Background: Greater celandine is a yellow-flowering poppy, native to Europe and the Mediterranean basin. It is also widespread in North America, brought there in the 1670's by settlers.
The scientific name is derived from the Greek 'chelidon', meaning 'swallow' as it comes into flower when the swallows arrive and ends its bloom when they leave. Another story says that the name was given because swallows use this plant to unseal the eyes of their young.
Reportedly the favorite flower of Wordsworth --the blossoms are carved on his tomb. He fancifully suggests that the painter who first tried to picture the rising sun, must have taken the idea of the spreading pointed rays from the Celandine's 'glittering countenance.' They burst into bloom about the middle of February, a few days only after their bright, shining leaves.
Description: This Eurasian member of the poppy family found around disturbed soil near. It has been naturalized in North America and can be found in damp, rich soil of the northeastern United States-- along roadsides and in garden beds. Leaves are gray-green with a yellowish cast, alternate, pinnate with ovate and irregular lobed leaflets. Flowers are small and yellow, 4-petaled, 1/2 to 3/4 inch across in a sparse terminal umbel. Fruit is a long, thin pod. Rootstock is cylindrical, having a brown exterior and an orange-yellow interior with a milky juice. Stems are hollow and smooth or slightly hairy with swollen joints. The entire plant contains a bitter, orange-yellow juice that runs red when exposed to the air; it has an unpleasant smell and a bitter taste.
A double-flowered variety, a naturally occurring mutation, also exists.
The greater celandine is the only species in the genus Chelidonium, and is not closely related to the lesser celandine, which is of a different family.
Safety: NOT RECOMMENDED FOR INTERNAL USE.
