Sison amomum (L) Stone Parsley
NOMENCLATURE
Sison: from Greek _____ & _____ Dioscordies.
amomum : Greek : name of an Indian
spice plant, used here because of pungent smell.
OTHER NAMES : hedge sison. Hedge stonewort. Bastard Stone Parsley.
BSBI Picture Link to Sison amomum
BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
TYPE : glabourous perennial. Hs. HEIGHT : 100cm
AROMA : nauseous when crushed, like petrol or nutmeg, or ammonia:
stale perspiration. Fruits pungent, aromatic. STEMS : solid striate.
UMBELS : compound 3-6 smooth rays 3cm. Peduncle >.
LEAVES : simply pinnate. Lowest lobes pinnatifid or pinnatisect. Lobes of lowest lvs
2-5 pairs, 3-6 cm, ovate-lancolate, cuneate at base, sessile or subsessile, serrate, obtuse
teeth with cartilaginous margin + short acute mucro. Petiole long with dilated base. Upper
cauline lvs, 1-2 pairs of linear to narrow-spathulate, toothed lobes + short sheathing
petiole. Cotyledons : Abruptly contracted into a petiole.
BRACTS : 2-4, linear lancolate to subulate. Bracteoles 2-4, ovate lancolate.
FLOWERS : white. Styles forming stylopodium. Hermaphrodite.
Pollination by Diptera. Fl. 7-9.
FRUIT : 3mm. Subglobose, laterally compressed, smooth. Commisure narrow.
Mericarps : prominent ridges. Carpophore present. Vittae 1/2 as long as mericarp, solitary.
Pedicels 1-5mm, unequal. Styles 1/2 as long as stylopodium, divergent to recurved.
Stigma a small knob. 2n=14.
HABITAT : hedge bottoms, grassy places, banks, roadsides, occasionally waste ground.
DISTRIBUTION : native. S. & E. Eng., a line from r. Humber to r.
Severn. Few spots in Wales on coast. W. & S. Europe. S.W. Asia.N. Africa.
BSBI Distribution Map for Sison amomum (UK)
EXTERNAL LINKS FOR Sison amomum
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.
Plants For a Future (UK)
Bio Info (UK) Bio Images (UK)
APHOTOFLORA (UK)
Aussie Gardening (UK)