Smearwort

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Smearwort
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Magnoliids Order: Piperales Family: Aristolochiaceae Genus: Aristolochia Species: A. rotunda
Binomial name
Aristolochia rotunda

Smearwort (Aristolochia rotunda), also known as Round-leaved Birthwort, English Mercury, Mercury Goosefoot, Allgood, Tola Bona or (ambiguously) "Fat Hen", is a perennial herb.

Uses

Medicinal uses

The name Smearwort is derived from its use as ointment. Poultices derived from the leaves were used to heal chronic sores. Roots were often used on sheep to remedy cough.

Shagreen uses

And, the seeds have found employment in the making of shagreen.

Food uses

Smearwort leaves can be gathered when young and delicate, then boiled in broth. If grown in rich soil, the shoots may be cut when no bigger than a pencil and five inches high, to be peeled and boiled, then eaten as asparagus.

Botanical description

Smearwort is a dark-green succulent plant that grows to about 2 feet high, rising from stout, fleshy, branching root-stock. It has large, smooth-edged, stalkless leaves that clasp the stem with enlarged, basal lobes and tubular, yellowish-green flowers with a prominent, dark-brown flap, 1 to 2 inches long, both terminal and arising from the axils of the leaves. The fruit is bladder-like and contains a single seed.

External links

Wikispecies has information related to: Smearwort

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Smearwort

• Smearwort on Interactive Flora of NW Europe (with picture)