Ammi visnaga

Bishop weed ( Ammi visnaga )

The bishop weed ( Ammi visnaga ) is a flowering plant in the carrot family ( Apiaceae ) and is also Khella or Khellakraut called. The Latin name is derived from Ammi ammos, which in Greek means sand. The name also used toothpicks herb or Zahnstocherammei ( even Ammi ) comes from the fact that it is used in oriental countries for the manufacture of toothpicks, with its spicy taste is welcome.

The Bishop herb is about a meter high and bears white flowers. It grows one to two years old. Widespread it is mainly in the Mediterranean region, North Africa, South America, Russia and wild in Central Europe.

Medical importance

Ammi visnaga has already been used by the ancient Egyptians as a medicinal plant, but later fell into oblivion. The fruits of the plant ( Fructus Ammi visnagae ) contain pharmacologically active ingredients such as phototoxic furanocoumarins ( khellin ) and its cardioactive glycoside Khellinin, flavonoids and Pyranocumarine ( Visnadin ).

It is the visnadine, which gives the plant extracts a positive effect on blood flow to the heart muscle due to an expansion of the coronary arteries. It turns a positive inotropic effect. An antispasmodic effect should be joined. Therefore Ammi visnaga is often used to treat angina pectoris. Also colic can be mitigated by the anticonvulsant effect.

System

The species was listed in the work Species Plantarum of the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus under the taxon Daucus visnaga. The French botanist Jean Baptiste de Lamarck Monnet arranged the way in 1779 under the currently valid taxon Ammi visnaga to a different genus. Another synonym is Visnaga daucoides Gaertn ..