316/FOOL'S PARSLEYFool's Parsley
Aethusa cynapium
DESCRIPTION
Medicinal Parts: The medicinal parts are the entire fresh
plant and the dried aerial parts (herb).Flower and Fruit: The plant has white long-stemmed umbels
with many florets and no involucre. The calyx has 5 fused
sepals. There are 5 white, sometimes reddish, obcordate,
irregular petals. The flowers have 5 stamens and a 2-valved
ovate ovary. The fruit is a 3 to 5 mm wide, globose
schizocarp, straw yellow when ripe with red-brown stripes; it
opens easily. Each section has 5 triangular ribs with l or 2
oil grooves in the hollow and 2 in the joints.Leaves, Stem and Root: The plant is a leafy, 60 cm high
annual or biennial plant. The root is thin, spindle-shaped and
whitish. The stem is erect, round, grooved, hollow, glabrous
and usually forked with a bluish bloom, which rubs off when
handled. The leaves are glossy, dark green above and light
green beneath. Leaflets are serrate with a triangular outline
and double to treble pinnatifid. They give off an unpleasant
garlic odor when rubbed.Characteristics: The plant is poisonous. The plant can be
mistaken for Parsley because of its similar appearance, but
the plant is poisonous and can have fatal consequences. This
similarity has resulted in its being given the name Fool's
Parsley. It also bears a resemblance to Hemlock, though it is
not as poisonous.Habitat: The plant is indigenous to northern and central
Europe, introduced into North America; cultivated and used
as an ornamental plant for meadows in southern Germany.Not to be Confused With: Young garden parsley is very
similar. However, it differs in the glossiness of the under-
side surface of the leaf and pungent, burning, garlic-like
smell of the leaves when rubbed.Other Names: Dog Poison, Fool's-Cicely, Small Hemlock,
Dog Parsley, Lesser HemlockACTIONS AND PHARMACOLOGY
COMPOUNDS
Polyynes: (only in freshly-harvested leaves) including aethu-
sin, aethusanol A, aethusanol BFlavone glycosides: including rutoside, narcissine, camphor
oil-3-glucorhamnosideAscorbic acid
EFFECTS
No information is available.
PDR FOR HERBAL MEDICINESINDICATIONS AND USAGE
Unproven Uses: Fool's Parsley has been used for gastroin-
testinal complaints in children, infantile cholera, summer
diarrhea and convulsions.Homeopathic Uses: Aethusa cynapium is used for milk
intolerance in children, pylorus cramp, acute diarrhea with
vomiting and poor concentration (HABl).PRECAUTIONS AND ADVERSE REACTIONS
Fool's Parsley is considered a toxic plant. The older
literature contains descriptions of poisonings, sometimes
fatal, occurring as a result of confusing garden parsley with
the freshly harvested drug. Probably, however, these had to
do with poisonings by spotted hemlock. Caution should
nevertheless be exercised.
DOSAGE
Mode of Administration: The juice of the fresh drug is used
in poultices; also available as alcoholic extracts.Homeopathic Dosage: 5 to 10 drops, l tablet or 5 to 10
globules, I to 3 times daily; injection solution l ml twice
weekly sc (HABl).LITERATURE
Bohlmann F, et al., Chem Ber 93:981. 1968.
Bohlmann F, et al., Chem Ber 88:1245. 1960.
Teuscher E. et al., PA 45:537. 1990.
Further information in:
Frohne D, Pfander HJ, Giftpflanzen - Ein Handbuch fur
Apotheker, Toxikologen und Biologen, 4. Aufl., Wiss. Verlags-
Ges Stuttgart 1997.
Hansel R, Keller K, Rimpler H, Schneider G (Hrsg.), Hagers
Handbuch der Pharmazeutischen Praxis, 5. Aufl., Bde 4-6
(Drogen), Springer Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 1992-
1994.
Lewin L, Gifte und Vergiftungen, 6. Aufl., Nachdruck, Haug
Verlag, Heidelberg 1992.
Madaus G, Lehrbuch der Biologischen Arzneimittel, Bde 1-3,
Nachdruck, Georg Olms Verlag Hildesheim 1979.
Roth L, Daunderer M, Kormann K, Giftpflanzen, Pflanzengifte,- Aufl., Ecomed Fachverlag Landsberg Lech 1993.
Teuscher E, Lindequist U, Biogene Gifte - Biologie, Chemie,
Pharmakologie, 2. Aufl., Fischer Verlag Stuttgart 1994.
Forget-Me-Not
Myosotis arvensis
DESCRIPTION
Medicinal Parts: The medicinal part is the flowering plant.