Page 75 - Pharmacognosy-I (02-06-06-102)

Pyrethrum Flower BP Vet. 2008
(Dalmatian Insect Flowers)

Definition:
Pyrethrum Flower is the dried flower heads of Chrysanthemum

cinerariaefolium Vis., family Asteraceae. It contains not less than
1.0% of pyrethrins of which not less than half consists of pyrethrin
I.
It is indigenous to the Balkans but cultivated in Kenya, Rwanda and
Ecuador.
Macroscopic Characters:

The flower-head is almost hemispherical, 5 to 15 mm in
diameter with
a brownish- yellow colour.
Odour: faint aromatic but characteristic.
Taste: bitter and acrid.
Receptacle: flat or slightly convex
Involucre: of 2 to 3 rows of overlapping greenish-yellow hairy
brats. The outer bracts are lanceolate while the inner bracts are
spathulate and longer.
Distribution of flowers: In heads, consisting of one whorl of
ligulate florets and numerous tubular florets.
Ligulate Florets:
Ray florets number about 15 to 23 which are zygomorphic,
complete, pistillate, sessile florets.
Calyx: Cup-shaped and membranous.

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