Tofieldia Pusilla
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''Tofieldia pusilla'' 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
Tofieldiaceae Tofieldiaceae is a family of flowering plants in the monocot order Alismatales.Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alastair Culham. ''Flowering Plant Families of the World''. Firefly Books: Ontario, Canada. (2007). . The famil ...
. It is also sometimes placed in the lily family,
Liliaceae The lily family, Liliaceae, consists of about 15 genera and 610 species of flowering plants within the order Liliales. They are monocotyledonous, perennial, herbaceous, often bulbous geophytes. Plants in this family have evolved with a fai ...
. Its common name is Scottish asphodel in Europe, and Scotch false asphodel in North America. The plant is native to northern North America and parts of Eurasia, its circumpolar distribution extending across Canada and the northern United States to
Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
,
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
and northern Europe.


Irritant rejected by grazing stock

The plant, when raw, has a very bitter taste, causing numbness, burning and irritation of the mucous membranes of the lips and mouth. Sheep in the pastureland of Iceland which graze inadvertently upon it will spit it out, as evidenced by the fact that broken plants are often to be found discarded in pastures where sheep have been grazing.
This acridity and potential toxicity may be accounted for by the fact that Tofieldia, like other basal monocots (including, most notably, the related plant family
Araceae The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also ...
) contains druses 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, noted for just such irritating effects, should raw plant material be consumed.


In Scottish folk medicine

''T. pusilla'' has been used in the
traditional medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) refers to the knowledge, skills, and practices rooted in the cultural beliefs of various societies, especially Indigenous groups, used for maintaining health and treatin ...
of Scotland to treat a variety of ailments, including skin conditions, respiratory problems, and digestive issues. In regard to the third use listed: the roots of the plant have been used to make a tea that is believed to have a soothing effect on the stomach and intestines.Wild Flower Web http://www.wildflowerweb.co.uk/plant/2386/scottish-asphodel Retrieved at 11.04 on Monday 8/1/24. Such an apparently
anti-inflammatory Anti-inflammatory is the property of a substance or treatment that reduces inflammation, fever or swelling. Anti-inflammatory drugs, also called anti-inflammatories, make up about half of analgesics. These drugs reduce pain by inhibiting mechan ...
effect of a Tofieldia tisane is not incompatible with the irritant effect of fresh plant material, given that both heating and steeping can eliminate crystals of calcium oxalate, as demonstrated in the traditional preparation of Araceous vegetables such as
taro Taro (; ''Colocasia esculenta'') is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a ...
, which - like Tofieldia - are poisonous when raw. Elimination of calcium oxalate druses would then allow the therapeutic effects of other compounds present in T. pusilla to manifest, unimpaired by the irritant effect of the toxic crystals.


In Scottish folklore

In Scotland, the plant had the alternative common name "King's Knot" and was believed in folk tradition to have apotropaic powers. For this reason, it was often deliberately planted near homes and farms to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck.


Chemistry

Zomlefer, in her 1997 paper on the Tofieldiaceae, lists the following compounds as being present in plants belonging to the family:
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 ...
(in the form of druses and cuboidal (prismatic)
crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...
s), chelidonic acid,
tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and Precipitation (chemistry), precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' is widel ...
s,
saponins Saponins (Latin ''sapon'', 'soap' + ''-in'', 'one of') are bitter-tasting, usually toxic plant-derived secondary metabolites. They are Organic compound, organic chemicals that become foamy when agitated in water and have high Molar mass, molecul ...
, and the
flavonoid Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans. Chemically, flavonoids ...
s
kaempferol Kaempferol (3,4′,5,7-tetrahydroxyflavone) is a natural flavonol, a type of flavonoid, found in a variety of plants and plant-derived foods including kale, beans, tea, spinach, and broccoli. It is also found in propolis extracts. Kaempferol i ...
and
quercetin Quercetin is a plant flavonol from the flavonoid group of polyphenols. It is found in many fruits, vegetables, leaves, seeds, and grains; capers, red onions, and kale are common foods containing appreciable amounts of it. It has a bitter flavor ...
.Zomlefer, Wendy, "The Genera of Tofieldiaceae in the Southeastern United States", Harvard Papers in Botany Vol. 2, No. 2 (December 1997), pp. 179-194 (16 pages),Published By: Harvard University Herbaria


References


External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q162547 Tofieldiaceae Plants described in 1803