The common pasqueflower is an endangered native plant. All parts of this wildflower are poisonous. However, the saponins, tannins or protoanemonin also have effects of great medicinal value. Due to its rarity and toxicity, self-experiments should be avoided.
Table of contents
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- Characteristics
- Pasqueflower – an overview
- ingredients
- Pasqueflower – Medicinal Effects
- The common pasqueflower is a poisonous plant
- What are saponins?
- Pasque flower in medical history and folk medicine
- Pasqueflower in myth and superstition
- Where is the pasqueflower common?
- An endangered species
Characteristics
- Scientific name: Pulsatilla vulgaris
- Common names: common pasqueflower, pasqueflower, various regional names such as bisswurz (Switzerland), hoewort, hayseed, vine herb (Silesia), Easter flowers (Eichstädt), wolf's paw, wildman's herb (Moselle region), bluebell (Unterweser), kronblom (Altmark), gungerose (Stettin). ), Bitzblume (Saxony), Asscucke (Austria), Mannskraut (Holstein), Schafkraut, Schlottenblumen (in Alsace), historically Bocksbart and Teufelsbart
- Family: Buttercup family (Ranunculaceae)
- Distribution: Central and Western Europe, from France through Central Europe to Denmark and southern Sweden, in the east to the west of Poland.
- Plant parts used: Historically the fresh and dried herb and the rhizome/rootstock
- Ingredients: Protoanemonin in the fresh plant and anemonin in the dried herb, as well as tannins (tannins), saponins (triterpenes), flavonoids, phenolic acids and resins.
- Areas of application: Historically: colds, headaches, menstrual cramps, anxiety and stress, eye diseases, ulcers, stimulating the urge to urinate, cramps, promoting sputum in cases of mucus in the respiratory tract
Pasqueflower – an overview
- The pasqueflowers as a genus are widespread in Eurasia and North America.
- The tough herbaceous plants overwinter in a rhizome, the rootstock, underground.
- Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) grows in various locations, including open pine forests and poor grasslands. It is usually found in low mountain ranges on sunny slopes on limestone soils. It cannot tolerate summer coolness and is highly sensitive to over-fertilization.
- From East Central Europe and then in Eastern Europe, Pulsatilla grandis, the greater pasqueflower, takes the place of the common pasqueflower. This can also be found in Bavaria and Thuringia. The third German species of the genus is the pasqueflower (Pulsatilla pratensis).
- The common pasqueflower was Flower of the Year in 1996. This was intended to make their threat public.
- In the 18th century, pasqueflower was used as a herbal medicine to treat eye diseases.
- Pasqueflower is very rare and is protected. You are not allowed to collect wild plants!
ingredients
Pulsatilla species have abundant flavonoids, tannins and saponins. The common pasqueflower contains protoanemonin in the fresh plant and anemonin in the dried herb, as well as tannins (tanins), saponins (triterpenes), flavonoids, phenolic acids and resins.
Pasqueflower – Medicinal Effects
In 2019, a Polish scientific team examined extracts from Pulsatilla patens and Pulsatilla vulgaris for their effects against fungi, microbes and malaria. In addition, their effects against cancer lines in mammals were tested and documented in a publication.
Both species were active against the fungus Candida glabrata, which causes illness in humans. Both species suggested general activity against the spectrum of developed cancer cells.
Other species of the genus Pulsatilla have been much better researched regarding their medicinal effects than the common pasqueflower. For Pulsatilla vulgaris, studies focus on its population ecology and life cycle as well as molecular genetics.
It has received little medical attention in new studies. This is primarily because it is a highly threatened plant in the European Union.
Triterpene saponins from the species Pulsatella chinensis have proven to be highly effective against pathogenic fungi, parasites and bacteria.
The plant is used in China to treat inflammatory diseases, premenstrual syndrome and psychosomatic disorders. A saponin from Pulsatilla koreana curbed the growth of cancer cells.
Eleven saponins isolated from the roots of this species showed some strong effects against bacteria, parasites, inflammation, fungi and microbes. Saponins from six Pulsatilla species were not only found to be effective against cancer, but also strengthened the immune system.
