Ammi majus (L) Bullwort
NOMENCLATURE
Ammi: c1assica1 name.
majus: greater (comparative of magnus)
BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
TYPE: glabrous, glaucous annual..Th. STEMS : solid, striate. HEIGHT: 15~1OOcm.
UMBELS : 3-6 diam. Compound, terminal 9-4O,slender, scabrid, subequál rays 3-7cm.
Peduncle > than rays. Hermaphrodite.
LEAVES: variable. Lower 1-2 pinnate, ovate to lanceolate, serrate, segments oblong
ovate or spathulate Upper 2-pinnate, with lanceolate to linear-pinnatifid acute segments
All segments serrate, teeth end in cartilaginous point Petiole widened to the sheathing
base. Cotyledons tapered at
BRACTS: several, > than rays, leaf like, 3-tid to pinnatisect, linear lobes, some entire.
Bracteoles many, lanceolate, with long filiform apex and. broad scarious margin=pedice1s.
FLOWERS: white. Outer. petals radiating. Styles form a stylopodium.F1..6-1Q.
FRUIT: 15-20mm, ellipsoid, compressed laterally, smooth. Commisure narrow.
Mericarps with slender, prominent ridges. Carpophore present. Vittae solitary. Pedicels
1-6 mm, slightly scabrid. Styles 2 x > as stylopodium, recurved. Stigma a small knob. 2n=22.
HABITAT: rubbish tips, waste places.
DISTRIBUTION: intro.. Uncommon casual, wool alien. Native to
S.Europe, N.Africa, Asia Minor, Macronesia.
RELATED SPECIES
Ammi visnaga CL) similar, but rays thickened, erect after flowering, bracts déflexéd.
Fl 8-10. 2n=20. Native to Mediterranean. Casual, waste places in England.
MEDICINAL USES
ACTIVE INGREDIENTS: psoralene
EFFECT: tonic , diuretic.
PARTS: seeds.
APPLICATION: psoralene stimulates pigment production in skin exposed to UV light
Externally for vitilago, psoriasis Excess causes nausea, diarrhoea, headaches
HISTORICAL MEDICINAL USES
Decoction of seeds taken after intercourse "preventh implant of ovum in
uterus". Gargle for toothache in Morocco
