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Tanacetum
parthenium (L.) Sch. Bip.
Standardized Common
Name: Feverfew
Other Common Names: Bachelor’s Buttons,
Featherfew, Featherfoil
Family: Asteraceae
(Compositae)
Taxonomy: Tanacetum
includes about 150 species, with a center of diversity in Eurasia. Tanacetum
parthenium belongs to Sect. Pyrethrum. It is one of 14 European
species, and is naturalized in North America. Some taxonomists have combined Tanacetum
with Chrysanthemum, so that much recent herbal literature uses the name Chrysanthemum
parthenium (L.) Bernh., although the separation of the two genera is
generally preferred today.
Description: Perennial herb.
Stems erect, branching, slightly quadrangular, 0.3–1 m high. Leaves basal and
alternate, petiolate, 2–5(–10) cm long, 1–2-pinnatisect with (3–)5–7(–9)
primary segments, yellowish green; each primary leaf segment oblong-elliptical
to ovate, crenate to pinnatisect or nearly entire; apices obtuse; both surfaces
soft-pubescent. Inflorescence a corymb of 5–30 heads (capitula). Capitula borne
on long peduncles, 1–2.5 cm in diameter; involucral bracts (phyllaries) in 3
ranks, lanceolate to oblong, soft-pubescent; receptacle convex. Ray florets
female, ligulate, white, 2.5–8(–9) mm long, oblong, in a single whorl or
multiple whorls in doubled varieties or rarely absent; disk florets numerous,
small, tubular with 5 teeth, hermaphroditic, yellow, in a few ornamental
varieties white or absent. Fruit an achene, 1.2–1.5 mm long, 5–8-ribbed; pappus
a lobed corona ca. 0.2 mm long.
Parts
in Commerce:
Whole herb or leaves alone
Identification:
Stem
and leaves
- Stems branching,
finely ridged to somewhat quadrangular, pubescent, <5 mm in diameter in
upper parts of plant
- Leaves 2–5(–10)
cm long, pinnately divided into (3–)5–7(–9) major segments, sinuses
between lobes extending almost to midrib
- Major leaf
segments ovate, shallowly pinnately lobed or crenate-margined; ultimate
lobes ovate, somewhat forward-pointing, with obtuse or rounded apices
- Leaves
petiolate; petioles flattened on upper side, convex below
- Venation
pinnate, midrib prominent on underside of leaf
- Leaf pale or
yellowish-green, occasionally dark green
- Both sides of
leaf bearing short, soft, pale, straight nonglandular hairs and small
glandular hairs that appear as yellowish dots under high magnification
- Odor strongly
aromatic, camphoraceous
- Taste bitter,
acrid
Flowers
- Heads 5–20(–30)
per corymb, not solitary, 1–2.5 cm in diameter
- Involucre
hemispherical, 5–9 mm in diameter, of 3 rows of bracts; bracts
downy-pubescent, with pale membranous margins and green midrib
- Receptacle
somewhat convex, not conical; may bear small bumps but not long hairs nor
chaffy bracts
- Ray florets
white, female, ligulate, in single row (except in doubled ornamental
varieties, which are not usually used medicinally); ligules 2.5–8(–9) mm
long, oblong to obovate, with slightly notched apices
- Disk florets
small, numerous, yellow, hermaphroditic, tubular, 5-lobed
- Pappus reduced
to an irregular ring, <0.2 mm high, at apex of ovary
Adulterants: Tanacetum vulgare
L. (Tansy), which belongs to Sect. Tanacetum, has been reported as an
adulterant. Parthenolide, a compound which is often treated as a chemical
marker for T. parthenium, may be found in T. vulgare among other
species. The heads of T. vulgare are quite distinct, as the outermost
florets are yellow, more or less tubular, and sometimes hermaphroditic. Its
leaves are fernlike, with main divisions more numerous and lanceolate, bearing
numerous regular forward-pointing shallow lobes. Some chamomile species also
look similar.
References:
Bremer K, Humphries CJ.
Generic monograph of the Asteraceae – Anthemidae. Bull Nat Hist Mus London (Bot). 1993;23(2):71–177.
British Herbal Medicine
Association. British Herbal Pharmacopoeia. BHMA; 1996:81–82.
Heywood
VH. Tanacetum. In: Tutin TG, Heywood VH, Burges NA, et al., eds. Flora
Europaea. Vol. 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1976:169–171.
Simmons
CB, SKrishna Raj S, Saxena PK. Morphocytological characterization of feverfew, Tanacetum
parthenium (L.) Schultz Bip. J Herbs Spices Medicinal Plants.
2002;9:29–45.
World Health
Organization. WHO Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants. Vol. 2. Geneva: World Health Organization;
1999–2002:317–328.
Figure
73:
a–c, Tanacetum parthenium heads, leaf and leaf close-up; d, T.
vulgare leaf.
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