Mercurialis perennis
Mercuriale vivace
Dog’s Mercury
Additional information
| Plant family | |
|---|---|
| Area | Provence Verte |
| Flower colour | green |
| Flower size | 4-5 mm |
| Flowering months | April, May |
| Leaf type | Lanceolate, Elliptic |
| Height | 20-40 cm |
Description
A woodland plant with a creeping rootstock, carpeting large areas. The roots when dried turn blue, losing its toxicity through drying or boiling.
Dioscorides administered tinctures of the male flowers to produce a male child and the female flowers to produce a female child.
Flowers
The female and male flowers are on separate plants, the anthersupper fertile part of the stamen containing the pollen make the male flowers appear yellow.
Leaves
Lanceolate leaf is lance-shaped: long and widest in the middle, Elliptic oval leaf. Long, wider in the middle, pointed to oval, with serrated margins, opposite on the stem, with stalks.
Fruits Seeds
Capsule: with fine hairs in two valves, 7 mm.
Medical
Long medicinal history going back to ancient Greece and its famous doctor and botanist Dioscorides. No longer used today.
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