Tanacetum balsamita

Tanacetum balsamita
Conservation status
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Tanacetum
Species:	T. balsamita
Binomial name
Tanacetum balsamita L.
Synonyms[1]
Balsamita balsamita (L.) Rydb. nom. illeg. Balsamita major Desf. Balsamita suaveolens Pers. Balsamita vulgaris Willd. Chamaemelum balsamita (L.) E.H.L.Krause Chrysanthemum balsamita (L.) Baill. Chrysanthemum grande (L.) Hook.f. Chrysanthemum grandiflorum (Desf.) Dum.Cours. Chrysanthemum majus (Desf.) Asch. Chrysanthemum tanacetifolium (Desr.) Dum.Cours. Chrysanthemum tanacetum Vis. Leucanthemum balsamita (L.) Over Matricaria balsamita (L.) Desr. Pyrethrum majus (Desf.) Tzvelev

Tanacetum balsamita is a perennial temperate herb known as costmary,^[2] alecost,^[3] balsam herb, bible leaf, or mint geranium.^[3][4][5] A fragrant plant native to southern Europe and western Asia, it has been used over centuries for culinary, aromatic, and traditional medicine purposes.^[4]

Description

Costmary is a perennial with oval serrated leaves and can grow up to 2 m (6.6 ft) high. During summer, it shows small, yellow, button-shaped blossoms which appear in clusters.^[6]

Name

The English name 'costmary' stems from 'costus of Saint Mary'. Also, in other languages, it is associated with the Virgin Mary, most probably because it was thought to be a treatment for women's diseases in folk medicine.^[6]

Origin and spread

The plant seems to have originated in the Mediterranean. Whether the plant called "balsamita" described by Columella in 70 AD is the same is unclear. Costmary was widely grown since the medieval times in herb gardens until the late 19th and early 20th centuries.^[4] In the 21st century, it has mostly disappeared in Europe, but is still widely used in southwest Asia.^[6] It is referred to by Nicholas Culpeper as the 'balsam herb'.^[5]

Phytochemicals

Leaves contain carvone as the main phytochemical (about 50% of total), together with minor amounts of β-thujone and other carvone-related chemicals.^{[7][better source needed]}

Traditional medicine

From medieval times through the 18th century, costmary was used in various supposed treatments of traditional medicine.^[4][8][9]

Gallery

• 
  Flower clusters
• 
  Leaves

References

1. The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species, retrieved 30 April 2016
2. NRCS. "Tanacetum balsamita". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 8 December 2015.
3. "Tanacetum balsamita L. subsp. balsamita", USDA GRIN Taxonomy, retrieved 30 April 2016
4. "Tanacetum balsamita". North Carolina Extension, Gardener Plant Toolbox, North Carolina State University. 2024. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
5. "Costmary". Botanical.com. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
6. Cumo, Christopher (2013). Encyclopedia of Cultivated Plants A-F. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. pp. 329–332. ISBN 978-1-59884-774-1.
7. "Tanacetum balsamita L.: A Medicinal Plant from Guadalajara (Spain)". ISHS Acta Horticulturae, International Symposium on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, XXIII IHC.
8. Jiao, Majing; Liu, Xinqiao; Ren, Yongshen; et al. (2022-02-04). "Comparison of Herbal Medicines Used for Women's Menstruation Diseases in Different Areas of the World". Frontiers in Pharmacology. 12: 751207. doi:10.3389/fphar.2021.751207. ISSN 1663-9812. PMC 8854496. PMID 35185533.
9. Hill, John (1812). The Family Herbal. Bungay: Printed and published by C. Brightley and T. Kinnersley. p. 91.

Further reading

• Culpepers British Herbal – Pub. William Nicholson and Son – C. 1905 (re-print of the 1653 original)
• Costmary in The herball, or Generall historie of plantes (1633) by John Gerard
• Hassanpouraghdam, Mohammad-Bagher (2008), "Chrysanthemum Balsamita (L.) Baill.: A Forgotten Medicinal Plant", FACTA UNIVERSITATIS, Series: Medicine and Biology, 15: 119-124