''Packera aurea'' (formerly ''Senecio aureus''), commonly known as golden ragwort or simply ragwort, is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

flower in the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

. It is also known as golden groundsel, squaw weed, life root, golden ''Senecio'', uncum, uncum root, waw weed, false valerian, cough weed, female regulator, cocash weed, ragweed, staggerwort, and St. James wort. It is native to eastern North America, from

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

and from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

(with additional populations in the panhandle of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Constituents

Active compounds include: *

Pyrrolizidine alkaloid Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), sometimes referred to as necine bases, are a group of naturally occurring alkaloids based on the structure of pyrrolizidine. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are produced by plants as a defense mechanism against insect he ...

s (PAs) florosenine, otosenine, and floridanine. *Eremophilane

sesquiterpene Sesquiterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of three isoprene units and often have the molecular formula C15H24. Like monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes may be cyclic or contain rings, including many unique combinations. Biochemical modificatio ...

s, such as trans-9-oxofuranoeremophilane, 8x-ethoxy-l0x-H-eremophilane, and caccalol. Image:Golden Ragwort Senecio aureus Plant 3264px.JPG, '' Senecio aureus'' Golden Ragwort Image:Golden Ragwort Senecio aureus Flower 2184px.jpg, Flower Image:Golden Ragwort Senecio aureus Buds 991px.jpg, Buds Image:GoldenRagwort1.JPG, Young flowers Image:Packera aureus leaves.jpg, Leaves (in summer)

Medicinal uses

In contemporary times, ''P. aurea'' is not much used due to its saturated

pyrrolizidine alkaloid Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), sometimes referred to as necine bases, are a group of naturally occurring alkaloids based on the structure of pyrrolizidine. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are produced by plants as a defense mechanism against insect he ...

s which can cause liver

veno-occlusive disease Hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) or veno-occlusive disease with immunodeficiency is a potentially life-threatening condition in which some of the small veins in the liver are obstructed. It is a complication of high-dose chemotherapy given bef ...

upon metabolism. If used, a PA-free extract would be required for safe use for more than a two-week course. Life root, as it was called by the

Eclectics Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in ...

, was used as a uterine tonic. It is an ingredient in

Lydia Pinkham Lydia Estes Pinkham (born Estes; February 9, 1819 – May 17, 1883) was an American inventor and marketer of an herbal-alcoholic "women's tonic" for menstrual and menopausal problems, which medical experts dismissed as a quack remedy, but w ...

's compound. The plant was an important treatment among the Native Americans and among the Eclectic medicine physicians for reproductive conditions. Scudder wrote:

The Senecio exerts a specific influence upon the reproductive organs of the female, and to a less extent upon the male. It relieves irritation and strengthens functional activity. Hence it has acquired the reputation of a "uterine tonic." It may be prescribed in all cases in which there is an atonic condition of ovaries or uterus, with derangement of function. It makes little difference whether it is amenorrhoea, dysmenorrhoea or menorrhagia, or whether it takes the form of increased mucous or purulent secretion, or displacement. The remedy acts slowly, and sufficient time must be given. In the male we prescribe it in cases of fullness and weight in the perineum, dragging sensations in the testicle, and difficult or tardy urination. In both male and female we sometimes use it with advantage in painful micturition with tenesmus.http://www.henriettesherbal.com/eclectic/spec-med/senecio.html Dr. John M. Scudder (1870) Specific Medications and Specific Medicines

Relationship with the cinnabar moth

The

cinnabar moth The cinnabar moth (''Tyria jacobaeae'') is a brightly coloured arctiid moth found as a native species in Europe and western and central Asia then east across the Palearctic to Siberia to China. It has been introduced into New Zealand, Australia a ...

feeds mostly on ragworts and has been introduced as a control measure in places where common ragwort,

Jacobaea vulgaris ''Jacobaea vulgaris'', syn. ''Senecio jacobaea'', is a very common wild flower in the family Asteraceae that is native to northern Eurasia, usually in dry, open places, and has also been widely distributed as a weed elsewhere. Common names inc ...

, has become a problem weed.

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile for ''Packera aurea'' (golden ragwort)

Flora of Pennsylvania
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7122951

aureus The ''aureus'' ( ''aurei'', 'golden', used as a noun) was a gold coin of ancient Rome originally valued at 25 pure silver ''denarii'' (sin. denarius). The ''aureus'' was regularly issued from the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 4th cent ...

Flora of Eastern Canada Flora of the Northeastern United States Flora of the Southeastern United States Flora of the Great Lakes region (North America) Flora of the United States Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus