HERBAL MONOGRAPHSFlower and Fruit: The blue flowers are in leafless racemes.
The calyx is fused and leaf-like with 5 tips. The corolla is
shaped like a stemmed plate, has 5 tips, and is glabrous with
yellow scales in the tube. The tube is enclosed in the calyx.
There are 5 stamens and a 4-valvular ovary. The fruit stems
^g* are twice as long as the caylx and stand out. The calyx is
closed when the fruit ripens. The fruit is composed of 4
nutlets.Leaves, Stem and Root: The plant is leafy and grows from 15
to 40 cm high. The stem is erect or ascendent and pubescent.
The leaves are alternate. The lower leaves are petiolate and
oblong-obovate, the upper ones sessile and lanceolate to
lanceolate-oblong.Habitat: The plant grows in Europe.Production: Forget-Me-Not is the flowering plant Myosotis
arvensis.ACTIONS AND PHARMACOLOGY
COMPOUNDS
Pyrrolizidine alkaloidsCaffeic acid derivatives: rosmarinic acid
#
EFFECTS
No information is available.INDICATIONS AND USAGE
Unproven Uses: Forget-Me-Not is used in the treatment of
respiratory disorders and nose bleeds.PRECAUTIONS AND ADVERSE REACTIONS
Hepatotoxicity and carcinogenicity are possible conse-
quences when taken internally, due to the presence of
pyrrolizidine alkaloids with 1,2-unsaturated necic parent
substances. Therefore, the drug should not be taken
internally.DOSAGE
Mode of Administration: The herb is administered ground
and as an extract for external use.LITERATURE
Kern W, List PH, Horhammer L (Hrsg.), Hagers Handbuch der
Pharmazeutischen Praxis, 4. Aufl., Bde. 1-8, Springer Verlag
£ Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 1969.
Madaus G. Lehrbuch der Biologischen Arzneimittel, Bde 1-3,
Nachdruck, Georg Olms Verlag Hildesheim 1979.Fragaria vesca
See StrawberryFRANGULA /317Frangula
Rhamnus frangula
DESCRIPTION
Medicinal Parts: The medicinal parts are the dried bark of
the trunk and branches and the fresh bark of the trunk and
branches.
Flower and Fruit: The flowers are in 2 to 10 axillary
blossomed cymes on pedicles that are 1 to 3 times as long.
The flowers are greenish white, infundibular, 3 to 4 mm long
with 5 sepals and 5 petals, which are initially pubescent. The
sepals are 3 mm long, oblong-triangular and acute. The
petals are whitish, erect and stemmed. The petals enclose the
stamens. The stamens are somewhat shorter than the petals
and have large anthers and short filaments. The fruit is a
globular, initially green, later red when ripe. The black-
purple drupe is about 8 cm wide containing 2 to 3 seeds. The
seeds are wide, flat triangular-lentil-shaped with a longer,
very narrow groove.Leaves, Stem and Root: The plant is a thornless, 1 to 3 m
high bush or a 7 m high weedy tree. The branches are piled
on the boughs and densely foliated. The bark is initially
green later gray-brown and covered in gray-white lenticles.
The leaf buds are pubescent. The leaves are thin, soft when
young later becoming stiffer. They are broadly elliptical to
obovate and about 3.5 to 5 cm long. The leaves are usually
entire-margined and pubescent on the ribs of the under
surface.
Characteristics: The heartwood is bright yellow-red. The
odor is somewhat foul and the taste is disgustingly bitter.
Habitat: The plant is indigenous to all of Europe, Western
Asia, Asia Minor and the Caucasus; it has spread to the wild
in North America.
Production: Frangula bark consists of the dried bark of the
trunks and branches of Rhamnus frangula. The bark is peeled
in May and June, then either dried and stored for 1 year to
dry or heated for 1 hour at 100° C.Other Names: Buckthorn, Frangula, Alder Buckthorn, Black
Alder, Dog Wood, Black Dogwood, Black Alder Tree,
European Black Alder, Black Alder Dogwood, Arrow Wood,
European Buckthorn, Persian Berries, Alder Dogwood
ACTIONS AND PHARMACOLOGY
COMPOUNDS
Anthracene derivatives (4 to 6%): anthranoids, chief compo-
nents glucofrangulin A, glucofrangulin A-diacetate (estered
at rhamnose remnant), as well as frangulin A, frangulin C
Naphthalene derivatives: naphthoquinones
Peptide alkaloids (traces): including frangulanine