Rank Genus | Clade Angiosperms Scientific name Tordylium | |
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Similar Tordylium apulum, Tordylium maximum, Scandix, Turgenia, Hedgehog Parsley | ||
Tordylium apulum
Tordylium is a genus of flowering plants in the carrot family (Apiaceae). Members of the genus are known as hartworts.
Contents
Tordylium apulum anthiriscus cerefolium
Description
Tordylium species are annuals or biennials, covered in long hairs. Their stems may be hollow or almost solid. The basal leaves are more-or-less undivided, and have usually disappeared when the plant flowers. The stem leaves are once pinnate. The flowers have persistent sepals and white petals, with those on one side much longer than the other. The fruits are about as long as they are wide. Their side ridges have whitish wings.
Taxonomy
Species assigned to the genus were first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 in Species Plantarum.
Species
The number of species in the genus varies widely between sources. Ainsworthia and Synelcosciadium were included in Tordylium by El-Aisawi & Jury (1998). Gömürgen et al. (2011) say there are 17 species in Turkey alone. As of February 2015, The Plant List accepts only six species in total, keeping Ainsworthia and Synelcosciadium separate:
Uses
Tordylium apulum, the Mediterranean hartwort or Roman pimpernel, is used as a vegetable in Greece and as a flavouring in Italy.
