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Anagyris foetida (English common name stinking bean trefoil), is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, forming a malodorous, Summer-deciduousPhytognosis http://regenerag.org/blog/2018/4/12/anagyris-foetida-an-underutilized-mediterranean-nitrogen-fixing-shrub Retrieved 30/12/22.Francisco J Valtueña, Ana Ortega-Olivencia, Tomás Rodríguez-Riaño and Josefa López "Reproductive biology in Anagyris foetida L. (Leguminosae), an autumn–winter flowering and ornithophilous Mediterranean shrub" Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 157, Issue 3, July 2008, pp. 519–532, shrub or small tree 2–4 m in height with green twigs bearing grey-green trifoliate leaves clad beneath in silvery trichome. The red-tinged, yellow, Laburnum-like flowers are borne on the previous season's growth and are pollinated mainly by birds Encyclopedie Biologique - XXV (25) P. Fournier ( Professor Canon Paul-Victor Fournier ) Le Livre des Plantes Medicinales et Veneneuses de France pub. Editions Lechevalier - Paris 1947 ed. Paul Lechevalier, Tome I, pp. 81-82. and bees - notably the buff-tailed bumblebee.The large spot of red pigmentation on the flowers is located on the exterior of the standard, the interior of which bears, in turn, many small, deep red spots. Polunin, O. and Smythies B.E. Flowers of South-West Europe: a field guide Oxford University Press 1973 , p. 221.
Retrieved at 10.14 on Thursday 26/1/23.
Carob-and-animal names include the Arabic kharroub kelb / karrûb el klâb "carob of the dog", kharroub el-khinzir "carob of the pig" and kharroub el-maiz "carob of the goat". Animal-and-bean names include the French fève de loup "bean of the wolf" and the Maltese language fula tal-klieb and Arabic fûl el klâb, both meaning "bean of the dog".
Of dog-related plant names it may be noted that in Europe these generally convey a perceived inferiority of some sort when compared to plants fit for humans e.g. a Rosa canina is scentless and dog's mercury (as opposed to the true mercury plant) is poisonous.Mabey, Richard, Flora Britannica, Sinclair-Stevenson, London, 1996, pp. 256–57. Likewise in the Arab world the dog is deemed a Unclean animals which feeds on carrion and other unclean things and is itself Haram - whence the Arabic language insults kelb and ibn al kalb ("dog" and "son of a dog"
Retrieved at 13.08 on Thursday 26/1/23. Regarding the Arab conception of the "carob of the pig", it may further be noted that the pig is the only animal the meat of which is explicitly condemned as haram in the Quran () (see also Islamic dietary laws).
Retrieved at 17.50 on 28/11/22.
Retrieved at 10.23 on Friday 16/12/22. which suggests that its original homeland may have lain somewhere in the refugium encompassing the Balkans, Turkey and the Black Sea coastal region of the Caucasus.Milne, Richard I. and Abbott, Richard John "The origin and evolution of Tertiary relict flora" December 2002 Advances in Botanical Research 38:281–314 Fig. 1, p. 283.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Arvind-Singh-21/post/Pre-glacial-Asia-to-Europe-plant-migration-path-via-the-Balkans/attachment/5a623b5eb53d2f0bba4c6e8b/AS%3A584584299298821%401516387166496/download/91.MilneAbbott_AdvBotRes_2002.pdf Retrieved 27/12/22. The picture is complicated by the fact that it is also an archaeophyte (ancient introduction - original homeland uncertain). In France it is a rare and protected species now found only in coastal départements, although it once grew also in Alpes-Maritimes where it is now extinct. It grows in calcareous soils in seasonally arid areas exposed to the hottest summer sun, favouring rocky limestone (as currently at Mont Faron), often among the ruins of and (see also monastic garden), suggesting that it may be a relic of Horticulture for Medicinal plants or even to furnish an arrow poison for military use. Annales de la Société des Sciences Naturelles et d'Archéologie de Toulon et de du Var Tome 69 Fascicule 1 – 1er semestre Année 2017, pub. La Société des Sciences Naturelles et d'Archéologie de Toulon et du Var (SSNATV), , p. 17, section: "Botanique"
Retrieved 14/12/22.
