ATHEMIS PYRETHRUM.-SPANISH CHAMOMILE, OR PELLITORY OE SPAIN. 
Fig. (a) and (6) represent a front and back view of the floret of the radius ; (c) a floret of the disc ; ( d ) the style ; (e) the stamens. 
Pellitory of Spain is a perennial plant, a native of the Levant, Syria, Arabia, Barbary, and the south of 
Europe. It has long been celebrated as a medicinal agent ; and merits a place in our collections, on ac- 
count of the beauty both of the foliage and flowers : it is a very rare plant in this country, notwithstanding 
it was cultivated here, by Lobel, as long since as 1570. Parkinson, it appears, grew it ; as he observes, 
that the roots of the cultivated plants were much larger than those of the wild ones : he tells us also, that 
it was too tender to endure our winters ; and to the latter cause, as well as to the difficulty of propagating 
it, for it does not ripen its seeds in this country, its present scarcity has been attributed. 
The root is long, tapering, about the thickness of a finger, which runs down a foot or more into the 
ground, with a brownish cuticle, and sending off several small fibres. From the root proceed several pro- 
cumbent stems, about a foot in height, round, hairy, commonly unifloral, and seldom branching. The 
leaves are doubly pinnate, with narrow linear segments, of a pale green colour. The flowers appear in June 
and July; they are large, terminal, solitary, with the florets of the disc yellow, and those of the radius 
white on the upper side, and of a purplish colour underneath. The florets resemble those of Anthemis 
nobilis ; in the centre, or disc, they are united : those of the circumference, margin or radius, are pistilline, 
that is, have no stamens, at least in perfect condition ; and hence, as the flowers of the disc are sufficient to 
perpetuate the species, the extra pistilliferous ones of the ray were said by Linnaeus to be superfluous. 
Specific Character. Stems simple, 1-flowered, decumbent; leaves bipinnated, segments linear, 
pointed. 
Chemical Analysis. — M. Gouthier says, that in 100 parts of the root of this plant he found — 
Oil, fixed 
. 5 
Muline 
. 33 
— Volatile 
a trace 
Muriate of Lime 
. a trace 
Yellow colouring matter 
. 14 
Lignin 
. 35 
Gum 
11 
Moss 
2 
100 
Qualities. — The dried root of Pellitory has no smell. On being chewed, the taste, which is acrid, is 
not immediately perceived, but it quickly raises a glowing heat, and a plentiful secretion of saliva. Grew 
says, c< The heat produced by Pyrethrum is joined with a kind of vibration, as when a flame is brandished 
with a lamp furnace . . . Being chewed, it makes a sensible impression on the lips, which continues (like 
the flame of a coal betwixt in and out) for nine or ten minutes ; but the heat in other parts much longer. 
This heat is by no means so painful as that which the arum, capsicum, and some other plants produce. 
Alibert says, “ Par la distillation, cette racine fournitune huile butyrac^e tr&s acrimonieuse ;” and it is on 
this oil, which is deposited in vesicles on the bark, that its pungency depends. It is completely extracted 
by alcohol and sulphuric ether. 
Medical Properties and Uses. — This root is a powerful stimulant ; and if applied in its recent 
state to the skin, it produces inflammation and vesication, like Mezereon. a Dioscorides recommended it for 
tooth-ache, for which it is still beneficially employed by us ; and by him and the Arabian physicians it was 
prescribed for rigors. 
* Grew of Tastes. 