They also promoted nerve activity, fought microbes and oxidative stress. Since Pulsatilla vulgaris contains similar saponins, comparable effects are also likely with the common pasqueflower. However, the structure of the triterpene saponins in Pulsatilla vulgaris differs significantly from that of related species.
A new Polish study examined the chemotherapeutic potential of pasqueflower for 17 different cancer lines. It was shown that Pulsatilla vulgaris inhibits the development of cancer in the signaling pathways of twelve reporter genes.
This result is promising, but it does not mean that the common pasque flower can be used in cancer medicine. According to the scientific team involved, in order to assess this, preclinical and clinical studies are necessary, which are currently missing.
In addition, toxicological studies with extracts of the plant would be required to determine the risk to cells, tissue, organs and the organism. The problem is the limited access to Pulsatilla vulgaris in its natural occurrence in the European Union.
The common pasqueflower is a poisonous plant
Common pasqueflower may not be collected from the wild as the endangered plant is a protected species. You should also avoid the idea of using Pulsatilla vulgaris as a home remedy because of its toxic effects.
All parts of the plant are toxic. Protoanemonin in the fresh plant is highly irritating to skin and mucous membranes. Simply touching the plant can cause skin blisters, chemical burns and inflammation.
When consuming the herb and the rhizome, kidney inflammation is possible, as are problems with the intestines and stomach. At higher doses there is an acute risk of paralysis of the central nervous system and this can cause death.
Dried plants are still poisonous, but not as strong. Because the protoanemonin changes into the less toxic anemonin.
In case of poisoning with common pasque flower, attempts are made to induce vomiting. Activated charcoal is used to bind toxins in the stomach. Medical measures also include gastric lavage, electrolyte replacement and – if necessary – artificial respiration.
What are saponins?
Saponins, also known as soap substances, are used by plants to repel pests, especially fungi. The soap substances affect sterols in the cell membranes of the fungi, causing liquid to penetrate the membrane and causing the fungus to die.
Saponins have a poisonous effect on many invertebrates. Chemically, soap substances are sugar compounds.
They form a ring (aglycone) and form a glycoside structure with sugar chains. This is structured differently for each plant.
Saponins play a role in medicine because their bioactive effects often also work in humans. Saponins help against bacteria and fungi that damage the human organism.
They are found in remedies for coughs and mucus, as soap substances liquefy mucus and help with coughing up. At the same time, they have an anti-inflammatory effect and thus help twice as much with inflammation of the respiratory tract.
Saponins also stimulate urine flow. Saponins are natural antibiotics. According to a German review, saponins are particularly interesting for obtaining components in cancer therapy.
This does not contradict the fact that plants rich in saponins, such as pasque flowers, are also poisonous to humans. When consumed in large quantities, saponins cannot cure inflammation in humans, but can even cause them.
Pasque flower in medical history and folk medicine
Pasque flowers were used in many ways as medicinal products in ancient times and the Middle Ages. The doctor Hippocrates used them to combat anxiety and to promote menstruation, i.e. for ailments for which related species are still used in East Asia today.
In folk medicine, the fresh leaves, the juice or the cut rhizome were placed on skin ulcers, used against eczema, insect bites and infected wounds. In 1804, the Viennese doctor Ferdinand Bernhard Vietz saw pasque flowers as a medicine against hardening and ulcers.
The proven effects of Pulsatilla species against bacteria, fungi and microbes make effects against inflammatory skin diseases seem plausible. In addition, the strong irritant effect was probably a reason for using it as a remedy against ulcers.
The associative ideas in the Middle Ages and early modern times were based on the assumption that “similar can be combated with similar”.
Pasqueflower in myth and superstition
Meanwhile, mythical fantasies about the pasqueflower show that there was a “popular” idea that it was dangerous. So it was called Devil's Beard or Goat's Beard, and the place where it grew was supposed to mark the place where a flying witch had been shot down.
The name pasqueflower does not come from the kitchen, but is a diminutive of pasqueflower. Bell refers to the “bell shape” of the flower as it moves in the wind.
Where is the pasqueflower common?
The common pasqueflower needs calcareous soil and is particularly common in low mountain ranges with limestone and limestone slate. In Central Europe it now populates an area from the Swabian Alb to the Eifel and Thuringia.
In northern Central Europe, however, it is almost extinct…