variety of habitats, such as clearings, meadows, sandy soils and dunes.
This plant is flowering from May to August/September. There is one yellow, 7–11 millimetres (0.28–0.43 in) wide flower, growing at the tip of a long stalk. There are almost always four notched petals, each with a length between 3 and 6 mm. Four petals are rather uncommon in the rose family. The petals are somewhat longer than the sepals. There are 20–25 stamens.
The glossy leaves are pinnately compound. The radical leaves have a long petiole, while the leaves on the stalks are usually sessile and have sometimes shorter petioles. Each leaf consists of three obovate leaflets with serrate leaf margins. The stipules are leaflike and palmately lobed.
There are 2–8 dry, inedible fruits.
Environmental impact
It is a component of purple moor grass and rush pastures – a type of Biodiversity Action Plan habitat in the UK. It occurs on poorly drained neutral and acidic soils of the lowlands and upland fringe. It is found in the South West of England, especially in Devon. It has also been catalogued as part of the British National Vegetation Classification community M25 (Molinia caerulea–Potentilla erecta mire).
Uses
The rhizomatous root is thick. It is inappropriate to be used for food due to extreme bitterness and low caloric value. It can be used as a vegetable dye to dye leather red.
The plant is particularly used in herbal medicine as an astringent because of its tannin content,[citation needed] which is unusually high for an herbaceous plant. This is linked to its use as a red dye, which is due to the structurally similar phlobaphene content.[2] Phlobaphenes can be extracted from the root of the common tormentil and is known as tormentil red, alongside the triterpene alcohol tormentol. The plant has extremely low toxicity, which was stidied by Sergei Shushunov and his team.[3] The roots are a main ingredient of a bitter liqueur from Bavaria and the Black Forest area, called Blutwurz.[4] It is also a main ingredient of anti-diarrheal preparation manufactured in the US by Lev Laboratories under the name Quicklyte.[5]
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References
- ↑ Septfoil - definition of Septfoil by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia
- ↑ Lund, K. and Rimpler, H. (1985) Deutsche Apotheke Zeitung 125 (3), 105.
- ↑ Shushunov S, Balashov L; Kravtsova A, Krasnogorsky I, Latté KP, Vasiliev A (October 2009). Determination of acute toxicity of the aqueous extract of Potentilla erecta (Tormentil) rhizomes in rats and mice 12 (5). Journal of Medical Food. pp. 1173–6. doi:10.1089/jmf.2008.0281.
- ↑ "Blutwurz". Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Forsten. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
- ↑ Sergei Shushunov QuickLyte™ - Herbal Diarrhea Remedy
External links
Media related to Potentilla erecta at Wikimedia Commons