Nothoscordum bivalve
| Nothoscordum bivalve | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Amaryllidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Allioideae |
| Genus: | Nothoscordum |
| Species: | N. bivalve
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| Binomial name | |
| Nothoscordum bivalve | |
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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Species synonymy
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Nothoscordum bivalve is a species of flowering plant in the Amaryllidaceae family known by the common names crow poison and false garlic. It is native to the eastern United States from Texas to Florida up to Nebraska and Ohio, as well as Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, northeastern Argentina and central Chile.[2][3]
This is a common plant which grows in parks and on roadsides, and soils which are not too dry or too wet; it grows well in lawns. It's one of the first plants to flower in the spring in Texas, and it blooms from April to May in the Great Plains.[4]
Description
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Nothoscordum bivalve is a perennial herb growing from a bulb about a centimeter wide. It produces one erect stem, or occasionally two. They grow up to 40 centimetres (16 in) tall.
In Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States, Canada, and the British Possessions (1896), Nathaniel Lord Britton uses the following description for the species:
"Bulb globose, less than 1' in diameter, its coats membranous. Leaves 1/2" - 2 1/2" wide, flat, blunt or acutish, shorter than the scape or equalling it; bracts of the umbel lanceolate, acuminate, membranous, persistent; umbel 6-12-flowered; pedicels filiform, usually unequal, becoming rather rigid and 1' - 2' long in fruit; flowers 5" - 6" long; perianth-segments thin, oblong-lanceolate, acute, longer than the stamens; capsule obovoid or somewhat depressed, obtusely 3-lobed, 2" - 3" high, the style as long or slightly longer."[5]
There are one to four narrow leaves up to 30 centimetres (12 in) long. The inflorescence is an umbel of 3 to 6 flowers, or sometimes up to 10. There are two bracts at the base of the umbel. The flower has six whitish tepals, each of which usually has a dark reddish midvein.[2]
The flower does not smell of onion or garlic.[6] It can have a faint fragrant scent. The fruit is a capsule.[2]
Taxonomy
[edit]Nothoscordum bivalve was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 work Species Plantarum. He used the name Ornithogalum bivalve, placing it as one of the 12 original species in the star-of-Bethlehem genus.[7]
Carl Sigismund Kunth described the genus Nothoscordum in 1843.[8][9] Here, he suggests Linnaeus' O. bivalve could be a synonym for several Nothoscordum species. It wasn't until 1896 that the name Nothoscordum bivalve was used, starting with Nathaniel Lord Britton's Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States, Canada, and the British Possessions.[5]
Other classifications
[edit]In 1796, Richard Anthony Salisbury referred to it as Ornithogalum pulchellum in his account of the plants at Chapel Allerton.[10] This name is considered superfluous and was never widely used.[11] In Otto Kuntze's controversial 1890s revision of taxonomy, he classified the plant as part of the Allium genus, calling it Allium bivalve.[12] It's also been suggested as part of the Brodiaea, Milla, Tristagma, and Triteleia genuses.
Etymology
[edit]The genus name, Nothoscordum, means "false garlic" in Greek.[8][13] Bivalve means "two sides" and refers to the species' two bracts.[13] The common name crow poison allegedly stems from a Cherokee legend that the flowers were lethal to crows.[14]
Ecology and uses
[edit]The bulbs can be gathered any time of year and eaten cooked. They possess a faint garlic flavor.[15] According to the USDA, "It is grazed by livestock, but seldom represents a significant percentage of diet due to low productivity."[4]
Because it's one of the earlier-blooming flowers in several southern US states, insects that are active early in the spring rely on it for nectar and pollen, such as the falcate orangetip.[16]
Nothoscordum bivalve is one of the species being investigated as a potential antimicrobial treatment against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.[17] It's been reported that the species was used to treat wounds and skin irritation by some Native American tribes in order to prevent infection, and that it could have antimicrobial and astringent properties.[18] However, there are not yet any definitive findings that Nothoscordum bivalve is antimicrobial.[17]
Gallery
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Flowers of Nothoscordum bivalve (Family: Amaryllidaceae). Crowpoison or false garlic. -
Nothoscordum bivalve (Familia: Amaryllidaceae). -
Nothoscordum bivalve. -
Nothoscordum bivalve in Jibou Botanical Garden.
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References
[edit]- ^ The Plant List
- ^ a b c Nothoscordum bivalve. Flora of North America.
- ^ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
- ^ a b "FALSE GARLIC Nothoscordum bivalve (L.) Britt" (PDF). USDA NRCS. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
- ^ a b Britton, Nathaniel Lord (1897). An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British possessions from Newfoundland to the parallel of the southern boundary of Virginia and from the Atlantic Ocean westward to the 102d meridian. unknown library. New York : C. Scribner's Sons. ISBN 978-0-665-05509-6.
- ^ Nothoscordum bivalve. USDA NRCS Plant Fact Sheet.
- ^ Linné, Carl von; Linné, Carl von; Salvius, Lars (1753). Caroli Linnaei ... Species plantarum :exhibentes plantas rite cognitas, ad genera relatas, cum differentiis specificis, nominibus trivialibus, synonymis selectis, locis natalibus, secundum systema sexuale digestas... Holmiae: Impensis Laurentii Salvii.
- ^ a b Kunth, Karl Sigismund (1833). Enumeratio plantarum omnium hucusque cognitarum, secundum familias naturales disposita: Adjectis characteribus, differentiis et synonymis. unknown library. Stutgardiae, Sumtibus J.G. Cottae.
- ^ "Nothoscordum Kunth | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
- ^ Salisbury, R. A.; Salisbury, R. A. (1796). Prodromus stirpium in horto ad Chapel Allerton vigentium. Londini: [s.n.]
- ^ "Ornithogalum pulchellum Salisb. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
- ^ Kuntze, Otto; Kuntze, Otto (1893). Revisio generum plantarum:vascularium omnium atque cellularium multarum secundum leges nomenclaturae internationales cum enumeratione plantarum exoticarum in itinere mundi collectarum ... Vol. v.3 pt. 1-3. Leipzig: A. Felix [etc.]
- ^ a b Webmaster, ANPS (2020-03-24). "Know Your Natives – Crow Poison". Arkansas Native Plant Society. Retrieved 2025-03-23.
- ^ "Why is false garlic called crow poison? - Green Packs". greenpacks.org. Retrieved 2025-03-23.
- ^ Thayer, Samuel (2023). Sam Thayer's field guide to edible wild plants of eastern and central North America. Weyerhaeuser, WI 54895: Forager's Harvest. p. 259. ISBN 978-0-9766266-4-0.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ "False Garlic". Missouri Department of Conservation. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
- ^ a b Hernández-Marín, David Alejandro; Guevara-Lara, Fidel; Rivas-Morales, Catalina; Verduzco-Martínez, Jorge Armando; Galindo-Rodriguez, Sergio Arturo; Sánchez-García, Eduardo (2018-10-01). "Biological activity of Nothoscordum bivalve (L.) Britton and Parthenium incanum Kunth extracts. | EBSCOhost". openurl.ebsco.com. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
- ^ Immune, Green (2024-12-11). "Crow Poison: A Misunderstood Plant with Medicinal Potential?". Green Immune. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
External links
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