Greater Celandine, not a true native but with us since at least the time of the Romans, is in the Poppy family so no relation to Lesser Celandine. Chelidonium comes from a Greek word for the swallow and Discoroides, writing in the 1st century describes the flowers as blooming when the swallows return and fading as they leave. Swallows have returned to Colerne and our Greater Celandine is smiling to greet them. These photos are from the end of Eastrip Lane where they seem to thrive. It was cultivated as a medicinal plant in the past, with the legacy that it is still mainly found near human habitation.
In folk medicine it was most commonly used to treat warts - the orange sap is extremely caustic. It features in many Medieval Herbal medicine texts, a common theme being skin and eye diseases, throat problems, colic and jaundice. Some claims are bizarre, but potentially useful 🤔 such as breathing the plant’s smell prevents arguments by spouses! Queen Elizabeth 1st who, like many in the Tudor Age of sugar imports was plagued by toothache was advised to place Greater Celandine juice into the tooth and pack with wax.
The ‘history of usage’ section in this long review is fascinating. 21 centuries of medicinal use
The plant contains many compounds of therapeutic interest and the article concludes “the millenia long history of Chelidonium in folk, traditional, and official medicine is far from coming to the end”. Note people have been hospitalised with liver toxicity after taking it.
Greater Celandine has a sneaky trick for seed dispersal known as Myrmecochory. The seeds have an attached "packed lunch" of lipid and protein to tempt ants to take the seed back to their nest, ideal for germination. The term derives from Greek words for ant and circular dance. Two species ‘dancing’ together for mutual benefit, what a lovely thought.