Anagyris foetida is an ultra drought-tolerant member of the Fabaceae family. The large shrub originates in the Mediterranean Basin. The plant illustrates one of the best drought-resisting strategies of mediterranean flora: the plant keeps its leaves through autumn, winter and spring, then it goes completely deciduous in summer, becoming Dormancy and highly resistant to drought.This pattern of aestivation (summer dormancy) is more characteristic of many Mediterranean bulbs than it is of the majority of Mediterranean shrubs, which have often adopted the different strategy of to cope with high Summer temperatures and drought.Rix, Martyn (1983). Growing Bulbs. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. .
Retrieved 9/12/22. Such bird-pollination (ornithophily) is, so far, unique among the thousands of plant species comprising the Flora of Europe. The avian pollinators recorded in the study were three passerine species: the Common chiffchaff, the Eurasian blackcap and the Sardinian warbler. Relevant in this context are the red markings on the flowers of A. foetida, red being a colour particularly noticeable by (and therefore attractive to) birds, with their Tetrachromacy vision.
The authors offer the following plausible explanation for the unusual form of pollination which has evolved in the case of A. foetida:
The negligible existence of insect visitors and pollinators of A. foetida flowers could be explained by the early flowering of this species during the autumn–winter, coinciding with the coolest and wettest months of the year (cold, high winds, almost daily mists that persist until nightfall, and above all, abundant rainfall).A complementary study of a similar kind undertaken by Haran et al. in Israel in 2018 revealed yet further bird species involved in the pollination of A. foetida, along with a single species which steals nectar from the flowers while seldom acting as a pollen vector."Specialist nectarivorous birds ( Cinnyris osea) steal nectar whereas omnivorous birds are pollen transfer vectors of Anagyris foetida" Ron Haran, Ido Izhaki, Amots Dafni Journal of Pollination Ecology
Retrieved 9/12/22
In addition to the Common chiffchaff, the Eurasian Blackcap and the Sardinian Warbler the Israeli study documents another six pollinating species: the White-spectacled bulbul, the Spanish Sparrow, the Common whitethroat, the Lesser whitethroat, Rüppell's warbler and the Eastern Orphean warbler. The species found generally to operate as a Nectar robbing was the Palestine sunbird (in consequence of its longer bill), although even it could act as a pollinator, on occasion.
As in Spain, bird pollination is explicable by the plant's flowering at a time when weather and temperatures are uncongenial to insect activity: the plant is almost the only shrub in the eastern Mediterranean region that flowers in winter.
The fruits of this species mature at the beginning of Summer, and are dispersed by simple fall under gravity. The process of fruit abscission lasts about a month, although really most of the fruits fall in the first two weeks. The fruits are indehiscent and, if they are not eaten by livestock, remain on the ground. After the heat of summer and the arrival of autumnal rains, the papyraceous–coriaceous pericarp (papery, corky pod) begins to rot, passing from brown to blackish in colour, and leaving the seeds exposed. These are large in size, very hard, and of an attractive bluish or violet-bluish colour. At least at present and in the populations studied, A. foetida shows no specialized dispersal mechanism, as is the case in many species of the Iberian Peninsula
- thus Ortega-Olivencia, Valtueña and Rodríguez-Riaño in their data-rich paper of 2008 attempting to account for the relative rarity and decline of Anagyris foetida in Spain - the study focussing on populations of the plant in Andalusia and Valencia. The authors are cautious in applying conclusions drawn from data gathered solely in Spain, but nonetheless offer pointers for future research in other countries where the plant is native.
