Tanacetum parthenium (L.) Sch. Bip., Feverfew

Account Summary

Growth form, introduction and preferred habitats

Tanacetum parthenium was introduced to B & I from continental Europe, probably by monks in the Middle Ages or even earlier, making it an archaeophyte. It is believed to be a native species in the Balkan Peninsula where it grows in rocky mountainous scrub (Garrard & Streeter 1983). Valued and cultivated as an important cure-all medicinal herb (Gerard 1633; Grieve 1931), this erect 60 cm tall herb, with its collection of daisy-like heads is still quite commonly cultivated as an ornamental garden perennial, at least in double-flowered forms. The yellowish green, bi-pinnatifid leaves have lobes which are coarsely toothed. The leaves are wintergreen, at least in mild winters, and are strongly aromatic when bruised, producing a strong, bitter odour, or alternatively they are regarded as deliciously pungent, depending upon your point of view.

Feverfew is a widespread and persistent garden escape and colonist of hedge-bases and bare waste ground, though it is rarely located far from human habitation, both those in use or in ruins (Salisbury 1964). The plant is well naturalised and can grow and flower successfully in crevices in pavements and on old walls, where the crumbling mortar, however dry, appears to provide adequate soil conditions. Although often appearing long established in its present sites, plants are always derived from original garden stock and may have dispersed to suitably open soils rather than necessarily having been cultivated in the immediate vicinity of houses. The fact that it also occurs in quarries, on bridges and in sandy soils on riverbanks and lake shores supports this view of its behaviour and dispersal ability (Flora of Lough Neagh).

The established strategy of T. parthenium is categorised as CR/CSR, meaning it is intermediate between a Competitive Ruderal species and a more evenly balanced combination of all three plant strategies, Competitor, Stress-tolerator and Ruderal (Grime et al. 1988, 2007).

Once introduced, even to a gravel driveway subject to regular traffic, Feverfew is very persistent and difficult to eradicate, being resistant even to the broad-spectrum systemic herbicide, Glyphosate.

One might imagine that the very marked site persistence of T. parthenium is probably due to prolonged seed survival in the soil seed bank, but the major published survey of NW European records of seed longevity did not contain any reference to T. parthenium whatsoever (Thompson et al. 1997), so we are none the wiser with respect to this question, which must remain open for the time being. However, this same detailed survey did uncover seven estimates of buried seed survival for the closely related T. vulgare (Tansy), five of which reckoned it was transient (ie survived less than one year). Of the other two estimates, one considered seed was short-term persistent (ie survived more than one year but less than five), and the other recognised that seed was present in the soil but could not decide which of the other three survival categories it fitted into (Thompson et al. 1997).

Variation and nomenclature

Previously, Tanacetum parthenium was regarded as a species of Chrysanthemum, being known as C. parthenium (L.) Bernh. While originally grown as a medicinal herb, a degree of variation exists and selection has allowed several horticultural types to be developed and named, including a double, purely ligulate form, forma hortense (Schur) Beck, and a form with all flowers tubular, forma flosculosum (DC.) Beck (Sell & Murrell 2006). There is also a golden-yellow leaved form in cultivation, cv 'Aurium' which remains popular and widely grown, and there are also a number of named dwarf forms in cultivation (Griffiths 1994).

Flowering reproduction

T. parthenium possesses an almost vertical rootstock and fibrous roots, so it has no powers of vegetative spread and relies entirely on seed for its reproduction. It flowers freely from July through to September, even on young plants. The ribbed, leafy stems branch very freely and flowerheads are borne in threes or fours at the end of each branch, often forming ± flat-topped corymbs. The daisy-like flowerheads produce around 16 spreading, white, female ray-florets arranged around numerous (20 or more) golden-yellow, tubular, bisexual disc-florets that attract bees and flies as pollinators (Melderis & Bangerter 1955; Salisbury 1964; Sell & Murrell 2006).

The fruiting achenes are 1.0-1.5 mm in length, fusiform (ie tapering at both ends), somewhat flattened, prominently 5-ribbed and crowned with a very short, dentate, membranous border as a pappus or corona, that clearly provides negligible dispersal advantage to the species (Hutchinson 1972). It is, therefore, unsurprising, that the species is generally found by roadsides, near walls or on them and in waste places close to habitation. The absence of a prominent pappus means wind dispersal is not particularly favoured, yet it may well remain significant, while carriage in mud may also be important for survival of the species, but this is probably somewhat distance limited.

Fermanagh occurrence

Feverfew has been recorded in 47 Fermanagh tetrads (8.9%). As the tetrad map clearly indicates, it is thinly and widely scattered in the more populated lowland areas of the county, especially around Enniskillen and the shores of both parts of Lough Erne.

British and Irish occurrence

T. parthenium is well established throughout lowland B & I, including in all 40 Irish VCs, although the New Atlas hectad map showed it mainly distributed in the N & E of Ireland (Cen Cat Fl Ir 2; New Atlas). The most recent BSBI Atlas 2020 (Stroh et al. 2023) shows it has now been more widely recorded in Ireland, become scarce or absent only in a limited number of Midland hectads, but the distribution still thinning westwards towards the Atlantic coast. In Britain, it is very widespread, but thins to become scarce towards the N & W of Scotland. It has, however, now been recorded on the Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland (H.J. Killick, in: Stroh et al. 2023)

European and world occurrence

As mentioned above, T. parthenium is considered a native of the Balkan Peninsula and may possibly also be native in other parts of SW Europe, including Turkey and the Caucasus. Having been long in cultivation for its medical qualities, it has been widely established throughout the remainder of Europe and has been introduced to N & S America and numerous other temperate parts of the world (Sell & Murrell 2006).

Medicinal uses

T. parthenium was the 'aspirin' of the herbal era, its bitter principle being widely and effectively used, not just for headaches (Salisbury 1964), but for nervousness and hysterical complaints. A decoction with sugar or honey was said to be good for coughs and wheezes, and a tincture was applied locally to relieve the pain and swelling caused by bites of insects or vermin (Grieve 1931).

Modern medicine and the development of aspirin set Tanacetum parthenium aside, its use becoming confined to strict herbalists for many years. Recently, with the growth in popularity of complementary or alternative medicine, it gained a reputation of being useful in the treatment of migraine (Stace & Crawley 2015).

The pharmacological properties of Feverfew and its mechanism of action have been investigated extensively, and in vitro studies suggested that its migraine relief was produced by inhibiting the release of serotonin from blood platelets. A scientific review studying five groups of patients, however, was unable to show beyond reasonable doubt that Feverfew had any real clinical effect on migraine (Vogler et al. 1998).

Names

The name 'Feverfew' refers to the notion that planted around dwellings, it purified the air and put fevers to flight. The name occurs in as many as 22 different spellings (Britten & Holland 1886), one of the major variants being 'Featherfew'. All of these forms are derived from the medieval Latin 'febrifugia', meaning, 'that which puts fever to flight' (Grigson 1955, 1987). Grigson (1955, 1987) lists a total of 14 English common names used across the country for the plant.

Threats

None.

References

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