Dictamnus albus is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae. It is also known as burning bush, dittany,

It is native to warm, open woodland habitats in southern Europe, north Africa and much of Asia.

Description

This plant grows about to high. Its flowers form a loose pyramidal spike and vary in colour from pale purple to white. The flowers are five-petalled with long projecting stamens. The leaves resemble those of an ash tree. Dictamnus is tap-rooted, making mature plants difficult to establish and resistant to division; young plants often need three years before they begin to flower, and since it is late to break into leaf in spring, even quite mature clumps may be harmed with vigorous soil-working in spring. For all these reasons, added to toxicity of the foliage, Dictamnus is rarely seen in American gardens.

Toxicity

The leaves have a bitter and unpalatable taste. Despite the lemon-like smell, the plant is acrid when eaten. All parts of the plant may cause mild stomach upset if eaten, and contact with the foliage may cause phytophotodermatitis. leading to comparisons with the burning bush of the Bible, including the suggestion that this is the plant involved there. The daughter of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus is said to have ignited the air once, at the end of a particularly hot, windless summer day, above Dictamnus plants, using a simple matchstick. The volatile oils have a reputed component of isoprene.

Chemistry

More than 100 chemical constituents have been isolated from the genus Dictamnus, including alkaloids, limonoid triterpenoids, flavonoids, sesquiterpenoids, coumarins, and Phenylpropanoids.

<gallery>

File:Illustration Dictamnus albus0.jpg|Illustration from Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885

File:Dictamnus albus.JPG

File:Blüten der Dictamnus albus.jpg

File:Rutaceae - DIctamnus albus.JPG

File:Dictamnus albus 003.JPG|Fruit

File:Rutaceae - DIctamnus albus-1.JPG

</gallery>

References

  • Growing a Burning Bush, Dictamnus albus, in your Garden
  • Dictamnus - Gas Plant, Burning Bush, Perennials Guide to Planting Flowers
  • Video - Burning bush on fire