Narthecium ossifragum

Narthecium ossifragum, commonly known as bog asphodel,[1] Lancashire asphodel or bastard asphodel,[2] is a plant of Western Europe, found on wet, boggy moorlands up to about 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in elevation. It produces spikes of bright yellow flowers in summer. The bright orange fruits have been used as a colourant to replace saffron by Shetland Islanders.[3] Despite the plant's English name, it is not particularly closely related to the true asphodels. In addition to other forms of pollination, this plant is adapted to rain-pollination.[4] The Latin specific name means "bone-breaker", and refers to a traditional belief that eating the plant caused sheep to develop brittle bones. The probable origin of this story is that sheep eating a calcium-poor diet are likely to develop bone weakness, and N. ossifragum favours acidic low-calcium soils.[3]

"Bog asphodel" redirects here. For other plants sometimes called bog asphodel, see Narthecium americanum and Narthecium californicum.

Narthecium ossifragum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Dioscoreales
Family: Nartheciaceae
Genus: Narthecium
Species:
N. ossifragum
Binomial name
Narthecium ossifragum

Description

Bog asphodel is a tufted, hairless perennial with a creeping rhizome. The leaves are up to 6 in (15 cm) long, narrow, flattened and sword-shaped, and often tinged with orange. The inflorescence is a spike with bright yellow, star-like flowers about 0.7 in (18 mm) across, which have short white hairs on the orange stamens. The fruits are deep orange.[5][6]

Biology

The plant can cause photosensitisation, a serious skin condition of sheep called alveld, "elf fire", in Norway. It can be relieved by moving stock into shade. Not all stands of the plant are toxic, and the toxicity may be the side effect of the plant's response to a fungal infection.[7][8][9]

Distribution and habitat

Bog asphodel has a circum-boreal temperate oceanic distribution. In the British Isles it occurs in Scotland, Northwest England, Wales, Southwest England and most of Ireland. It grows in wet soils and peats, in bogs, wet heaths and flushes.[10] It can be found in purple moor grass and rush pastures.[2]

  • Narthecium ossifragum in flower
  • N. ossifragum flower
  • N. ossifragum fruiting
  • N. ossifragum in fruit
  • N. ossifragum, in situ near El Serrat, Andorra
  • Narthecium ossifragum High Fens, Belgium

Illustrations
  • Narthecium ossifragum
    Illustration in:
    Jakob Sturm: "Deutschlands Flora in Abbildungen",
    Stuttgart (1796)
  • Narthecium ossifragum
    Illustration in:
    Jakob Sturm: "Deutschlands Flora in Abbildungen",
    Stuttgart (1796)
    clean version
  • Narthecium ossifragum
    Drawing by
    Elly Waterman

References
  1. "BSBI List 2007". Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2014-10-23. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  2. "Pacific Bulb Society | Narthecium". pacificbulbsociety.org. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  3. Richard Mabey Flora Britannica
  4. Hagerup, O. 1950. Rain-pollination. I kommission hos E. Munksgaard. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  5. McClintock, David; Fitter, R.S.R. (1961). The Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers. London: Collins. p. 201.
  6. Sterry, Paul (2006). Complete British wild flowers. London: Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-720469-4.
  7. Handbook of Plant and Fungal Toxicants by J. P. Felix D'Mello
  8. George B. B. Mitchell, 'Non-parasitic skin diseases of sheep' In Pract., Vol. 10, Issue 2, 69-73, March 1, 1988
  9. Arne Flåøyen, 'Studies on the aetiology and pathology of alveld'
  10. "Narthecium ossifragum". Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
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