Tansy
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2008-07-01T19:04:53Z
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{{distinguish2| [[Senecio jacobaea|Tansy Ragwort]]}}
{{Taxobox
| name = Tansy
| image = Unknown tall yellow flower bgiu.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Asterales]]
| familia = [[Asteraceae]]
| genus = ''[[Tanacetum]]''
| species = '''''T. vulgare'''''
| binomial = ''Tanacetum vulgare''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}
[[Image:Illustration Tanacetum vulgare0.jpg|thumb|240px|Illustration of a tansy]]
'''Tansy''' (''Tanacetum vulgare'') is a perennial herbaceous [[flowering plant]] of the [[Asteraceae|aster]] family that is native to temperate [[Europe]] and [[Asia]]. It has been introduced to other parts of the world and in some cases has become invasive. It is also known as ''Common Tansy'', ''Bitter Buttons'', ''Cow Bitter'', ''Mugwort'', or ''Golden Buttons''.
==Description==
Tansy is a flowering herbaceous plant 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 [[leaf|leaves]] are alternate, 10-15 cm long and are pinnately lobed, divided almost to the center 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 [[poison]]ous if consumed in large quantities. The plant's volatile oil is high in [[thujone]], a substance found in [[absinthe]] that can cause convulsions. Some insects, notably the [[tansy beetle]], have evolved resistance to tansy and live almost exclusively on it.
==History and distribution==
Tansy is native to Eurasia; it is found in almost all parts of mainland Europe. It is absent from Siberia and some of the Mediterranean islands.<ref>{{Citation
| last =Zohary
| first =D.
| author-link =
| last2 =Heywood
| first2 =V.H.
| author2-link =
| title =A Catalogue of the Wild Relatives of Cultivated Plants Native to Europe
| journal =Bocconea
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| date =
| year =1997
| url =http://www.pgrforum.org/Zohary_Heywood_Catalogue.htm
| doi =
| id = }}</ref> The ancient Greeks may have been the first to cultivate it as a medicinal herb.<ref>{{Citation
| last =LeCain
| first =Ron
| author-link =
| last2 =Sheley
| first2 =Roger
| author2-link =
| title =Common tansy (Tanacetum vulgare)
| date =
| year =2006
| url =http://www.montana.edu/wwwpb/pubs/mt9911.html
| accessdate = 2007-05-17}}</ref> In about 1525, it was listed (by the spelling "Tansey") as "necessary for a garden" in Britain.<ref>{{cite journal
| last =Harvey
| first =John H.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title =Garden plants of around 1525: the Fromond list
| journal =
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =122–134
| publisher =
| date =
| url =
| doi =
| id =
| accessdate = }}</ref>
== Toxicity ==
Tansy contains volatile oils which can cause contact dermatitis in sensitive individuals and, if taken internally, result in toxic by-products being produced in the liver and digestive tract as the plant's oils are broken down. Tansy is highly toxic to internal parasites, and has been used by herbalists to expel worms for centuries. Because tansy contains [[thujone]], the U.S. FDA limits tansy use to alcoholic beverages, and the final product must be thujone-free.<ref>[http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=172.510 Food Additives Permitted for Direct Addition to Food for Human Consumption.] Food and Drug Administration (2007). Retrieved Mar 30, 2008.</ref> Tansy is an effective insecticide, and is highly toxic to arthropods.<ref>Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West, Gregory L. Tilford, ISBN 0-87842-359-1</ref>
==Culinary uses==
Tansy was formerly used as a flavoring for [[pudding]]s and [[omelet]]s, but is almost unknown now. It was certainly relished in days gone by, for [[John Gerard|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". In [[Yorkshire]], tansy and [[caraway]] seeds were traditionally used in biscuits served at funerals.<ref name="sumner"/> According to liquor historian [[A. J. Baime]]'s book [[Big Shots]], [[Tennessee]] [[whiskey]] magnate [[Jack Daniel]] enjoyed drinking his own whiskey with [[sugar]] and crushed tansy leaf.
