Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Sapindales > Tetradiclidaceae > Peganum > Peganum harmalaPeganum harmala (ozallaik; isband; peganum; harmal peganum; harmal shrub; harmel; African rue; steppenraute; Syrian rue)Synonyms: Harmala multifida; Harmala peganum (homotypic); Harmala syriaca; Mesembryanthemum caspicum; Peganon harmalum (homotypic); Peganum dauricum (heterotypic); Peganum harmala multisecta; Peganum harmala var. garamantum; Peganum harmala var. multisectum (pro parte); Peganum harmala var. rothschildianum; Peganum rothschildianum Peganum harmala, commonly called esfand, wild rue, Syrian rue, African rue, harmel, or aspand (among other similar pronunciations and spellings), is a plant of the family Nitrariaceae. Its common English-language name came about because of a resemblance to rue (which is not related). The plant's seeds are especially noteworthy because they have seen continual use for thousands of years in the rites of many cultures. The plant has remained a popular tool in both folk medicine and spiritual practices for so long that some historians believe the plant may be the ancient "soma" (a medicinal aid that is mentioned in a variety of ancient Indo Iranian texts but whose exact identity has been lost to history). |
| Edible [1] | May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details. | | Flower Type [1] | Hermaphrodite | | Hazards [1] | Use with caution. Although the seed is used medicinally and as a condiment, it does contain hallucinogenic and narcotic alkaloids; When taken in excess it causes hallucinations and vomiting; | | Lifespan [1] | Perennial | | Structure [2] | Herb | | Usage [1] | A red dye is obtained from the seed; It is widely used in Western Asia, especially as a colouring for carpets;
The ripe seed contains 3.8 - 5.8% of the alkaloids harmine, harmaline, harmalol and peganine; Ineffective as a contact poison, they are active in vapour form where they are effective against algae, in higher concentrations to water animals and lethal to moulds, bacteria and intestinal parasites;
The seed is used as an incense; |  | | Height [1] | 24 inches (0.6 m) | | Width [1] | 20 inches (0.5 m) |
View Plants For A Future Record : Peganum harmala |
Attributes / relations provided by ♦ 1Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License♦ 2Kattge, J. et al. (2011b) TRY - a global database of plant traits Global Change Biology 17:2905-2935 ♦ 3Meriones crassus, Barry R. Koffler, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 9, pp. 1-4 (1972) ♦ 4Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009 ♦ 5Spermophilus xanthoprymnus (Rodentia: Sciuridae), MUTLU KART Gür AND HAKAN Gür, MAMMALIAN SPECIES 42(864):183–194 (2010) |
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0
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