Pimpinella saxifraga (L) Burnet Saxifrage
NOMENCLATURE
Pimpinella: possibly from bipinella : two winged.
saxifraga: see P. major.
Burnet: after resemblance to salad burnet.
OTHER NAMES: boucage, (France) bouc goat. Bennet. old man’s
plaything, (Shrop). Lesser bennet, saxifrage.
BSBI Picture Link to Pimpinella saxifraga
BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
TYPE : erect puberulent slender perennial. Hs. AROMA: roots, of goat.
TASTE :Root hot, acrid.ROOTS : creeping, stout. Slender. with fibourous remains of petioles.
STEMS : subterete. slightly ridged, slender, terete rough tough, solid.
Developing a small hollow in fruit. HEIGHT : 30-100cm.
UMBELS : terminal, 2-5cm. Flat topped. Rays 10-22, 1-4.5cm,
smooth, peduncle > than rays. Hermph.
LEAVES : basal + upper variable, simply pinnate. Intermediate, 2-pinnate, glabrous. Lobes
1-2 .5cm, ovate to linear-lancolate, obtusely or acutely serrate to pinnatifid, sessile. Basal
lobes 2-7 pairs, 25mm, broadly ovate to lanceolate, coarsely serrate to pinnatifid, teeth with
very slender cartilaginous point, less divided. Upper cauline small or 0 with 3 pairs small,
narrow lobes, petiole > than lobes, inflated, purplish. Cotyledons contracted into a petiole.
FLOWERS : white, rarely pinkish. Sepals small or 0, petals with inflexed point, hairy beneath.
Strongly protandrous. Styles form stylopodium. Flower head drooping. Fl. 6-8.
FRUIT: 2-2.5 cm. ovoid or oblong, laterally compressed. Commisure broad. Carpels wi.th 5
slender ridges paler than reddish brown vittae. Carpophore present. Pedicels 5mm,
glabourous. Vittae numerous in furrows. Styles long, < than petals, diverging, > later,
break off as fruit ripens. Stigma capitate. 2n=36, 40.
HABITAT : dry grassland, roadsides. Upland pastures.
SOIL : calcicole. Confined to sites containing free Calcium
carbonate. Heavy Clay. Shade.
DISTRIBUTION : native. Local. Downs of S. England rarer in
N. W. Most of Europe and Asia.
BSBI Distribution Map for Pimpinella saxifraga
ACTIVE INGREDIENTS: Bitter resin + blue essential oil: turns water or spirit blue on distillation.
HISTORICAL MEDICINAL USES
l6thC : potions made to remove gall & kidney stones. Stem & leaves used to staunch bleeding.
Cut & dried, July. Resolvent, diaphoretic, stomachic, diuretic. Flatulence & indigestion : oil + resin. Toothache & paralysis of tongue : fresh root. Freckles, mucus, asthma, dropsy: decoction.
EDIBLE USES
Blue essential oil colours Brandy in Germany. Bunches of leaves and shoots tied, and suspended in beer impart aromatic flavour. Corrects spoilt wines. Increases milk yield if fed to cows.
ENTYMOLOGICAL USES
Single-dotted Wave Idaea dimidiata Lime-speck Pug Eupithecia centaureata Pignut Flat-body Depressaria pulcherrimella
EXTERNAL LINKS FOR Pimpinella saxifraga
These links to trusted websites and institutions may provide in depth or additional information regards cultivation, chemistry, edibility, images etc. for the species. Links last updated Aug 2012.
Wikipedia (UK) Plants For A Future (UK) APHOTOFLORA (UK)
BIO Images (UK) Medicinal Herb Info
Food & Agri Org of UN A Modern Herbal, M. Grieve
'Online Guide To Umbelliferae Of British Isles' Compiled By J.M.Burton 2002