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Asarum europaeum

 
Asarum Europaeum

 
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Asarum europaeum
 
 
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Asarum europaeum, commonly known as Asarabacca, European Wild Ginger, Haselwort, and Wild Spikenard, is a species of wild ginger
Wild ginger

Wild ginger may refer to any of a variety of plants, often with a similar appearance, odour or taste to cultivated ginger. Species involved include:...
 with single axillary dull purple flowers, lying on the ground. It is widespread across Europe, ranging from southern Finland
Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....
 and northern Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
 south to southern France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
 and the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia

The Republic of Macedonia , , often referred to simply as Macedonia, is a landlocked country on the Balkans in southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south and Albania to the west....
. It is also grown extensively outside of its range as an ornamental.






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Asarum europaeum, commonly known as Asarabacca, European Wild Ginger, Haselwort, and Wild Spikenard, is a species of wild ginger
Wild ginger

Wild ginger may refer to any of a variety of plants, often with a similar appearance, odour or taste to cultivated ginger. Species involved include:...
 with single axillary dull purple flowers, lying on the ground. It is widespread across Europe, ranging from southern Finland
Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....
 and northern Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
 south to southern France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
 and the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia

The Republic of Macedonia , , often referred to simply as Macedonia, is a landlocked country on the Balkans in southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south and Albania to the west....
. It is also grown extensively outside of its range as an ornamental. The stems are 10-15 cm long. The leaves are petiolate and reniform and about 10 cm wide. It occurs mostly in deciduous woodland or coniferous forests, especially in calcareous
Calcareous

Calcareous refers to a sediment, sedimentary rock, or soil type which is formed from or contains a high proportion of calcium carbonate in the form of calcite or aragonite....
 soils. There are two recognised subspecies other than the type, including A. europaeum ssp. caucasicum, which is confined to the southwestern Alps
Alps

The Alps is the name for one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
, and A. europaeum ssp. italicum, which is found in central and northern Italy as well as in the Crna Gora
Crna Gora

Crna Gora means "Black Mountain" in Serbian language and Macedonian language. It may refer to one of the following:*Native name of Montenegro...
 mountains in former Jugoslavia. In former days, it was used in snuff and also medicinally as an emetic and cathartic
Cathartic

In medicine, a cathartic is a substance which accelerates defecation.This is in contrast to a laxative, which is a substance which eases defecation, usually by softening the Feces....
. It is quite shade-tolerant and is often employed as a ground cover in gardens where little else will grow.

Description

The plant is a perennial and has prostrate stems that each bear 2 reniform
Leaf shape

In botany, the following terms are used to describe the shape of plant leaf:* Acicular : Slender and pointed, needle-like* Acuminate : Tapering to a long point...
 (i.e. kidney-shaped) leaves with long petiole
Petiole (botany)

In botany, the petiole is the small stalk attaching the leaf blade to the Plant stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem....
s. The upper surface of the leaves is shiny and they have a pepper-like taste and smell. There are also 2 to 3 stipule
Stipule

In botany, stipule is a term coined by Carolus Linnaeus which refers to outgrowths borne on either side of the base of a leafstalk . A pair of stipules is considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many species the stipules are inconspicuous or entirely absent ....
s present that occur in two rows opposite each other on the stem. the flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s are solitary, terminal and nodding. The flower tube is composed of fused tepal
Tepal

Tepals are elements of the perianth, or outer part of a flower, which include the petals or sepals. The term tepal is usually used when all segments of the perianth are of similar shape and color, or undifferentiated....
s that ends with 3 petal-like projections that are brownish towards their ends and dark purple toward the centre. There are 12 stamen
Stamen

The stamen is the male organ of a flower. Each stamen generally has a stalk called the filament , and, on top of the filament, an anther , and pollen sacs, called sporangium....
s present. The flowers emerge in the late winter and spring.

Distribution and habitat

Asarum europaeum has a wide distribution in Europe. It ranges from southern Finland
Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....
 and northern Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
 south to southern France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
, Croatia
Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a Central European country at the crossroads of Pannonian Plain, Balkans, and the Mediterranean Sea....
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country on the Balkans peninsula of South Eastern Europe with an area of 51,129 square kilometres . Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the south, Bosnia and Herzegovina is Landlocked#Nearly landlocked, except for 26 kilometres of the Adriatic Sea coas...
  and the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia

The Republic of Macedonia , , often referred to simply as Macedonia, is a landlocked country on the Balkans in southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south and Albania to the west....
. It is absent from the British Isles
British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include Great Britain and Ireland, and numerous smaller islands....
 and Scandinavia
Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a historical and geographical subregion in northern Europe that includes the Scandinavian Peninsula. It consists of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark; some authorities also include Finland and some might even include Iceland....
 with the exception of southern Finland, and also from northwestern Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 and the Netherlands
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
. Within Europe, the plant is grown outside of its range in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, Denmark
Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries....
, Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
, Norway
Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
 and the Netherlands.

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