Arnica montana (also known as
leopard's bane,
wolf's baneWolfbane may refer to:* Aconitum, a flowering plant and herb* Wolfsbane , an English heavy metal/hard rock band* Wolfsbane , a Marvel Comics superhero* Wolfsbane , a Doctor Who novel by Jacqueline Rayner...
,
mountain tobacco and
mountain arnica), is a
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an
flowering plantThe flowering plants or angiosperms are the most diverse group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of seed plants...
with large yellow
capitulaThe capitulum is considered the most derived form of inflorescence. Flower heads found outside Asteraceae show lesser degrees of specialization....
.
Distribution and habitat
A. montana is
endemicEndemism is the ecological state of being unique to a particular geographic location, such as a specific island, habitat type, nation, or other defined zone. To be endemic to a place or area means that it is found only in that part of the world and nowhere else. For example, many species of lemur...
to Europe, from southern
IberiaThe Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France. It is the westernmost of the three major southern European peninsulas—the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas...
to southern
ScandinaviaScandinavia is a geographical region in northern Europe that includes, and is named after, the Scanian Province. It consists of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark...
and the
CarpathiansThe Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the largest mountain range in Europe...
. It is absent from the
British IslesThe British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include Great Britain, Ireland and numerous smaller islands. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Ireland...
and the
ItalianThe Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula is one of the three peninsulas of Southern Europe , spanning 1,000 km from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. The peninsula's shape gives it the nickname Lo Stivale...
and
BalkanThe Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
PeninsulaA peninsula is a piece of land that is nearly surrounded by water but connected to mainland via an isthmus. Word origin: Latin paenīnsula : paene, almost + īnsula, island.A peninsula can also be a headland, cape, island promontory, bill, point, or spit....
s.
A. montana grows in nutrient-poor silicaceous meadows up to nearly 3000 m. It is rare overall, but may be locally abundant. It is becoming rarer, particularly in the north of its distribution, largely due to increasingly intensive agriculture. In more upland regions, it may also be found on nutrient-poor
moorsMoorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas, characterised by low growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland nowadays generally means uncultivated hill land , but the Old English mōr also refers to low-lying wetlands...
and
heathsA heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly infertile acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae...
.
Form
A. montana has tall stems (20–60 cm), supporting usually a single flower
headThe capitulum is considered the most derived form of inflorescence. Flower heads found outside Asteraceae show lesser degrees of specialization....
. Most of the leaves are in a basal
rosetteIn botany, a rosette is a circular arrangement of leaves, with all the leaves at a single height.Though rosettes usually sit near the soil, their structure is an example of a modified stem.-Function:...
, but one or two pairs may be found on the stem and are, unusually for
compositesThe family Asteraceae or Compositae is the second largest family of flowering plants, in terms of number of species....
, opposite. The flower heads are yellow, approximately 5 cm in
diameterIn geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints are on the circle. The diameters are the longest chords of the circle...
, and appear from May to August.
Uses and toxicity
Arnica montana is sometimes grown in herb gardens and has long been used medicinally. It contains the toxin helenalin, which can be poisonous if large amounts of the plant are eaten. Contact with the plant can also cause skin irritation. The roots contain derivatives of
thymolThymol , is a monoterpene phenol derivative of cymene, C10H14O, isomeric with carvacrol, found in oil of thyme, and extracted as a white crystalline substance of a pleasant aromatic odor and strong antiseptic properties...
, which are used as
fungicideFungicides are chemical compounds or biological organisms used to kill or inhibit fungi or fungal spores. Fungi can cause serious damage in agriculture, resulting in critical losses of yield, quality and profit. Fungicides are used both in agriculture and to fight fungal infections in animals...
s and
preservativeA preservative is a natural or synthetic chemical that is added to products such as foods, pharmaceuticals, paints, biological samples, wood, etc. to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or by undesirable chemical changes.-Preservatives in wood:...
s and may have some anti-inflammatory effect. When used topically in a
gelA gel is a solid, jelly-like material that can have properties ranging from soft and weak to hard and tough. Gels are defined as a substantially dilute crosslinked system, which exhibits no flow when in the steady-state...
, Arnica was found to have the same effect as the use of NSAIDs (
ibuprofenIbuprofen is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug originally marketed as Brufen, and since then under various other trademarks , most notably Nurofen, Advil and Motrin...
) in treating the symptoms of hand
osteoarthritisOsteoarthritis , is a group of diseases and mechanical abnormalities involving degradation of joints, including articular cartilage and the subchondral bone next to it...
. A study found that the application of topical Arnica had no better effect than a placebo in the treatment of laser-induced bruising.
Arnica is currently used in
linimentLiniment, from the Latin linere, to anoint, is a medicated topical preparation for application to the skin. Preparations of this type are also called balm...
and
ointmentAn ointment is a viscous semisolid preparation used topically on a variety of body surfaces. These include the skin and the mucus membranes of the eye , vagina, anus, and nose. An ointment may or may not be medicated.- Description :...
preparations used for strains, sprains, and bruises. Commercial arnica preparations are frequently used by professional athletes. The thymol derivatives concentrated in the plants' roots have been clinically shown to be effective vasodilators of subcutaneous blood capillaries. Arnica preparations used topically have been demonstrated to act as an anti-inflammatory and assist normal healing processes by facilitating transport of blood and fluid accumulations through a dilating action of subcutaneous blood capillaries. If ingested internally, the toxin
helenalinHelenalin is a sesquiterpene lactone with potent anti-inflammatory and antitumor effects found in Arnica montana and Arnica chamissonis foliosa...
produces severe
gastroenteritisGastroenteritis is inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, involving both the stomach and the small intestine and resulting in acute diarrhea...
, and internal bleeding of the digestive tract if enough material is ingested.
External links
- Botanica.com Arnica
- http://healthyherbs.about.com/od/monographs/p/arnica.htm