Celandine, greater celandine, rock-poppy, swallowwort, chélidoine [Greek cheilidon, swallow (bird), perhaps from lore reported by Aristotle and others that mother swallows bathe eyes of their young with the sap]

Robert W. Kiger

Herbs , biennial or perennial, caulescent, from stout rhizomes or taproots; sap yellow to orange. Stems leafy. Leaves petiolate; basal rosulate, cauline alternate; blade 1-2× pinnately lobed. Inflorescences axillary or terminal, umbelliform, few flowered; bracts present. Flowers: sepals 2, distinct; petals 4; stamens ca. 12-many; pistil 2-carpellate; ovary 1-locular; style ± distinct; stigma 2-lobed. Capsules erect, 2-valved, dehiscing from base. Seeds few to many, arillate. x = 6.

Species 1: North America, Eurasia.

Lower Taxon

• Chelidonium majus Linnaeus