''Narthecium ossifragum'', commonly known as bog asphodel,
Lancashire asphodel or bastard asphodel,
is a species of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
in the family
Nartheciaceae
Nartheciaceae is a family of flowering plants. The APG III system places it in the order Dioscoreales, in the clade monocots. As circumscribed by APG IV (2016) it includes 35 species of herbaceous
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that ha ...
. It is native to
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...
, found on wet, boggy
moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of Habitat (ecology), habitat found in upland (geology), upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and the biomes of montane grasslands and shrublands, characterised by low-growing vegetation on So ...
s up to about in elevation. It produces spikes of bright yellow flowers in summer. The bright orange fruits have been used as a colourant to replace
saffron
Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of '' Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent ...
by
Shetland
Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...
Islanders.
[Richard Mabey ''Flora Britannica''] Despite the plant's English name "bog asphodel", it is not particularly closely related to the true
asphodels. In addition to other forms of pollination, this plant is adapted to rain-
pollination
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma (botany), stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or bu ...
.
[ The Latin ]specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
''ossifragum'' means "bone-breaker", and refers to a traditional belief that eating the plant caused sheep to develop brittle bones. The probable origin of this story is that sheep eating a calcium-poor diet are likely to develop bone weakness, and ''N. ossifragum'' favours acidic
An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis acid.
The first category of acids are the ...
low-calcium soils.
Description
Bog asphodel is a tufted, hairless herbaceous
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition of ...
perennial
In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...
with a creeping rhizome. The leaves are up to long, narrow, flattened and sword-shaped, and often tinged with orange. The inflorescence is a spike with bright yellow, star-like flowers about across, which have short white hairs on the orange stamens. The fruits are deep orange.
Biology
The plant can cause photosensitisation, a serious skin condition of sheep called ''alveld'', "elf fire", in Norway. It can be relieved by moving stock into the shade. Not all stands of the plant are toxic, and the toxicity may be the side effect of the plant's response to a fungal infection.
Distribution and habitat
The Bog asphodel has a temperate oceanic distribution in northern and western Europe. In the British Isles it occurs in Scotland, Northwest England, Wales, Southwest England and most of Ireland. It grows in wet soils and peats, in bogs, wet heaths and flushes.purple moor grass and rush pastures
Purple moor grass and rush pastures is a type of Biodiversity Action Plan habitat in the UK. It occurs on poorly drained neutral and acidic soils of the lowlands and upland fringe. It is found in the southwest of England, especially in Devon. ...
.
Gallery
Image:Rome_(3).jpg
Image:Narthecium_ossifragum3.jpg
Image:Narthecium ossifragum verblueht.jpg, Fruiting
Image:Frucht Moorlilie.jpg, In fruit
Image:Andorra - little brook.jpg, In situ near El Serrat, Andorra
Image:Moorlilie_(Blume_des_Jahres_2011).JPG, High Fens, Belgium
Image:Narthecium ossifragum Sturm41 clean.jpg, Illustration in Jakob Sturm: ''"Deutschlands Flora in Abbildungen"'', Stuttgart (1796)
Image:Narthecium ossifragum.png, Drawing by Elly Waterman
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q159294
Nartheciaceae
Flora of Europe
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus