   #copyright

Tansy

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Plants

                    iTansy
           Scientific classification

   Kingdom:  Plantae
   Division: Magnoliophyta
   Class:    Magnoliopsida
   Order:    Asterales
   Family:   Asteraceae
   Genus:    Tanacetum
   Species:  T. vulgare

                                Binomial name

   Tanacetum vulgare
   L.
   Illustration of a tansy
   Enlarge
   Illustration of a tansy

   The Tansy or Common Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) is a perennial herbaceous
   flowering plant of the aster family that is native to temperate Europe
   and Asia. It has also become established as an invasive wild plant in
   other parts of the world. In at least four states of the United States
   (Colorado, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming ) it has been declared a
   noxious weed and made illegal to cultivate.

   It is a flower herb with finely divided compound leaves and yellow,
   buttonlike flowers. It has a stout, somewhat reddish, erect stem,
   usually smooth, 50-150 cm tall, and branching near the top. The leaves
   are alternate, 10-15 cm long and are pinnately lobed, divided almost to
   the centre into about seven pairs of segments or lobes which are again
   divided into smaller lobes having saw-toothed edges, thus giving the
   leaf a somewhat fernlike appearance. The roundish, flat-topped,
   buttonlike, yellow flower heads are produced in terminal clusters from
   mid to late summer. The scent is similar to that of camphor with hints
   of rosemary. The leaves and flowers are said to be poisonous if
   consumed in large quantities.

   The plant's volatile oil is high in thujone, a substance found in
   absinthe that can cause convulsions.

   Tansy was formerly used as a flavouring for puddings and omelets, but
   that is almost unknown now. But they were certainly relished in days
   gone by, for Gerarde speaks of them as "pleasant in taste", and he
   recommends tansy sweetmeats as "an especial thing against the gout, if
   every day for a certain space a reasonable quantitie thereof be eaten
   fasting". According to liquor historian A. J. Baime's book Big Shots,
   bourbon magnate Jack Daniel enjoyed drinking his bourbon with sugar and
   crushed tansy leaf. It has also been used as a medicinal herb. Bitter
   tea made with the blossoms of T. vulgare has been effectively used for
   centuries as an anthelmintic (vermifuge). Note that only T. vulgare is
   used in medicinal preparations; all species of tansy are toxic, and an
   overdose can be fatal. As a natural insect repellent, it was often
   planted next to kitchen doors to keep ants out. Some insects, notably
   the tansy beetle, have evolved resistance to tansy and live almost
   exclusively on it.

   Other common names include Bitter button, Cow bitter, Golden button,
   and Mugwort.

   A portion of a nineteenth-century poem by John Clare describes the
   delight of tansy and other herbs:
   And where the marjoram once, and sage, and rue,
   And balm, and mint, with curl'd-leaf parsley grew,
   And double marigolds, and silver thyme,
   And pumpkins 'neath the window climb;
   And where I often, when a child, for hours
   Tried through the pales to get the tempting flowers,
   As lady's laces, everlasting peas,
   True-love-lies-bleeding, with the hearts-at-ease,
   And golden rods, and tansy running high,
   That o'er the pale-tops smiled on passers-by.
   From "The Cross Roads; or, The Haymaker's Story", available from a
   collection at Project Gutenberg.

   Tansy is now being used as a girls name in the UK

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tansy"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