The similarity between these fruits and the seeds of Anagyris could lead to dispersal of the seeds of Anagyris by birds in habitats where Olive and Anagyris coexist and are abundant (they are frequently found in the same habitat), because of the birds confusing them with the fruits of Olea. Nevertheless, the test of this hypothesis did not give a positive result in the population studied...While the authors failed to observe any birds which are habitual consumers of black olives in Spain consuming Anagyris seeds in error, they do not rule out the role of olive mimicry in seed dispersal in other Mediterranean countries where both Anagyris and Olea are present. (See also Vavilovian mimicry).
Few seeds can sink to the seed bank in the soil due to the intense pressure of predation by sheep. This is due principally to the shrubby habit of the plants and constant presence of sheep (always present during the period of ripening of the fruits, when predation has the most negative effect).In Spain, sheep proved to have both negative and positive effects upon seed production and germination. On the negative side, the animals showed a predilection for browsing on unripe pods (at which stage of development the seeds have not yet acquired a hard testa) and thus destroyed, by Chewing, a great many seeds before these had had a chance to ripen. On the positive side, in years of drought, when there was no grass upon which they could Grazing, sheep would resort to eating fallen pods containing ripe seeds. This suggested to the authors that sheep might be involved in endozoochoric seed dispersal, but examination of their Feces failed to reveal any ripe seeds that had passed through their guts (which would have involved their being exposed to acid scarification in the animals' stomachs). However, the authors discovered that, in consuming the ripe, fallen pods, the sheep had swallowed the pericarps, but spat out the ripe seeds, having (sometimes) chewed them enough to rupture their leathery testae (seed coats) but not enough to kill the embryos in them - thus improving their rate of germination by up to 48%.
In Spain, the dispersers of A. foetida fruit remain unknown, although this does not mean that the species does not possess them in other populations in its area of distribution. If it still exists italics, this disperser is likely to be a mammal since the latency of the seeds of this species, which are hard and impermeable, is broken physically through biting and by the action of stomach acid.
As the above makes plain, the principal disperser or dispersers of A. foetida may actually be extinct, which conclusion would go some way toward accounting for its relative rarity and would fit with its status as an archaeophyte possibly no longer to be found growing in a truly wild state.
The blossom smells strongly ofThe first to write an account of the folk medicinal properties of A. foetida Guérin, Paul Émile Alexis, Recherches sur la localisation de l'anagyrine & de la cytisine
Retrieved 29/11/22. was Ancient Greek herbalist and physician Pedanius Dioscorides in his monumental work De materia medica. He lists the names onaguris, anaguris, anagyros, acopon, and agnacopum for the shrub and records distinct uses for the leaves, root and seeds. Concerning the leaves, he recommends a poultice of the young foliage to treat edema and an infusion of a small quantity of the leaves in Straw wine to treat asthma, headache and Oligomenorrhea. He further records two uses of the leaves suggesting uterine stimulant properties: an aid to placental expulsion and an abortifacient.
Of the root, he writes that it "dissolves and ripens" (presumably in reference to and , although this is not specifically stated). His statement "It is hung as an amulet on those who have hard Childbirth, yet one must at once (after the woman's delivery) take off the amulet and put it away" presumably also refers to the root, although it is possible that other plant parts are also intended (contact between plant parts and bare skin could conceivably lead to some degree of absorption of active constituents). Concerning the seeds, he says only that their consumption causes excessive vomiting.Pedanius Dioscorides, De materia medica Book 3: "Roots of Akanthoda (= Prickly Plants) No. 167 "Anaguris Onaguris" http://www.cancerlynx.com/BOOKTHREEROOTS.PDF
Eminent French botanist Professor Canon Paul-Victor Fournier (1877-1964) devotes two pages of his three-volume work on the medicinal and poisonous plants of France (published in 1947) to the uses and toxicity of the plant.
The seeds of the plant were formerly employed as an vomiting (which Renaissance doctor and botanist Matthiolus observed was so violent in its action that it could cause internal bleeding), while an infusion of the leaves was used as a laxative, but neither use should be considered safe, given the extreme toxicity of the species.Usher, George, A Dictionary of plants Used by man, pub. Constable and Company Ltd. 1974, , p. 44.Polunin, Oleg and Huxley, Anthony Flowers of the Mediterranean, first pub. 1965 Chatto and Windus, 5th impression 1974, , p. 92.
