Tansy
Tansy | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Asterales |
Family: | Asteraceae |
Genus: | Tanacetum |
Species: | T. vulgare
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Binomial name | |
Tanacetum vulgare | |
Synonyms[1] | |
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Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) is a
Description
Tansy is a flowering herbaceous plant with finely divided compound leaves and yellow, button-like flowers. It has a stout, somewhat reddish, erect stem, usually smooth, 50–150 cm (20–59 in) tall, and branching near the top. The
History and distribution
Tansy is native to Eurasia; it is found in almost all parts of mainland Europe, as well as Britain and Ireland. It is absent from
History of uses
Tansy has a long history of use. The first historical records of its cultivation
During the Middle Ages and later, high doses were used to induce abortions.[9][12][13] On the other hand, tansy was also used to help women conceive and to prevent miscarriages.[8][9][14] In the 15th century, Christians began serving tansy with Lenten meals to commemorate the Passover bitter herbs eaten by the Israelites.[11][14] Tansy was thought to have the added Lenten benefits of controlling flatulence brought on by days of eating fish and pulses[8][9] and of preventing the intestinal worms believed to be caused by eating fish during Lent.[15]
Tansy was used as a face wash and was reported to lighten and purify the skin.[8][9] In the 19th century, Irish folklore suggested that bathing in a solution of tansy and salts would cure joint pain.[16]
Insect repellent
Tansy has also been used as insect repellent[7] and in embalming.[9][10] It was packed into coffins, wrapped in funeral winding sheets, and tansy wreaths were sometimes placed on the dead.[7][9][10][14] Henry Dunster, the first president of Harvard University, was buried wearing a tansy wreath in a coffin packed with tansy; when the cemetery was moved in 1846 the tansy had maintained its shape and fragrance, helping to identify the president's remains.[7][9][14] By the 19th century, tansy was used so much at New England funerals that people began to disdain it for its morbid association with death.[9][11]
During the American colonial period, meat was frequently rubbed with or packed in tansy leaves to repel insects and delay spoilage.[7][9][14] Tansy was frequently worn at that time in shoes to prevent malaria and other fevers;[9][14] it has been shown, however, that some mosquito species, including Culex pipiens, take nectar from tansy flowers.[17]
Tansy can be used as in companion planting and for biological pest control. It is planted alongside potatoes to repel the Colorado potato beetle, with one study finding tansy reduced the beetle population by 60 to 100 percent.[9][18][7]
In England tansy is placed on window sills to repel flies; sprigs are placed in bed linen to drive away pests, and it has been used as an ant repellent.[19]
In the 1940s, distilled tansy oil mixed with
Toxicity
Many tansy species contain a volatile oil which can cause
The active components of the volatile oil include 1,8-cineole, trans-thujone, camphor and myrtenol, with the quantities and proportions of each varying seasonally and from plant to plant.[9][21][29][30][31]
1,8-Cineole is a toxin believed to defend the plant leaves against attacks by herbivores.[29][30]
Culinary uses
Tansy was formerly used as a flavouring for puddings and omelettes, but is now almost unknown, except in Cork, where it is used in a sauce to accompany drisheens. The herbalist John Gerard (c. 1545–1612) noted that tansy was well known as “pleasant in taste”, and he recommends tansy sweetmeats as “an especial thing against the gout, if every day for a certain space a reasonable quantitie thereof be eaten fasting.” In Yorkshire, tansy and caraway seeds were traditionally used in biscuits served at funerals.[15]
During the
According to liquor historian A. J. Baime, in the 19th century
In the
It can also be used as a substitute for sage.[33]
Ethnomedical use
For many years, tansy has been used as a
Among Native Americans
The Cherokee use an infusion of the plant for backache, use the plant as a tonic, and wear it around the waist and in shoes to prevent miscarriages.[36] The Cheyenne use an infusion of the pulverized leaves and blossoms for dizziness and weakness.[37]
Other uses
Some traditional dyers use tansy to produce a golden-yellow color.[38] The yellow flowers are dried for use in floral arrangements.
Tansy is also used as a
Dried tansy is used by some beekeepers as fuel in a bee smoker.
See also
- Common ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) which in some regions is called "tansy ragwort"
- Silverweed(Potentilla anserina) a flowering plant once known as "wild tansy"
- List of companion plants
Notes
- ^ a b "Tanacetum vulgare". The Plant List. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
- ^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Tanacetum vulgare". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
- OCLC 190965401.
- ^ Zohary, D.; Heywood, V.H. (1997). "A Catalogue of the Wild Relatives of Cultivated Plants Native to Europe". Bocconea.
- ^ a b LeCain, Ron; Sheley, Roger; Mangold, Jane (2019). "Common tansy (Tanacetum vulgare)" (PDF). p. 2. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
The first historical records of common tansy cultivation are from the ancient Greeks who used it for a variety of ailments.
- ^ Harvey, John H. (1989). Garden plants of around 1525: the Fromond list (reprint ed.). pp. 122–134.
- ^ a b c d e f g LeCain 2019, p. 2.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-207-95645-4.
- ^ S2CID 251577774.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8138-0128-5.
- ^ Dodd, Mead and Company.
- ISBN 978-0-13-685016-8.
- ^ "Illinois Wildflowers". Retrieved 2008-12-16.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-15-636492-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-88192-652-1.
- ^ .
- S2CID 30469080.
- .
- .
- ^ Georgia, A.E. (1942). A Manual of Weeds. New York: MacMillan.
- ^ a b DePooter, H.L.; Vermeesch, J.; Schamp, N.M. (1989). "unk". Journal of Essential Oil Research. 1 (1): 9–13.
- S2CID 24970966.
- ISBN 0-87842-359-1
- ^ Food Additives Permitted for Direct Addition to Food for Human Consumption. Food and Drug Administration (2007). Retrieved Mar 30, 2008.
- ^ J. Essent. Oil Res., Vol. 11, 343-348 (1999)
- ^ J. Essent. Oil Res., Vol. 12, 122-124 (Jan/Feb 2000)
- ^ J. Agric. Food Chem., 2004, 52 (6), pp 1742–1748
- ^ J. Nat. Prod., 1984, 47 (6), pp 964–969.
- ^ a b Jacobs, J. (February 2008). "Ecological Management of Common Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare L.)" (PDF). Invasive Species Technical Note # MT-18. United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 18, 2011.
- ^ .
- PMID 11152946.
- ^ //www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCfx98Ei5lM and //www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCiBMDhs5p0
- ISBN 0-394-50432-1.
- ISBN 978-0-88150-485-9.
- S2CID 9011931.
- ^ Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey 1975 Cherokee Plants and Their Uses -- A 400 Year History. Sylva, N.C. Herald Publishing Co. (p. 58)
- ^ Grinnell, George Bird 1972 The Cheyenne Indians - Their History and Ways of Life Vol.2. Lincoln. University of Nebraska Press (p. 190).
- ^ Suomi, Paivi (2001). "A Dyer's Walk". Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
References
- Blanchan, Neltje (1917). Wild Flowers Worth Knowing.
- Time-Life Books.
- Grieve, Margaret (1931). A Modern Herbal.