Standardized Common
Name: Spring
Adonis
Other Common Names: False Hellebore,
Pheasant’s Eye, Yellow Adonis
Family: Ranunculaceae
Taxonomy: Adonis
includes about 26 Eurasian species, all herbaceous. Several are known to
contain cardiac glycosides. The annual species (which include A. aestivalis
L., mentioned below) are taxonomically difficult; perennial species are well
understood, although hybridization of A. vernalis with A. volgensis
Steven ex DC. is common.
Description: Rhizomatous
perennial herb. Stems 10–45 cm high, unbranched or occasionally branching.
Basal leaves reduced to scales. Stem leaves alternate, sessile,
2–3-pinnatisect, feathery, composed of linear lobes 1–2 cm long. Flowers
solitary, terminal, (3–)4–7(–8) cm in diameter; sepals 5, 0.75–1.5(–2) cm long,
always shorter than petals, obovate, pubescent; petals 9–23, yellow,
1.5–3.5(–4) cm long, elliptical to oblanceolate, many-veined; stamens yellow,
numerous; carpels numerous, separate, spirally arranged on receptacle. Fruit a
head of achenes, 3–5 mm long, broadly obovate to almost spherical, with small
curved beak at upper side of apex; surface pubescent, with netted wrinkles.
Parts
in Commerce:
Whole herb, with flowers and fruits
Identification:
Stems
- Round, to 3 mm
thick, often flattened above
- Pithy, not
hollow
- Mostly green,
brown below
- Longitudinally
striated
- Glabrous or
nearly so
- Should not
include base with scale-leaves and beginning of rhizome, because these
parts are less potent and their harvest injures the plants
Leaves
- Sessile on stems
- 2–3-pinnately
divided into numerous fine linear lobes
- Lobes 1–2 cm
long, up to 1 mm broad, with acute tips
- Margins of lobes
entire
- Dark green,
glabrous or nearly so
- Taste bitter
Flowers
- 3–8 cm in
diameter, solitary
- Sepals 5,
greenish, pubescent, about half as long as petals
- Petals 9+,
variable in number, pale yellow to nearly white, glossy, many-veined
- Petals
elliptical, usually 2–4 cm long and <1 cm broad
- Stamens
numerous, yellow
- Carpels
numerous, spirally arranged
Fruits
- Achenes 3–5 mm
long, almost spherical to broadly and irregularly obovate
- Surface pale
green, hairy, wrinkled
- Apex blunt, with
small beak at upper side; beak <1 mm long, curved inward toward fruit
surface but not wholly appressed to surface
Adulterants: A. aestivalis
L., an annual species that has crimson or sometimes yellow petals, is reported
as an adulterant, and similar-appearing perennial species may find their way
into commerce. Any of the following features indicates adulteration:
- Stems more than
slightly hairy, or hollow
- Leaves more than
slightly hairy
- Leaf lobes
broader than expected, especially if margins are toothed
- Sepals glabrous
- Any petals red
- Stamens dark
purple
- Fruit glabrous
or with unwrinkled surface
- Beak at apex of
achene almost as long as fruit, extending straight outward rather than
recurved, or appressed to fruit
References:
Lange D. 2000. Conservation and Sustainable Use
of Adonis vernalis, a Medicinal Plant in International Trade. Bonn,
Germany: Bundesamt für Naturschutz; 2000. Plant Species Conservation
Monographs, No. 1.
Tutin TG, revised by Akeroyd JR. Adonis. In: Tutin TG, Heywood VH, Burges NA, et al.,
eds. Flora Europaea. 2nd ed, vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press;
1993:267–269.
Youngken HW. Text-Book of Pharmacognosy, 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: The
Blakiston Company; 1943:336–338.
Figure 3: Adonis vernalis.
