Celandine,Swallowwort:Celandine is named after the Greek word for the swallow, because it starts flowering when the birds arrive and stops when they leave.

Chelidonium majus Botanical Description.

Greater Calandine Herb Extract INCI Name Chelidonium Majus Extract CAS:84603-56-5 EINECS ELINCS No 283-257-3 Celandine extract Swallowwort extract Tetterwort extract photo picture image Identification Notes:

life cycle - biennial, reproducing by seed
stems - upright, branched, hairs spreading, somewhat brittle, yellow juice when broken growth habit
leaves - alternate, pinnately divided, divisions lobed or coarsely toothed, whitish undersides leaves
flowers - 4-petaled, yellow, numerous stamens; loose clusters flowers
Flowers: April - September.
seedpods - capsules, long, upright, smooth seedpods 1, seedpods 2
Leaves are divided into irregularly lobed leaflets. They are alternate until the upper leaves, which are opposite.
Flowers are yellow, with 4 petals, 1/2 - 3/4" wide.
Seedpod is slender, narrow, smooth and grows facing up toward the flower.
Form/Habitat: Grows 1 - 2' high in damp places along roads or at woods edge.
Blooms in late May and through the summer.
Origin: Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, Northern Africa
Environment: path sides; on fresh, loamy, rich soil; shady
Climate: temperate
Greater Calandine Herb Extract INCI Name Chelidonium Majus Extract CAS:84603-56-5 EINECS ELINCS No 283-257-3 Celandine extract Swallowwort extract Tetterwort extract photo picture image

This erect, branched, sparingly hairy herb is from 1 to 2 feet in height, with thin leaves 4 to 8 inches in length, which have a grayish-green appearance and are deeply and variously cleft. The small, sulphur-yellow flowers are produced from April to September, followed by smooth, slender capsules containing numerous seeds. The plant contains an acrid, yellow juice and when bruised has an unpleasant odor.

Perennial herb, developing a thick, fleshy, bright-orange taproot. Rosette of basal, attractively lobed, imparipinnate leaves to 40cm long, that are dark green (grey/green on the underside). Thin, leafy, hairy stems, bear a terminal cluster of bright-yellow, four-petalled flowers 2cm in diameter, followed by fine seed capsules to 5cm long, bearing 12-20 brown, pin-head size seeds. As soon as the capsules are dry, the seeds are released and self-seed readily, around the parent plant. To collect seed, the capsules need to be picked, as they mature to a yellow/brown colour, so that the seeds do not drop.

Greater Celandine (Chelidonium majus) This is another great herb for improving bile flow and many skin conditions that are caused by lack of essential fatty acids, such as eczema and psoriasis. This plant is undoubtedly the true Celandine, having nothing in common with the Lesser Celandine except the colour of its flowers. It was a drug plant in the Middle Ages and is mentioned by Pliny, to whom we owe the tradition that it is called Chelidonium from the Greek chelidon (a swallow), because it comes into flower when the swallows arrive and fades at their departure. Its acrid juice has been employed successfully in removing films from the cornea of the eye, a property which Pliny tells us was discovered by swallows, this being a double reason why the plant should be named after these birds.

At first glance, the four petals arranged in the form of a cross make it appear a member of the order Cruciferce, but it is not related to these plants, belonging to the same family as the Poppies (Papaveraceae) and has, like these flowers, a dense mass of stamens in the centre of its blossoms.

The Celandine is a herbaceous perennial. The root is thick and fleshy. The stem, which is slender, round and slightly hairy, grows from 1 1/2 to 3 feet high and is much branched; at the points where the branches are given off, it is swollen and jointed and breaks very easily.

The whole plant abounds in a bright, orange-coloured juice, which is emitted freely wherever the stems or leaves are broken. This juice stains the hands strongly and has a persistent and nauseous taste and a strong, disagreeable smell. It is acrid and a powerful irritant.

The yellowish-green leaves, which are much paler, almost greyish below, are very thin in texture, drooping immediately on gathering. They are graceful in form and slightly hairy, 6 to 12 inches long, 2 to 3 inches wide, deeply divided as far as the central rib, so as to form usually two pairs of leaflets, placed opposite to one another, with a large terminal leaflet. The margins (i.e. edges) of the leaflets are cut into by rounded teeth.

The flowers drop very quickly when picked. They are arranged at the ends of the stems in loose umbels. They blossom throughout the summer, being succeeded by narrow, long pods, containing blackish seeds.

Maybe you have sometimes wondered why you have yellow fingers after weeding the garden. The culprit is almost certainly Greater Celandine. This herb, which can reach a height of up to one metre, can completely take over a flower bed if it is not called to order from time to time. When you pull it out it the plant exudes a yellow sap which is contained in all its parts, even in the roots. From May to September the fast growing plant with its bluish-green, almost pinnate leaves bears golden yellow flowers with four petals which are arranged in small umbels. The long seeds produced by the plant have a white attachment, an elaiosome or oil body, which ants find very tasty. A good trick for species distribution. The ants take the celandine seeds away with them when they carry the tasty morsels back home to eat. The hairy plant, which is related to the poppy, is common on nitrogen-rich soils close to human habitation.

A perennial herb with branching stems that grow to 2 1/2 feet high and swell at the nodes. Smooth, deeply divided leaves with lobed leaflets spread alternately along the lower stem. The flowers (April-September) are bright yellow. When any part of the plant is broken, it exudes an acrid, sticky orange juice with an unpleasant smell.

The name celandine comes from chelidon, the Greek word for swallow. The belief that the plant flourished with the swallow's spring arrival and withered with their fall departure derived from classical antiquity, when the plant was accordingly called chelidonium - equivalent to the common name swallowwort (swallow herb). Another legend held that the swallows used the juice of the herb to strengthen the eyesight of their fledgings. By extension, the plant's juice was used for eye drops to treat cataracts in humans, but this use was discontinued long ago.

Reference:

1.Celandine,Swallowwort:Celandine is named after the Greek word for the swallow, because it starts flowering when the birds arrive and stops when they leave.

last edit date:10th,Mar.2010.

Available Product

Name:Greater Calandine Herb Extract
Serie No:P071
Specifications:5:1.10:1.TLC.
INCI Name:CHELIDONIUM MAJUS EXTRACT
EINECS/ELINCS No.:283-257-3
CAS:84603-56-5
Chem/IUPAC Name:Chelidonium Majus Extract is an extract of the leaves and aerial parts of the celandine, Chelidonium majus, Papaveraceae

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