Descurainia sophia

Descurainia sophia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Descurainia
Species: D. sophia
Binomial name
Descurainia sophia
(L.) Webb ex Prantl[1]
Synonyms

Sisymbrium sophia L.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Descurainia sophia.

Descurainia sophia is a member of the mustard family.[1] Common names include flixweed, herb-Sophia and tansy mustard.[2] It reproduces by seeds. Its stem is erect, branched, and 4 to 30 inches high.[3] It was once given to patients suffering from dysentery and called by ancient herbalists Sophia Chirurgorum, "The Wisdom of Surgeons," on account of its healing properties.[4] It is the type species of the genus Descurainia and of the rejected genus Sophia Adans.[5][6]

In German, it is called the Sophienkraut and associated with Saint Sophia of Rome, who was invoked against late frosts.[7]

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Descurainia sophia (L.) Webb ex Prantl". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 12 November 2014 via The Plant List.
  2. "Descurainia sophia". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  3. Flixweed
  4. botanical.com - A Modern Herbal | Mustards
  5. Index Nominum Genericorum
  6. Tropicos
  7. Ekkart Sauser (1995). "Sophia von Rom". In Bautz, Traugott. Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German) 10. Herzberg: Bautz. cols. 807–808. ISBN 3-88309-062-X.


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