''Visnaga daucoides'' is a species of flowering plant in the

carrot family Apiaceae () or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium,'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot, or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering p ...

known by many common names, including toothpick-plant, toothpickweed, bisnaga, khella, or sometimes

bishop's weed Bishop's weed is a common name for several plants, all but one of which belong to the plant family Apiaceae. * ''Aegopodium podagraria'', which is an invasive perennial weed of temperate regions, known also in English as ground elder. * ''Ammi maju ...

. It is native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, but it can be found throughout the world as an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

Description

This is an erect

annual plant An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seeds, within one growing season, and then dies. Globally, 6% of all plant species and 15% of herbaceous plants (excluding trees and shrubs) are ...

growing from a

taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproot ...

to a maximum height near . The leaves are up to long and generally oval to triangular in shape but dissected into many small linear to lance-shaped segments. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is a compound

umbel UMBEL (Upper Mapping and Binding Exchange Layer) is a logically organized knowledge graph of 34,000 concepts and entity types that can be used in information science for relating information from disparate sources to one another. It was retired ...

of white flowers similar to those of other Apiaceae species. The fruit is a compressed oval-shaped body less than 3 millimeters long. This species is a source of khellin, a

diuretic A diuretic () is any substance that promotes diuresis, the increased production of urine. This includes forced diuresis. A diuretic tablet is sometimes colloquially called a water tablet. There are several categories of diuretics. All diuretics ...

extract. Like its close relative ''

Ammi majus ''Ammi majus'', commonly called bishop's flower, false bishop's weed, laceflower, bullwort, etc., is a member of the carrot family Apiaceae. The plant, which has white lace-like flower clusters, has a large distribution through Southern Europe, ...

'', ''Visnaga daucoides'' is commonly seen in gardens where it is grown from seed annually. Some authorities regard ''Visnaga daucoides'' as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of ''Ammi visnaga''; and it is still widely referenced under that name.

Traditional medicine

In Egypt, a

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

made from the fruit of this species has been used as a

herbal remedy Herbal medicine (also called herbalism, phytomedicine or phytotherapy) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of many herbal treatments ...

for

kidney stones Kidney stone disease (known as nephrolithiasis, renal calculus disease, or urolithiasis) is a crystallopathy and occurs when there are too many minerals in the urine and not enough liquid or hydration. This imbalance causes tiny pieces of cr ...

. Preparations of the fruits have also been used for

angina pectoris Angina, also known as angina pectoris, is chest pain or pressure, usually caused by insufficient blood flow to the heart muscle (myocardium). It is most commonly a symptom of coronary artery disease. Angina is typically the result of part ...

therapy.

Laboratory research

Laboratory rat studies show that the extract slows the buildup of

calcium oxalate Calcium oxalate (in archaic terminology, oxalate of lime) is a calcium salt of oxalic acid with the chemical formula or . It forms hydrates , where ''n'' varies from 1 to 3. Anhydrous and all hydrated forms are colorless or white. The monohydr ...

crystals in the kidneys and acts as a

. Its clinical effects in humans are unknown.

Chemical constituents

Khellin, a

chemical compound A chemical compound is a chemical substance composed of many identical molecules (or molecular entities) containing atoms from more than one chemical element held together by chemical bonds. A molecule consisting of atoms of only one element ...

obtained from ''Visnaga daucoides'', was used at one time as a smooth muscle relaxant, but its use is now limited due to adverse

side effects In medicine, a side effect is an effect of the use of a medicinal drug or other treatment, usually adverse but sometimes beneficial, that is unintended. Herbal and traditional medicines also have side effects. A drug or procedure usually used ...

Amiodarone Amiodarone is an antiarrhythmic medication used to treat and prevent a number of types of cardiac dysrhythmias. This includes ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, and wide complex tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, and paroxys ...

and

cromoglycate Cromoglicic acid (INN)—also referred to as cromolyn (USAN), cromoglycate (former BAN), or cromoglicate—is traditionally described as a mast cell stabilizer, and is commonly marketed as the sodium salt sodium cromoglicate or cromolyn sodium. ...

are synthetic derivatives of khellin with fewer side effects which were developed for use in modern medicine. Visnagin is another chemical compound found in ''Visnaga daucoides'', which is toxic if ingested in the pure state. Visnadine is a natural

vasodilator Vasodilation, also known as vasorelaxation, is the widening of blood vessels. It results from relaxation of smooth muscle cells within the vessel walls, in particular in the large veins, large arteries, and smaller arterioles. Blood vessel wal ...

found in ''Visnaga daucoides.''

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment
*
Photo gallery

Fructus Ammi Visnagae
WHO Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants - Volume 3 {{Taxonbar, from1=Q15596411, from2=Q866203 Apioideae Flora of Spain Flora of Israel Flora of Palestine (region) Medicinal plants of Africa Medicinal plants of Asia Medicinal plants of Europe Flora of Malta