The alkaloid anagyrine, present in the seeds, causes, in warm-blooded animals, first slowing of the breathing and heartbeat and ultimately cessation of respiration and cardiac arrest.
Retrieved 28/11/22.
). The highest concentration of the toxins occurs in the greenish-purple, bean-like seeds, while the second highest occurs in the bark of the root and the lowest concentration in the petals of the flower. In the course of his research undertaken in 1895, Guérin conducted a thorough investigation into the distribution of anagyrine in the tissues of the plant and concluded that the toxic alkaloid was almost ubiquitous, being present in almost all tissues of the plant at all stages of growth, from seed to mature tree - this in contrast to alkaloid distribution in other notably alkaloidal plants such Nicotiana and Papaver species.
SeveralCALONICE: Hi ! but they're coming now : here they all are : First one, and then another - hoity-toity! Where are this lot from?
LYSISTRATA: From Anagyrous.
CALONICE: Aha! Well, at any rate we've "stirred up Anagyrous" homophonic. *
With English translation of by Benjamin Bickley Rogers M.A., D.Litt, Barrister-at-Law, sometime fellow of Wadham College Oxford Pub. London
- Note: κινεῖν τὸν ἀνάγυρον (kinein tòn anáguron) "To stir up shake the Anagyris" (meaning the nauseous-smelling shrub Anagyris foetida) was a proverb, used of persons who brought some unpleasantness on themselves compare. Calonice applies the proverb to the similarly deme =suburb, meaning that the influx of Anagyrasian women proved that the deme suburb Anagyrous was thoroughly stirred up i.e..The Aristophanes in Three Volumes
Retrieved 1/11/22 others that a playful (possibly traditional) jibe at the inhabitants of Anagyrus may have been intended - to the effect that the Anagyrasians were notably Body odor, because their Hygiene was poor. Aristophanes.
There are two theories concerning the etymology of the suburb name Anagyrous punned upon in Lysistrata (as quoted above): first that it was named for an hero Anagyrous, famed for exacting a terrible revenge upon those who had cut branches from the sacred grove dedicated to him, and secondly that it was actually named for the foul-smelling shrub Anagyris that grew there in such profusion. More light might have been cast on the matter by a lost play by Aristophanes entitled Anagyrous and devoted to the deeds of the vengeful hero. However a measure of confusion over the title of a second play possibly devoted to the same hero makes plain the availability to Aristophanes of a second pun at the expense of the Anagyrasians: the playwright Diphilus also wrote a play entitled Anagyrous, but it remains uncertain whether the title was actually Anargyrous - the insertion of a second 'r' changing the meaning to 'without silver' (prefix αν 'without' + ἁργυρυσ 'silver') i.e. 'penniless' or 'impoverished'. Such wordplay could lend itself both to a comic characterisation of the hero Anagyrous as a ne'
Retrieved 15/12/22.
The shrub of Anagyrous groweth near all the great roads of the isle, so stinking that it maketh the head to ache, and there doth keep its ancient name, for the common people do call it "Anagyros". So vile its savour that the very famished goats feed not upon it.Translated from the original French of Pierre Belon in Les noms des arbres et herbes exquises qui naissent sauvages autour du mont Ida de Crete, forming part of his work of 1588 Les observations de plusieurs singularitez et choses memorables trouvées en Grèce, Asie, Judée, Egypte, Arabie et autres pays estranges
Thus writes Pierre Belon (1517–1564), French diplomat, traveller, and pioneering natural history, in an essay devoted to the notable plants of the area surrounding Mount Ida (now known as Psiloritis) on the island of Crete, which forms part of his Observations - a work devoted to the noteworthy things which he observed during his travels in Arabia, Greece and the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean.
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