Bupleurum falcatum (L) Sickle-Leaved Hares-Ear
NOMENCLATURE
Bupleurum: see B. baldense
PREVIOUS NAMES: B. scorzoneraefolium. B. chinense.
BSBI Picture Link to Bupleurum falcatum
BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
TYPE : glabrous perennial. H. ROOTS : stout woody.
STEMS : hollow, striate. HEIGHT : 100cm.
UMBELS : compound, 1-4cm, smooth, pedunculate, sub- equal
rays, 5-11, 5-30mm. Peduncle > than rays.
LEAVES : simple. Basal 10cm, elliptical, long-petiolate, 5 parallel veins, cartilaginous margin.
Lower, linear- lanceolate, often falcate, narrowed into a petiole. Upper linear, sessile,
semi-ampexicaul. Cotyledons tapered gradually at the base, without a distinct petiole.
BRACTS : 2-5, 2-7 mm unequal, lancolate to linear, 3-5 veined. Bracteoles 4-5
lanceolate, often aristate, 3-veined, < than pedicellate flrs.
FLOWERS : yellow. Hermaphrodite. Styles form a stylopodium. Fl. 7-10.
FRUIT : 2.5-3mm, ellipsoid, laterally compressed, smooth. Commisure broad. Mericarps with
slender, prominent, narrowly winged ridges. Carpophore present. Vittae small. Pedicels 1-3
mm, slender. Styles 0.5 mm, divergent or appressed to the stylopodium. Stigma truncate. 2n=16.
HABITAT : damp to dry grassland, roadsides, ditches, waste places, hedgerows.
DISTRIBUTION : last record in Britain on a road between Ongar and Chelmsford, Essex, 1831,
but due to hedge and ditch clearance in 1962, now rare. Confined to Essex. Native to
S.C.E Europe, (Belgium, France, Germany). Temperate Asia.
BSBI Distribution Map for Bupleurum falcatum (UK)
MEDICINAL USES
EFFECT : tonic for liver, circulatory system, lowers fevers, anti-viral.
PARTS : roots.,
APPLICATION : internal decoction for malaria, blackwater fever, uterine & rectal prolapse,
herpes simplex, haemorrhoids, sluggish liver, menstrual disorders, abdominal bloating.
EXTERNAL LINKS FOR Bupleurum falcatum
These links to trusted websites and institutions may provide in depth or additional information regards cultivation, chemistry, edibility, images etc. for the species. Links last updated Aug 2012.
Wikipedia (EU) Plants For a Future (UK) Nat Cent for Bio Medicine
BSBI Archives Herbsophy AU UK Wildflowers
Online Guide To Umbelliferae Of The British Isles' Compiled By J.M.Burton 2002
