Sanguisorba Sp. - Burnet

Family: Roses - Rosaceae Family

Local Sp.

• Sanguisorba annua - western burnet
• Sanguisorba canadensis - Sitka burnet
• Sanguisorba menziesii - Menzies' burnet
• Sanguisorba minor - Salad Burnet
• Sanguisorba officinalis - great burnet

SANGUISORBA Burnet

• Sanguisorba minor - Blossoms edible, Flowers used for tea [EMNMPV8] leaf edible. Used as a soil stabilizer. [Hemenway GG] The aqueous extracts of... Sanguisorba minor magnolii of the Iberian peninsula inhibited vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and HSV-1 at 50–125 lg/mL (GlatthaarSaalmuller et al., 2001); [Houghton EHMP]
• Sanguisorba officinalis - Flower buds eaten in salads or parboiled and eaten fried added to soups or preserved in salt. [EMNMPV8]

Dynamic Accumulator: Na, A, Mg, Ca, Fe [Dynamic Accumulators]

Sanguisorba minor is the only representative of Rosaceae that gave positive response in phytoalexin elicitation; a simple phenolic compound was produced in roots (Kokubun et al. 1994). [Reigosa Alleleopathy]

Sanguisorba canadensis - Sitka burnet

General:

Perennial herb from a stout rhizome, smooth; stems erect to ascending, 25-120 cm tall, sometimes branched above.

Leaves:

Basal leaves several, 10-50 cm long, pinnately compound, with stipules fused to base of long leaf-stalks and forming membranous margins; leaflets 7 to 17, egg-shaped to oblong, 2-7 cm long, coarsely saw-toothed; stem leaves alternate, 1 to 3, reduced, with free leaflet-like stipules.

Flowers:

Inflorescence a dense, cylindric, long-stalked spike, sometimes tapering at the top, of numerous small flowers, the spike 3-13 cm long; corollas absent; calyces greenish- or yellowish-white, sometimes purplish tinged at the tip, 4-lobed, the lobes oval, 2.5-3 mm long; ovaries superior; stamens 4, the filaments somewhat dilated above, at least 3 times as long as the calyx-lobes.

Fruits:

Achenes, enclosed in the 4-angled, slightly winged hypanthium.

Habitat / Range

Fens, swamps, streambanks, moist to wet meadows, forest openings and seepage areas in the montane to lower alpine zones; common in much of BC, absent in NE, SC and SE BC; N to AK, E to NF and S to NC, DE, OR and ID.

Ecological Indicator Information
A shade-intolerant, submontane to subalpine, Asian and trans-continental North American forb. Species occurs on very moist to wet soils. Widespread but scattered on water-receiving and water-collecting sites in boreal, cool temperate, and cool mesothermal climates. Most common in non-forested semi­terrestrial, often Sphagnum-dominated communities. Characteristic of wetlands. [IPBC]

Synonyms

• Sanguisorba canadensis subsp. latifolia (Hook.) Calder & Roy L. Taylor
• Sanguisorba canadensis var. latifolia Hook.
• Sanguisorba sitchensis C.A. Mey.
• Sanguisorba stipulata Raf.

References

1. http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Sanguisorba canadensis&redblue=Both&lifeform=7 [Accessed: 12/1/2014 7:37:39 PM ]

Sanguisorba officinalis - great burnet

General: Perennial herb from a thick short rhizome, smooth, usually glaucous; stems erect, 20 to 150 cm tall, often branched above.
Leaves: Basal leaves several, 10-40 cm long, pinnately compound, with stipules fused to base of long leaf-stalks and forming membranous margins; leaflets 7 to 15, egg-shaped to lance-oblong, 1.5-4 cm long, coarsely saw-toothed, green above, paler beneath; stem leaves 1 or 2, similar but smaller and with fewer leaflets, with free leaflet-like stipules.
Flowers: Inflorescence a dense, cylindric to egg-shaped, long-stalked spike, 1-3 cm long, of numerous small flowers; corollas absent; calyces reddish-purple to maroon, 4-lobed, the lobes egg-shaped, 2-3 mm long; ovaries superior; stamens 4, the filaments linear, not flattened, about the same length as the calyx-lobes.
Fruits: Achenes, enclosed in the 4-angled, narrowly winged, hairy hypanthium.

