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MAY DAY, MAY DAY!


MAY DAY, MAY DAY!
Photo Information
Copyright: Jay Meeuwig (Shoot_Score) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 445 W: 302 N: 670] (2376)
Genre: Plants
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-04-22
Categories: Flowers, Bushveld
Camera: Fuji Finepix S7000, Super -EBC Fujinon Lens Optical Zoom
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2007-05-01 23:54
Viewed: 6965
Points: 26
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Was "Spring has Sprung: English Tobacco..." ... aka Smoking Weed ...

HELP! Can anyone identify what plant is showing the shiny green leaves on the left edge? They do not belong to the flowers...


""Smoking Coltsfoot for the relief of coughs and asthma was recommended by the Greek physician Dioscorides and even today it is an ingredient of many herbal cigarettes. The plant's botanical name means 'cough dispeller'. The plant flowers in early spring and the leaves only appear when the flowers have died down, giving rise to the plant's old name, filius ante patrem (son before father). In China, only the flowers, which are known as kuan dong hua, are used, specifically for chronic coughs with profuse phlegm, and to force rising lung qi (energy) to descend. In Paris, the flowers used to be painted on the doorposts of apothecaries shops.""



Tussilago farfara (L)

Synonyms and Common names: Fafara, Coughwort, Horsehoof, English tobacco, bullsfoot, foals foot, horsefoot, butterbur, flower velure, hallfoot, fieldhove, donnhove, son before father

French = Tussilage, German = Huflattich, Spanish = Tusilago, Italian = Tossalaggine, Dutch = Groot & Klein Hoefblad

Order: Compositae


Description: Tussilago is a perennial herb with a creeping rhizome and long runners. Both the flower and the leaf buds grow on the rhizome. In early spring, erect, unbranched woolly stems, covered with reddish-brown scales, grow from the flower buds, terminating in a pale yellow flower head, up to 35mm in diameter, with a single-rowed involucre composed of up to 300 strap-shaped ray florets and up to 40 tubular disc florets. This becomes a white downy sphere when the long-stalked basal leaves begin to sprout. These are round, heart-shaped, shallowly toothed at the edges, and divided into five to twelve lobes. They are glossy and dark green above and greyish below due to the felt-like hairs covering the underside; the young leaves are densely felted on both sides. The fruits are long, cylindrical, glabrous achenes, with shiny white down at the tip, appearing at the same time as the large leaves. Tussilago is a common invasive weed which prefers heavy clay soils throughout Britain, Europe, North Africa and Asia and sporadically in the US.

Parts used: Dried flowers and leaves

Collection: The flowers are gathered before they reach full bloom, from the end of February to April, and dried in the shade. The leaves are collected between May and July and are chopped and dried. The fresh leaves can be used until autumn.

Constituents: Flowers - Mucilage, flavonoids (rutin and carotene), taraxanthin, arnidiol and faradiol, a little tannin, essential oil. Leaves - mucilage, abundant tannin, glycosidal bitter principle, inulin, sitosterol, zinc

Actions: Relaxing expectorant, antitussive, demulcent, anticatarrhal, diuretic

Indications: Bronchitis, laryngitis, pertussis, asthma. Specifically indicated in chronic spasmodic bronchial cough.

Therapeutics and Pharmacology: Tussilago has a soothing expectorant and antispasmodic action which is effective in the treatment of acute or chronic bronchitis, irritating coughs, whooping cough and asthma. It reduces non-productive coughs and soothes dry, irritable airways. Its has a role in most conditions of the respiratory tract, including the chronic states of emphysema and silicosis. The mucilages supply the soothing action while the sesquiterpenes are spasmolytic. The triterpene saponins in the flowers provide a stimulating expectorant action.

