| Nigella damascena | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Ranunculales |
| Family: | Ranunculaceae |
| Genus: | Nigella |
| Species: | N. damascena |
| Binomial name | |
| Nigella damascena | |
Nigella damascena,love-in-a-mist,[1] ordevil in the bush,[2] is anannual gardenflowering plant, belonging to the buttercupfamilyRanunculaceae. It isnative to southern Europe (butadventive in more northern countries of Europe), north Africa and southwest Asia, where it is found on neglected, damp patches of land.
Thespecific epithetdamascena relates toDamascus in Syria.[3] The plant's common name "love-in-a-mist" comes from the flower being nestled in a ring ofmultifid, lacybracts.
It grows to 20–50 cm (8–20 in) tall, with pinnately divided, thread-like, alternateleaves. Theflowers, blooming in early summer, are most commonly different shades of blue, but can be white, pink, or pale purple, with 5 to 25sepals. The actualpetals are located at the base of the stamens and are minute and clawed. The sepals are the only colored part of theperianth. The four to fivecarpels of the compoundpistil have each an erectstyle.[4]
Thefruit is a large and inflatedcapsule, growing from a compoundovary, and is composed of several united follicles, each containing numerousseeds. This is rather exceptional for a member of the buttercup family. The capsule becomes brown in late summer. The plant self-seeds, growing on the same spot year after year.[5]
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This easily grown plant has been a familiar subject in Englishcottage gardens since Elizabethan times, admired for its ferny foliage, spiky flowers and bulbous seed-heads. It is now widely cultivated throughout thetemperate world, and numerouscultivars have been developed for garden use. 'Persian Jewels' is a mixture of white, pink, lavender and blue flowers. 'Persian Rose' is pale pink. Othercultivars are 'Albion', 'Blue Midget', 'Cambridge Blue', 'Mulberry Rose', and 'Oxford Blue'. 'Dwarf Moody Blue' is around 15 cm (6 in) high. The pale blue ‘Miss Jekyll’[6] and the double white-flowered 'Miss Jekyll Alba' have gained theRoyal Horticultural Society'sAward of Garden Merit.[7][8]
The relatedNigella sativa (and notN. damascena) is the source of the spice variously known as nigella,kalonji or black cumin.
Damascenine is a toxicalkaloid found inNigella damascena seed.[9]
However, anin vivo study in mice andin vitro assessment on human cell lines has not shown any toxicity.[10]
Media related toNigella damascena at Wikimedia Commons