==Ethnomedical use==
For many years, tansy has been used as a [[herbalism|medicinal herb]]. Irish folklore of the mid-1800s suggests bathing in a solution of tansy and salt as a cure for joint pain.<ref>{{cite journal
| last =Egan
| first =F.A.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title =Irish Folk-Lore. Medical Plants
| journal =The Folk-Lore Journal
| volume =5
| issue =1
| pages =11–13
| publisher =
| date =1887
| url =
| doi =
| id =
| accessdate = }}</ref> Bitter tea made with the blossoms of ''T. vulgare'' has been effectively used for centuries as an [[anthelmintic]] (vermifuge). Tansy cakes were traditionally served during [[Lent]] because of a superstition that eating fish during Lent caused intestinal worms.<ref name="sumner">{{cite book |author=Sumner, Judith |title=American Household Botany : A History of Useful Plants, 1620-1900 |publisher=Timber Press |location=Portland, Or |year= |pages= |isbn=0-88192-652-3 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref> Note that only ''T. vulgare'' is used in medicinal preparations; all species of tansy are toxic, and an overdose can be fatal. The dried flowering herb of ''Tanacetum'' is used [[ethnomedical]]ly to treat [[migraine]], [[neuralgia]], and [[rheumatism]], and as an [[antihelminthic]], in conjunction with a competent [[herbalist]] to circumvent any possible [[toxicity]]. Formerly, tansy was often used for its [[emmenagogue]] effects, but rumors have implicated tansy in cases of miscarriage. Pregnant women should avoid this herb. <ref name="arnold">{{cite book
| last = Martin
| first = Corinne
| title = Herbal Remedies from the Wild
| publisher = The Countryman Press
| date = 2000
| location = Woodstock, Vermont, USA
| pages = 133-135
| ISBN = 0-88150-485-8}}</ref>
==Other uses==
In England, bunches of tansy were traditionally placed at windows to keep out flies. Sprigs were placed in bedding and linen to drive away pests. <ref>{{Citation
| last =Drury
| first =Susan
| author-link =
| last2 =
| first2 =
| author2-link =
| title =Plants and Pest Control in England circa 1400-1700: A Preliminary Study
| journal =Folklore
| volume =103
| issue =i
| pages =103–106
| date =
| year =1992
| url =
| doi =
| id = }}</ref>
Tansy has been used throughout many Melbourne gardens and homes to keep away ants.
It is also used by some traditional dyers to produce a golden-yellow pigment.<ref>{{Citation
| last =Suomi
| first =Paivi
| author-link =
| last2 =
| first2 =
| author2-link =
| title =A Dyer's Walk
| date =
| year =2001
| url =http://www.allfiberarts.com/library/dyeplants/bltansy.htm
| accessdate = 2007-05-13}}</ref> The yellow flowers are dried for use in floral arrangements.
Tansy is also used as a [[companion plant]], especially with [[cucurbit]]s like [[cucumbers]] and [[Squash (plant)|squash]], or with [[rose]]s or various berries. It is thought to repel ants, cucumber beetles, japanese beetles, squash bugs, and some kinds of flying insects, among others.
==Tansy in art and literature==
*A portion of a nineteenth-century poem by [[John Clare]] describes the delight of tansy and other herbs:<br />
<ul>''And where the marjoram once, and sage, and rue,''<br />
''And balm, and mint, with curl'd-leaf parsley grew,'' <br />
''And double marigolds, and silver thyme,'' <br />
''And pumpkins 'neath the window climb;'' <br />
''And where I often, when a child, for hours'' <br />
''Tried through the pales to get the tempting flowers,''<br />
''As lady's laces, everlasting peas,'' <br />
''True-love-lies-bleeding, with the hearts-at-ease,'' <br />
''And golden rods, and tansy running high,'' <br />
''That o'er the pale-tops smiled on passers-by.''<br />
</ul>
*From "The Cross Roads; or, The Haymaker's Story", available from a [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/8672 collection] at Project Gutenberg.<br />
*Tansy Strange, a character in ''[[The Jem Star]]'' by Karen Drury, is named after this wild herb. The name is very appropriate due to her wild character.
==See also==
*Common ragwort (''[[Senecio jacobaea]]'') which in some regions is called "tansy ragwort"
*[[Silverweed]] (''Potentilla anserina'') a flowering plant once known as "wild tansy"
*[[List of companion plants]]
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==References==
*{{cite book
| last =Blanchan
| first =Neltje
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title =Wild Flowers Worth Knowing
| publisher =
| date =1917
| location =
| pages =
| url =
| doi =
| id = }}
*{{cite book
| last =Crockett
| first =James
| authorlink =James Underwood Crockett
| coauthors =
| title =Herbs
| publisher =Time-Life Books
| date =1977
| location =Alexandria, Virginia
| pages =
| url =
| doi =
| id = }}
*{{cite book
| last =Grieve
| first =Margaret
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title =A Modern Herbal
| publisher =
| date =1931
| location =
| pages =
| url =http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/mgmh.html
| doi =
| id = }}
[[Category:Asteraceae]]
[[Category:Abortifacients]]
[[Category:Flora of Europe]]
[[Category:Flora of Estonia]]
[[Category:Flora of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Invasive plant species]]
[[Category:Medicinal plants]]
[[br:Gwaz (plant)]]
[[bg:Вратига]]
[[ca:Tanarida]]
[[cy:Tansi]]
[[da:Rejnfan]]
[[de:Rainfarn]]
[[et:Harilik soolikarohi]]
[[es:Tanacetum vulgare]]
[[fr:Tanaisie commune]]
[[ht:Tanezi]]
[[lt:Paprastoji bitkrėslė]]
[[li:Wörmzäödsje]]
[[hu:Gilisztaűző varádics]]
[[nl:Boerenwormkruid]]
[[nds-nl:Boerenwurmkruud]]
[[ja:タンジー]]
[[no:Reinfann]]
[[pl:Wrotycz pospolity]]
[[pt:Catinga-de-mulata]]
[[ru:Пижма обыкновенная]]
[[sk:Vratič obyčajný]]
[[fi:Pietaryrtti]]
[[sv:Renfana]]
[[tr:Solucanotu]]
[[uk:Пижмо звичайне]]