Tussilago is a mild diuretic and has been used in cystitis. It contains appreciable levels of zinc which may be responsible for the herb's anti-inflammatory and healing properties; the fresh, bruised leaves can be applied to boils, abscesses and ulcers while compresses made from the fresh leaves may help to relieve joint pain. Antibacterial activity has been documented against various Gram-negative bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus hauseri, Proteus vulgaris and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Source
Adanac, bobair, SkyF, lovenature, mlines, dew77, Alex99, loot has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To loot: The [whooping] cranes are long gone...Shoot_Score 1 08-12 10:58
To lovenature: seeing so little of the plant ...Shoot_Score 1 05-04 21:53
To Adanac: Here's a bud for U....Shoot_Score 2 05-04 01:20
To SkyF: great colorsShoot_Score 1 05-03 16:58
To SunToucher: ?Shoot_Score 3 05-03 14:20
To bobair: ?Shoot_Score 1 05-03 01:19
To Adanac: ?Shoot_Score 1 05-03 01:19
To delic: ?Shoot_Score 1 05-03 01:18
To pablominto: ?Shoot_Score 1 05-03 01:17
To saeedabbasi: ?Shoot_Score 1 05-03 01:17
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi dear Jay ,
nice image with beautiful colours.
well composed and nice sharpness.
well captured.
thanks and regards
Saeed

Hello Jay,
I also photgographed those lately so I guess we're about enjoying spring both of us!
The bright yellow colours is very attractive and stands out well since they are the only living things around...
Well done on close-up!
Greetings,
Pablo -

Hi jay,
The details and the clarity of this photo are wonderful. Looks like you had some nice soft lighting conditions to play with. Great work on the exposure. But I would have gone for a wider aperture so that the BG would have become less obvious. I also feel that a lower POV, where you show the base of the flowers as well, would make a better photo. It does require to get a lower POV.
TFS,
Niek

  • Great 
  • delic Gold Star Critiquer [C: 440 W: 6 N: 310] (898)
  • [2007-05-02 3:10]
  • [+]

Merhaba Jay,
Great colors and contrast in this weed shot. Interesting how they are all pointing in different directions-fitting for a weed I guess. Good job. Regards,
Hakan

  • Great 
  • Adanac Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1273 W: 1 N: 6188] (21378)
  • [2007-05-02 21:42]
  • [+]

Hello Jay,
Sharp, colorful image, just like your note, thanks Bud great posting.
Rick

Hi Jay,
what are you trying to do blind me,lol.These flowers look over the top radioactive yellow and I rather like it as yellow is such a fine sunny colour and you have captured it very well.Great colour and focus with good DOF and POV makes this one shine.I don't know if I would care to smoke this plant but if it works who knows.Great included note and TFS. Bob

Hello Jay

beautiful colours and composition.
you managed the exposition very well...yellow is a very tricky colour to work with!
best regards

pedro

  • Great 
  • SkyF Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2234 W: 188 N: 1912] (8073)
  • [2007-05-04 17:03]
  • [+]

Hi Jay,
lovely shot of thios coltsfoot a sure sign of spring in Canada. The composition look wonderful, great colors and excellent details.
TFS..Sky

HI Jay my friend :))
Very pretty colours, so warm and inviting.

...the answer to your question is a hard one... seeing so little of the plant and not knowing how high it grows makes it tough. Does it grow in a mat form, upright, tall, short???
TFS Janice

  • Great 
  • mlines Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 556 W: 26 N: 668] (3116)
  • [2007-05-05 19:21]

Hi Jay. A good close up of what reminds me of some form of daisy? Good cropping and colours. TFS. Murray.

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4432 W: 248 N: 4028] (13270)
  • [2007-05-12 4:28]

Hello Jay,
Lovely capture of this beautiful flowers.I liked low level POV,3D effect,framing,details and composition a lot.
TFS..:-)

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4072 W: 133 N: 7096] (23735)
  • [2007-06-03 11:59]

Hi Jay.
This is your picture is simply great. Everything is perfect. And terrific colour palette (especially yellow colour tomes), great POV and perfect DOF. Sharpness and details are fantastic. Bravo. Superb done picture.
Alexei.

  • Great 
  • loot Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5524 W: 722 N: 4163] (11276)
  • [2008-08-09 21:49]
  • [+]

Hi Shooter

Sorry, no luck with the trick question. May-day is another story, but not for now... Nice details on this smoking weed. Lovely intense yellow and red colours of the flowers and great notes too.

Well done and TFS.
Regards
Loot

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