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Papaveraceae
Greater Celandine
Chelidonium majus
Old remedies.
- Family
- Papaveraceae
- Genus
- Chelidonium
- Native to
- Europe, western Asia
- Bloom season
- Spring, Summer
- Type
- perennial herb
- Height
- 1-3 ft
- Sunlight
- part shade
- Soil
- moist, well-drained
- Water
- moderate
- Hardiness
- 5-8
- Lifespan
- perennial
Did you know
- Snap a stem and bright orange-yellow latex oozes out — it was once dabbed on warts as a folk remedy.
- The genus name comes from the Greek word for swallow, because medieval lore said the plant flowered when swallows returned.
- Despite the resemblance, it's not related to the smaller celandine (Ficaria verna), which is in the buttercup family.
- Medieval European alchemists believed it could turn base metals into gold because of its golden sap.
- Ants disperse its seeds, which have an oil-rich appendage called an elaiosome that ants carry home as food.
Color meanings
0
healing arts
1
joys to come