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Matricaria
chamomilla L.
Standardized Common
Name: Chamomile
Other Common Names: German Chamomile,
Horse Chamomile, Wild Chamomile
Family: Asteraceae
(Compositae)
Taxonomy: As narrowly defined,
Matricaria includes 7 species of herbs, largely native to Eurasia but
widely dispersed and naturalized elsewhere. These species are fairly diverse
(for example, some have ray florets, while others lack them). A very closely
related genus, Tripleurospermum, contains about 38 similar species. A
few European taxonomists have treated the name Matricaria as applying
properly to the species of Tripleurospermum, in which case the genus now
known as Matricaria is renamed Chamomilla. However, this view is
not well supported nor generally accepted. Matricaria chamomilla is a
well-defined species yet has complicated nomenclature, with dozens of synonyms
of which three are in current use, including M. chamomilla L., M. recutita L., and Chamomilla
recutita (L.) Rauschert. The name M. chamomilla has priority over M.
recutita, according to the rules of botanical nomenclature, and its use
should be preferred. Other synonyms that may be encountered in older literature
include C. vulgaris Gray and M. suaveolens L.
Description: Annual herb. Stem
erect, freely branching, 10–60 cm high. Leaves alternate, irregularly
2–3-pinnatisect, with thin linear lobes, 4–7 cm long. Inflorescences heads
(capitula), numerous, 10–25 mm in diameter; peduncles 3–10 cm long. Involucre
hemispherical; receptacular bracts (phyllaries) 20–30, overlapping,
oblanceolate, with scarious margins. Receptacle ovoid to conical, hollow, up to
10 mm wide. Ray florets 12–20 (rarely absent), ligulate, female, white,
reflexed, 5–9 mm long, 1.5–3 mm broad, with 3 small apical teeth and 4 veins.
Disk florets numerous, perfect; corollas yellow to yellow-orange, 5-lobed,
tubular with narrow collar, the upper part campanulate, to 1.5 mm long. Achenes
<1 mm long, obovoid, curved, truncate at apex, smooth, yellowish to pale
gray-brown; dorsal face convex; ventral face with 4–5 ribs, ribs often paler;
pappus absent or a toothed auricle.
Parts
in Commerce:
Flowering heads
Identification
- Capitulum
not larger than 10–25 mm in diameter
- Receptacle
conical, hollow when cut longitudinally
- No
scales or bracts (paleae) subtending individual flowers on receptacle
- Phyllaries
oblanceolate, with pale dry margins
- Peduncle
and receptacle hairless to sparsely pubescent, not densely hairy
- Ray
florets whitish, strap-shaped, 5–9 mm long, spreading or reflexed
- Disk
corolla with 5 small lobes; lobes without orange resin sacs
- Ray
florets white, female
- Achenes
very small and (4–)5-ribbed, not with 3 large widely spaced ribs
- Odor
characteristic, pleasant, aromatic, not fetid or odorless
- Taste
somewhat bitter
Adulterants: Since chamomile is
normally cultivated, confusion with other species is unlikely. It has, in the past, been adulterated
with Roman Chamomile (cf. Chamaemelum
nobile (L.) All.) and with species of Anthemis, a similar genus in which C. nobile was formerly classified. These include A. cotula L. (Mayweed, also known as dog
chamomile or stinking chamomile) and A.
arvensis L. (corn chamomile); the former occasionally causes allergies.
These species can be distinguished by their solid receptacles with chaffy
receptacular bracts (paleae) subtending the florets. Other characters listed
above help to distinguish M. recutita
from potentially confused species in such related or similar genera as Microcephala, Tanacetum, and Tripleurospermum.
References:
Applequist
WL. A reassessment of the nomenclature of Matricaria L. and Tripleurospermum
Sch. Bip. (Asteraceae). Taxon. 2002;51:757–761.
Bremer
K, Humphries CJ. Generic monograph of the Asteraceae—Anthemidae. Bull Nat
Hist Mus London (Bot). 1993;23:71–177.
Moore
DM, Tutin TG, Walters SM, eds. Compositae. In: Tutin TG, Heywood VH, Burges NA, et al., eds. Flora
Europaea. Vol. 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1976:103–410.
Wichtl M, ed. Herbal Drugs and
Phytopharmaceuticals, 3rd English
ed. Stuttgart: medpharm Scientific Publishers and Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press;
2004:369–373.
Figure
44:
a–b, Matricaria chamomilla head and cross-section; c, Anthemis cotula.
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