Page 89 - Pharmacognosy-I (02-06-06-102)

Santonica
(Wormseed)
Source:
Stantonica is the dried unexpanded flower head of Artemisia cina,
family Asteraceae. It yields no less than 1.8% of santonin.
The flower-heads are collected in July and August before they
expanded, if the flower-heads are unxpanded and quickly dried,
they will dried over 3% of santonin, as soon as the flower matures,
there is a rapid disappearance of the anthelmintic principle.
The plant is a small shurb indigenous to Turkistan.
Macroscopic Characters:
Shape: Oblong-ovoid
Size: 1.5 to 4 mm long and 1-2 mm in length.
Colour: Yellow or greenish brown and shiny.
Taste: Bitter camphoraceous taste.
Kind: Capitulum.
Axis: Small conical.
Involucre: of 14 to 20 imbricated ovate to lanceolate shining bracts.
Distribution of Flowers: In heads consisting of 2 to 5 more or less
immature tubular florets.
Tubular florets:
These are sessile, actinomorphic, incomplete, hermaphrodite
florets.
Calyx: absent.
Corolla: Epigynous, sympetalous, yellow formed of 5 lobes.

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