The morphology of plants of interest for pharmacy: Echinacea spp. - Asteracea

Abstract

The genus Echinacea L. originates from North America and belongs to the Asteraceae family. The species of this genus are not present in the autochtonous flora of either our country or Europe as a whole, but the last few years the following three species are being cultivated: E. angustifolia DC., E. purpurea (L) Moench, E. pallida (Nutt) Nutt. Traditional medicine contemporary fitotherapy and homeopathy utilize the above and below ground parts of wild and cultivated species of the Echinacea genus. The last few years the cultivation of Echinacea species as well as the manufacture of corresponding fitopreparations, began in Serbia too. Before use of any kind the herbal raw material that is processed must first be properly identified. The first step in identification herb are ogranoleptic examination and observation of morpho-anatomical characteristics of the plant, as well as the analysis of pulverized drug. The herba of the two species: E. angustifolia and E. purpurea differs clearly on the basis of the presence of non-glandular hair as well as the presence of secretory canals in the stem and leaf mesophyll which occur only in the E. purpurea species.

Rod Echinacea L., vodi poreklo iz Severne Amerike, pripada familiji Asteraceae. U našoj zemlji, kao ni u ostalim zemljama Evrope, vrste ovoga roda nisu zastupljene u spontanoj flori, ali se poslednjih godina gaje tri vrste: E. angustifolia DC., E. purpurea (L) Moench, E. pallida (Nutt) Nutt. U tradicionalnoj medicini, savremenoj fitoterapiji i homeopatiji koriste se podzemni i nadzemni delovi samoniklih i gajenih vrsta roda Echinacea. Poslednjih godina i u Srbiji je započeto gajenje Echinacea vrsta kao i izrada odgovarajućih fitopreparata. Pre bilo kakve primene biljna sirovina koja se prerađuje mora biti propisno identifikovana. Prvi korak u identifikaciji je organoleptički pregled i sagledavanje morfo-anatomskih karakteristika biljke kao i analiza sprašene droge. Herba dve vrste E. angustifolia i E. purpurea se jasno razlikuje na osnovu prisutnih nežlezdanih dlaka kao i po prisustvu sekretornih kanala u stablu i mezofilu lista i to samo kod vrste E. purpurea.