Convallaria

Transcription

The Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) is a lily of the nothern temperate zones. We can find it in wet forests and shady rocky lands. In the Iberian Peninsula it is rare and it's distributed by the Pyrenees and the Cantabrian Mountains. It's an herbaceous perennial plant. It has a thin and highly branched rhizome from where flower cuts spread, with 2 petioled and oval lanceolated leaves. The corolla, white and aromatic, consists of 6 fused tepals which end in 6 lobes. The flowers are hermaphrodite, bell-shaped and sweetly scented, and they form inflorescences in a raceme of 5-10 flowers. The androecium consists of 6 stamens fused by their filaments to the perianth. The perianth is tricarpelar, with superior ovary, which bears fruit in a berry. The berry is red and contains from 2 to 6 seeds. Her tradition as an appreciated gift appeared on the twentieth century when the dressmakers offered a bud of lily of the valley to their clients on the first of May (day devoted to the flora). The leaves and flowers are used as a drug of this plant and contain flavonoids, asparagine and poisonous glycosides: convallamarin, convallarin and convallatoxin. In the First World War it was used to treat victims of mustard gas. Nowadays, it is considered as a good diuretic, antispasmodic and tonic heart, mostly due to cardiac glycosides. It is used as a cardiotonic for cardiac weakness and in cases of fluid retention for cardiac causes. It has a faster action than digitals and no accumulated effects. Also, in perfumery it is used his essential oil, rich in farmesol, to create perfumes, especially for soaps. In high doses cause poisoning that is showed in vomiting and a reduced heart rate, that's why it's not used without strict medical supervision. The leaves and flowers are toxic, as well as the fruit, and can even cause death.