Anthemis cotula

Anthemis cotula
Stinking chamomile
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Tribe:	Anthemideae
Genus:	Anthemis
Species:	A. cotula
Binomial name
Anthemis cotula L., (1753)
Synonyms
Maruta cotula (L.) DC. Anthemis psorosperma Ten. Anthemis ramosa Spreng. Sources: IPNI,[1] E+M[2] UniProt[3]

Anthemis cotula, also known as stinking chamomile,^[4] is a flowering annual plant with a noticeable and strong odor. The odor is often considered unpleasant, and it is from this that it gains the common epithet "stinking". It is initially native to Europe and North Africa. It has successfully migrated to North America, Southern Africa, Australia and New Zealand^[5] where it can be found growing on waste ground, alongside roads, and in fields.^[6] Anthemis cotula is considered a weed due to its propensity for invading cultivated areas.^[5]

The name "cotula" is from a Greek word for "small cup", describing the shape of the flowers; it was assigned by Carolus Linnaeus in his work Species Plantarum in 1753.^[7]

Anthemis cotula is also known by a wide variety of other names, including mather, dog- or hog's-fennel, dog-finkle, dog-daisy, pig-sty-daisy, chigger-weed,^[6] mayweed, maroute, Maruta cotula, Cotula Maruta foetida, Manzanilla loca, wild chamomile, Camomille puante. Foetid Chamomile or Mayweed, maithes, maithen, mathor ^[8] mayweed chamomile, camomille des chiens, camomille puante, stinkende Hundskamille, camomila-de-cachorro, macéla-fétida, and manzanilla hedionda.

Description

The "stinking chamomile" Anthemis cotula is so-named for its resemblance to the true chamomile plant, Anthemis nobilis; both have branching upright stems each topped by a single large flower head, although the "stinking chamomile" is distinguished by lacking the membraneous scales underneath the flowers of the true chamomile, as well as by its characteristic strong odor. The leaves of Anthemis cotula have a similar appearance to those of the fennel plant (Foeniculum vulgare), from which the name "Dog's Fennel" is derived.^[9]

Anthemis cotula is an annual glandular plant with a harsh taste and an acrid smell. Its height varies from 12 inches (28 centimeters) to 24 inches (56 centimeters).^[6]

Leaves

The leaves of the plant sometimes have very fine and soft hairs on the upper surface, although the plant is mostly hairless. There is no leaf stalk; leaves grow immediately from the stems. The leaves are pinnate in shape, with many extremely thin lobes, and can be around 1 or 2 inches long (2.5 to 5 centimeters).^[6]

Flowers

Each stem is topped by a single flower head which is usually around 1 inch (2.34 centimeters) in diameter. The flower head is encompassed by between 10 and 18 white ray florets, each with a three-toothed shape; the florets tend to curve downwards around the edges and may occasionally have pistils, although these do not produce fruit. Beneath the flower proper, oval bracts of the plant form an involucre, with soft hairs on each; further bracts are bristled and sit at right angles to the flowers.^[6]

Fruits

The fruits are achenes (with no pappus). They are wrinkled, ribbed with ten ridges, and have small glandular bumps across the surface.

Distribution

Native

Palearctic

Macaronesia: Azores, Canary Islands, Madeira Islands

Northern Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia

Western Asia: Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey

Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, North Caucasus, Dagestan

Northern Europe: Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, England

Middle Europe: Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland

East Europe: Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Krym

Southeastern Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Crete, Italy, Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Sardinia, Serbia, Sicily, Slovenia

Southwestern Europe: France Corsica, Portugal, Spain, Baleares

Source: GRIN^[5]

References

Illustration from Britton & Brown 1913.

1. ^ International Organization for Plant Information (IOPI). "Plant Name Search Results" (HTML). International Plant Names Index. http://www.ipni.org/ipni/idPlantNameSearch.do?id=125517-3. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 
2. ^ Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem. "Details for: Anthemis cotula". Euro+Med PlantBase. Freie Universität Berlin. http://ww2.bgbm.org/EuroPlusMed/PTaxonDetail.asp?NameId=117655&PTRefFk=7000000. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 
3. ^ UniProt. "Anthemis cotula" (HTML). http://beta.uniprot.org/taxonomy/158220. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 
4. ^ Britten, James; Robert Holland (1886). "Page 84". A Dictionary of English Plant-names. For the English Dialect Society, Trübner & Ludgate Hill. p. 618 pages. http://books.google.com/books?id=F3YKAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA84&lpg=PA84. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) (1992-05-02). "Taxon: Anthemis cotula L.". Taxonomy for Plants. USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program, National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?103883. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d e} Britton, Nathaniel Lord; Addison Brown (1913). "BORAGE FAMILY". An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions From Newfoundland to the Parallel of the Southern Boundary of Virginia, and from the Atlantic Ocean Westward to the 102d Meridian. Volume III Gentianaceae to Compositae -- Gentian to Thistle (Second Edition -- Revised and Enlarged ed.). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. http://books.google.com/books?pg=RA3-PA88&lpg=RA3-PA88. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 
7. ^ Dunglison, Robley; Richard James Dunglison (1876). "Section 22 Costohyoideus thru Cough". A Dictionary of Medical Science; Containing a Concise Explanation of the Various Subjects and Terms of Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, Hygiene, Therapeutics, Medical Chemistry, Pharmacology, Pharmacy, Surgery, Obstetrics, Medical Jurisprudence, and Dentistry; Notices of Climate, and of Mineral Waters; Formulae for Officinal, Empirical, and Dietetic Preparations; with the Accentuation and Etymology of the Terms, and the French and Other Synonyms. Churchill. p. 1131 pages. http://books.google.com/books?pg=PA266&lpg=PA266. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 
8. ^ M. Grieve (1931). "Mayweed". A Modern Herbal. © Copyright Protected 1995-2008 Botanical.com. http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/m/maywee26.html. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 
9. ^ M. Grieve (1931). "Chamomile Stinking". A Modern Herbal. © Copyright Protected 1995-2008 Botanical.com. http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/c/chammo49.html#sti. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 

External links

Media related to Anthemis cotula at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Anthemis cotula at Wikispecies

• "Anthemis cotula L.". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=36330. Retrieved 17 June 2008. 
• "Anthemis cotula". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ANCO2. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 
• Blanchan, Neltje (1917): Wild Flowers Worth Knowing. HTML or TXT fulltext at Project Gutenberg
• Phillpotts, Eden (1900). "ANTHEMIS COTULA". Sons of the Morning. Putnam. pp. 61–71 of 492 pages. http://books.google.com/books?id=hzb63eYDcyQC&pg=PA61. Retrieved 2008-06-17.