Prunella (plant)
| Prunella | |
|---|---|
| |
| Prunella vulgaris (Common Self-heal) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Lamiaceae |
| Subfamily: | Nepetoideae |
| Tribe: | Mentheae |
| Genus: | Prunella L. |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Prunella is a genus of herbaceous plants in the family Lamiaceae, also known as self-heals, heal-all, or allheal for their use in herbal medicine.
Habitat
[edit]Most are native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, but Prunella vulgaris (common self-heal) is Holarctic in distribution, occurring in North America as well, and is a common lawn weed. Prunellas are low-growing plants, and thrive in moist wasteland and grass, spreading rapidly to cover the ground. They are members of the mint family and have the square stem common to mints.[1][2][3]
Biological descriptions
[edit]The common name "self-heal" derives from the use of some species to treat a range of minor disorders. Self-heal can be grown from seed, or by dividing clumps in spring or autumn.
- Species[1]
- Prunella albanica Pénzes – Albania
- Prunella × bicolor Beck – parts of Europe (P. grandiflora × P. laciniata)
- Prunella × codinae Sennen – Spain (P. hyssopifolia × P. laciniata)
- Prunella cretensis Gand. – Crete
- Prunella × gentianifolia Pau – Spain (P. hyssopifolia × P. vulgaris)
- Prunella grandiflora (L.) Scholler – central + southern Europe from Caucasus to Russia; Caucasus
- Prunella hyssopifolia L. – Spain, France, Italy, Morocco
- Prunella × intermedia Link – central + southwestern Europe (P. laciniata × P. vulgaris)
- Prunella laciniata (L.) L – central + southern Europe, North Africa, Middle East
- Prunella orientalis Bornm. – Turkey, Syria
- Prunella prunelliformis (Maxim.) Makino – Japan
- Prunella × surrecta Dumort. – central + southwestern Europe (P. grandiflora × P. vulgaris)
- Prunella vulgaris L. – widespread in Europe, North Africa, Asia, North America; naturalized in New Zealand, parts of South America
Subspecies are[4]
- Prunella vulgaris ssp. aleutica (Fernald) Hultén – Aleutian selfheal
- Prunella vulgaris ssp. lanceolata (W. Bartram) Hultén – lance selfheal
- Prunella vulgaris ssp. vulgaris (L.) – common selfheal
Uses
[edit]Traditional medicine
[edit]| Dried Prunella | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 夏枯草 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 夏枯草 | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
In the Pacific Northwest, its juice was used by the Quinault and the Quileute on boils.[5] They also used the whole plant to treat cuts and inflammations.[6] Ointments can be made by fixing[clarification needed] the plant with grease. Dried Prunella (Chinese: 夏枯草; pinyin: xià kū cǎo) is used to make a herbal drink.[7] Prunella is also used for halitosis, especially when combined with other herbs (e.g. perilla, field mint, etc.). Herbal tea for treating ozostomia caused by oral local lesion
Food uses
[edit]The mildly bitter leaves are also good as salad greens. Prunella species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora albitarsella.[citation needed]
As a health supplement
[edit]Prunella vulgaris is used as an ingredient in some bodybuilding supplements.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew". wcsp.science.kew.org.
- ^ "Prunella vulgaris in Flora of China @ efloras.org". www.efloras.org.
- ^ Altervista Flora Italiana, genere Prunella includes photos plus range maps for Europe + North America
- ^ "Prunella vulgaris L." www.itis.gov. ITIS. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
- ^ "USDA Plants Database" (PDF). plants.usda.gov.
- ^ "Prunella spike History..." Archived from the original on 2018-02-20. Retrieved 2017-06-02.
- ^ "StackPath". www.gardeningknowhow.com. 8 August 2018.
