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Greater celandine (Chelidonium majus)

Greater celandine Common Names: Garden celandine, tetterwort, killwort, wart-wort.

Description: Toxic to humans.

Habit: Erect, biennial/perennial, 12 to 32 inch tall forb, yellowish sap; stems branched, leafy and ribbed.

Leaves: Several, alternate, deeply lobed and pinnately-divided.

Stems: Weak, erect, 12-32 inches tall, sparingly pubescent.

Flowers: Yellow, 4-parted, 3/4 inches wide; inflorescence are small, umbel-like clusters; blooms May-August.

Fruit and seeds: Small, glabrous, black in color; borne in a long, cylindrical capsule that is 2-5 cm long. Each has an elaiosome, which attracts ants to disperse the seeds.

Habitat: Native to Europe. Found in waste places, thickets, roadsides and dry woods.

Reproduction: By seed.

Similar species: Lesser celandine (Ficaria verna).

Monitoring and rapid response: Hand pull before plant goes to seed. Use of any

Credits: The information provided in this factsheet was gathered from Southwest School of Botanical Medicine and the Wisconsin State Herbarium.

Individual species images that appear with a number in a black box are courtesy of the Bugwood.org network (http://www.invasive.org). Individual photo author credits may not be included due to the small display size of the images and subsequent difficulty of reading the provided text. All other images appear courtesy of Google (http://images.google.com).


Common Name:

Greater celandine

Scientific Name:

Chelidonium majus

Family:

Papaveraceae
(Poppy)

Duration:

Biennial

Habit:

Herbs

USDA Symbol:

CHMA2