Re: Prediction time...

[Philip Marshall <philip.marshall@xxxxxxxx>]

Hi Nick,

Most of my sources indicate that Matricaria discoidea (as the taxonomists
are apparently calling it now) is Eurasian, but I see some ambivalence in
the literature -- it could just be one of those weedy little plants that
is so common everywhere in the northern hemisphere now that no one can say
with any certainty where it came from (it is a familiar roadside weed in
the eastern U.S.A.).

With regards to the roots of rue (alliteration!), they tend to be of a
light, creamt color, with one major taproot with several smaller roots
branching off from it (i.e. somewhere between being truly taprooted and
truly fibrous-rooted). Apart from that it is hard to characterize them on
a gross scale. Roots tend to be the least-differentiated of plant organs,
so it is rather difficult to identify most plants simply by the appearance
of their roots (except in exceptional cases such as mandrake [Mandragora]
or our American bloodroot [Sanguinaria]).

I don't know about the roots of other members of the rue family
(Rutaceae).

I hope this is of some help to you.

-Philip Marshall

> Hi everyone,
>
> Just to prove that I'm as capable of undermining my own theories as anyone
> else, I have had no luck in making sense of Tony Clarke's pineapple mayweed
> (matricaria matricarioides) <--> period pain connection. In fact,
> everything I've read seems to indicate that this was originally native to
> North America. Is this correct?
>

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Philip Marshall
Yale University
School of Forestry & Environmental Studies

tel: +1(203)436-2137
email: philip.marshall@xxxxxxxx or pmm8@xxxxxxxxxxx

"The pig was not merely a pig but a creature bound among other things to
the fence, the dandelion, and a very special definition of property."
					-William Cronon