botanical name(s): Tanacetum vulgare
synonyms: tansy, bitter buttons, hindheal, parsley fern
part(s) used: flower heads
qualities: bitter, acrid, warm
affinities: uterus, breast
actions: emmenagogue, carminative, vermifuge
dosage:
» tincture: 0.5 - 2 ml.
» oil: 0.06 - 0.3 ml.
therapy: anthelmintic, indigestion; amenorrhea and nausea; scabies
AHPA Botanical Safety Rating: 2b
toxicity: 1; essential oil is toxic
» warning: exerts hyperestrogenic effects upon cattle
» contraindicated in pregnancy; noted to have abortifacient, emmenagogue and anthelmintic activities, with a chance for fatality due to overdose; 1 dram or a half ounce essential oil was found to be deadly due to its cardioparalytic effects (Brinker, Brundage, p. 219; Duke, p. 474; Farnsworth; Hardin, pp. 151-152; Levy and Primack, p. 126; Conway and Slocumb, Albert-Puleo)
» may cause changes in lactation; milk may become ill-flavored and reduced in nutritional quality (Muenscher, p. 19)
» following intoxication, especially by essential oil, patients present with a characteristic tansy-like halitosis, gastric pain, increased respiratory depth and rate, mydriasis, and a full pulse, weakening with time; unconsciousness, violent spasms, convulsions and death may occur (Brundage, p. 219; Theines and Haley, p. 13)
» allergic effects from sesquiterpene lactones (Duke, p. 474; Nes, et al)
constituents: volatile oil with thujone; sesquiterpene lactones, flavonoids
footnotes
Albert-Puleo M. 1978. Mythobotany, pharmacology, and chemistry of thujone-containing plants and derivatives. Econ. Bot., 32:65-74.
Brinker F. 1996. The Toxicology of Botanical Medicines, rev. 2nd ed., Sandy, Oregon: Eclectic Medical Publications.
Brundage, A.H. 1929. A Manual of Toxicology, 15th ed. New York: D. Appleton and Co.
Conway GA, Slocumb JC. 1979. Plants used as abortifacients and emmenagogues by Spanish New Mexicans. J Ethnopharm., 1:241-61.
Duke, J.A. 1985. C.R.C. Handbook of Medicinal Herbs. Boca Raton, FL: The C.R.C. Press.
Farnsworth NR, Bingel AS, Cordell GA, Crane FA, Fong HHS. 1975. Potential Value of Plants as Sources of New Antifertility Agents I. J. Pharm. Sci., 64:535-98.
Hardin, J. W.; and Arena, J.M. 1974. Human Poisoning from Native Cultivated Plants, 2nd ed. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Levy, C.K.; and Primack, R.B. 1984. A Field Guide to Poisonous Plants and Mushrooms of North America. The Stephen Green Press.
Muenscher, W.C. 1951. Poisonous Plants of the United States. New York: The MacMillan Company.
Nes, W.D., Fuller, G., Tsai, L.S. 1984. Isopentenoids in Plants. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc.
Thienes, C.H., Haley, T.J. 1975. Clinical Toxicology. 5th ed. Philadelphia: Lea and Febiger.