ILLINOIS PLANT INFORMATION NETWORK ILPIN INFORMATION ON Matricaria chamomilla CLASS: DICOTYLEDENAE ORDER: ASTERALES FAMILY: ASTERACEAE SCIENTIFIC NAME: Matricaria chamomilla AUTHORITY: L. COMMON NAMES: GERMAN CHAMOMILE WILD CHAMOMILE SYNONOMY: None PLANTS CODE: MACH2 NATURAL COMMUNITIES: CULTURAL DEVELOPED LAND SAF FOREST COVER TYPE: NO NATURAL DIVISION: UNAVAILABLE COUNTIES: ADAMS ALEXANDER CALHOUN CASS CLINTON CUMBERLAND EFFINGHAM FAYETTE GREENE HANCOCK JACKSON JERSEY KNOX MCDONOUGH MACOUPIN MADISON MASSAC MONROE POPE RANDOLPH RICHLAND ST. CLAIR SANGAMON UNION WASHINGTON WHITE WILLIAMSON WOODFORD GROWTH FORM: Dicot-herb TAXONOMY COMMENTS: Var. chamomilla has no pappus; var. coronata (Gray) Coss. and Germ. has pappus. TAXONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS: LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate LEAF TYPE: Simple LEAF MARGIN: Lobed (pinnately) LEAF VENATION: Pinnate LEAF SHAPE: Oblong Lanceolate Oblanceolate INFLORESCENCE: Head FLOWER MEROUS: 5 FLOWER STRUCTURE: Complete Incomplete (no sepals) Regular Irregular FLOWER COLOR: White FLOWER PLACEMENT: Epigynous FRUIT: Achene DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC COMMENTS: Rays are present. Bruised live plant has odor of pineapple. Receptacle in median longisection is conic and pointy - leaves deeply dissected. GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION: ORIGIN: Introduced- Europe GEOGRAPHIC COMMENTS: Species is occasional in southern half of Illinois, extending north to Woodford county. POPULATION DYNAMICS: STATE STATUS: Not listed FEDERAL STATUS: Not listed COMMONNESS: Occasional ENDEMIC: NOT-ENDEMIC BIOLOGIC: HABIT: Forb LIFE CYCLE: Annual REPRODUCTION: Sexual FLOWERING PERIOD: MONTH BEGINNING- 5 MONTH END- 10 TROPHIC STATUS: Autotrophic C02 FIXATION: C3 SEX: Perfect Unisexual -monoecious BIOLOGIC COMMENTS: Disk florets are perfect and fertile; ray florets are pistillate and fertile. ECODISTRIBUTION COMMENTS: Species is distributed along roads and railroads, waste places. ENVIRONMENTAL RELATIONSHIPS: No data entered FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS: MYCORRHIZAE: endomycorrhizal HUMAN RELATIONSHIP DATA: EDIBLE: Yes HUMAN FACTOR COMMENTS: Flower heads are sometimes boiled as a tea, used as a tonic and as a stomach medicine. WILDLIFE AND LIVESTOCK INFORMATION: No data entered REVEGETATION PLANTINGS: WEEDINESS: COLONIZING REFERENCES: Mohlenbrock, R. H., ed. 1975. Guide to the vascular flora of Illinois. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale. 494 pp. Steyermark, J. A. 1963. Flora of Missouri. Iowa State University Press, Ames. 1725 pp. Gleason, H. A. 1952. The new Britton and Brown illustrated flora of the northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. 3 vols. The New York Botanical Garden, New York. END OF DATA FOR SPECIES Matricaria chamomilla ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ILPIN was developed by Louis Iverson*, with data compiled by David Ketzner and Jeanne Karnes Illinois Natural History Survey, 607 E. Peabody Dr., Champaign, IL 61820 *currently employed by USDA Forest Service, 359 Main Rd., Delaware, OH 43015