Weed of the Day No. 12 - Greater Celandine

Talk about a noxious weed! It's taken me forever to figure out what this is and it was Nick Culpepper who wrote a snappy little book in 1652 called The English Physitian: or an Astrologo-Physical Discourse of the Vulgar Herbs of This Nation that helped me solve the mystery.

Modern books should have titles like this one.

For the longest time I thought this was some sort of wild mustard. I'd stare at it and say to myself "It's got to be a mustard. Look at the flowers." Then I'd do some more research and the rest of the plant wouldn't fit. Sure the flower was bright yellow with four petals and a bunch of pistols at the center, but the pictures of wild mustard flowers looked more clumpy than my weed. Sure the growing conditions and bloom time were right, but the leaves looked all wrong. Wild mustard has oval leaves and mine were sort of oak-leafish. It would be at this point that I'd decide that it couldn't be wild mustard and I'd start the search again until my brain would say "I've got it! It's wild mustard!"

A definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. This search was certainly making me crazy.

I changed my tactics. One of the key parts of this plant was the yellow juice that came out of it wherever a piece was broken off. Wild mustard never mentions any yellow fluids. I gave up on books and started to search online for weeds with yellow sap and that's when I came upon Doc. C's description:

This hath divers tender, round, whitish, green Stalks, with greater Joynts than ordinary in other Herbs, as it were Knees, very brittle and easie to break, from whence grow Branches with large tender long Leavs, much divided into many parts, each of them cut in on the edges, set at the Joynts on both sides of the branches, of a dark bluish green colour on the upper side like Columbines, and of a more pale bluish green underneath, ful of a yellow sap, when any part is broken, of a bitter tast and strong scent. At the tops of the Branches which are much divided, grow gold yellow Flowers of four Leaves apiece, after which come smal long pods, with blackish seed therin. The Root is somwhat great at the head, shooting forth divers other long Roots and smal Strings, reddish on the outside and yellow within, ful of a yellow sap therein.

Dude, I couldn't have said it better myself.

Accompanied with this melodic description was a drawing and I knew I had the right plant. To that end, I present to you, Greater Celandine or Chelidonium majus, also called wartflower, wartweed, and my favorite, wartwort. Guess what folks use it for?

Celandine is a kind of poppy that grows in scrubby waste areas and blooms from spring right through until early fall. Its flowers are yellow with four petals and the leaves have deep lobes. The plant wilts quickly when picked and exudes a yellow, unpleasant-smelling sap wherever it is broken which stains hands, clothing and any other porous substance it comes in contact with.

All parts of this plant are toxic. Conversely, herbalists use all parts of this plant for medicines. In Culpepper's day, Celandine was used for everything from liver diseases to ulcers to treatment for the eyes. It is supposed to get rid of warts and its mild sedative qualities have been used to treat respiratory distress. In large quantities however, this plant can cause liver damage.

As far as weeds in the garden go, this one is fairly tenacious. It spreads through seeds and by rhizomes so the double impact gives it a leg up in the garden. Herbicides can be used, but your best bet is just to pull it up as you find it, preferably before it goes to seed.

One more weed down, a couple of hundred to go.