Origin Status: Native

Habitat / Range Bogs and fens in the lowland and montane zones; frequent along the coast; N to AK and YT and S to S CA.

Ecological Indicator Information
A shade-intolerant, submontane to subalpine, circumpolar forb distributed in Pacific and Cordilleran North America. Species occurs on very moist to wet soils, nitrogen-medium, often disturbed soils. Widespread but scattered on water-receiving and water-collecting sites in boreal, cool temperate, and cool mesothermal climates. Most common in non-forested semi­terrestrial, often Sphagnum-dominated communities. Characteristic of wetlands. [IPBC]

Medicinal Uses
First recorded use dates back 2000 years in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing. Traditionally regarded as bitter- and sour-tasting, cold-natured, and to have blood-cooling, hemostatic, heat-clearing, and detoxifying (qing re jie du) properties. Used in treating nosebleeds, vomiting blood, hematochezia (bloody stools), bleeding hemorrhoids, bloody diarrhea, metrorrhagia (beng lou), burns and scalds, eczema, skin sores, and swelling; also in dog and snakebites; among others (CHP; JIANGSU). Some of the uses have been well documented in recent years, especially for burns.[Leung ECNI]

Burnet is especially used in hemor-rhages. The fresh, leaves are applied with great benefits to ulcers and cuts. The green plant steeped in wine is a good blood purifier.
It has been found useful in diarrhoea, dysentery, leucorrhoea, kidney and bladder stones. Excellent in retention of the urine.
A salt made from it is supposed to prevent strokes and to be good for dropsy and T. B. [Deschauer]

Burnet has antimicrobial, antihaemorrhagic and astringent properties, which have been demonstrated experimentally but not clinically. Burnet is used to treat infections, ulcerative colitis and diarrhoea, burns and inflammatory conditions, and to stem excessive bleeding. [HMI Stockey]
Medicinal Parts: The medicinal parts of the plant are the fresh aerial parts, the dried herb, the rhizomes and roots. Characteristics: The brown-red composite head is characteristic for this plant.
Production: Great Burnet is the Sanguisorba officinalis plant in flower. The fresh aerial parts are collected in the wild during the flowering season. The rhizomes and roots are harvested in autumn, then washed and dried.
ACTIONS AND PHARMACOLOGY
COMPOUNDS
Flavonoids: including among others, rutin, flavonoid sulfates Tannins: including ellagitannins, sanguinarine H - l l , casuarinin
Triterpene glycosides: aglycones pomolic acid, tormentolic acid, including among others, ziyuglycosides I and II (sanguisorbin), betulinic acid, ursolic acid
Sterols: including beta-sitosterol
EFFECTS
The drug has been credited with decongestant, astringent and diuretic properties, but no investigation into effects has been carried out.
INDICATIONS AND USAGE
Unproven Uses: The drug is used internally for female disorders, menorrhagia during menopause, hot flushes, dysentery, enteritis, diarrhea, bladder restraint, hemorrhoids, phlebitis, and varicose veins. Externally, Great Burnet is used in plaster for wounds and ulcers. Folk medicine uses included administration of the plant latex as a remedy for pulmonary tuberculosis.
Chinese Medicine: The Chinese use Great Burnet as an astringent and hemostyptic for nosebleeds, dysentery, reptile bites and bloody coughs.
Homeopathic Uses: Among uses in homeopathy are uterine bleeding, varicose veins and diarrhea.
PRECAUTIONS AND ADVERSE REACTIONS
No health hazards or side effects are known in conjunction with the proper administration of designated therapeutic dosages.
DOSAGE
Mode of Administration: The drug is used internally and externally. It is available in ground form and is used as an extract, juice or tea. A plaster is used externally.
Homeopathic Dosage: 5 drops, 1 tablet or 1 0 globules every 30 to 60 minutes (acute) or 1 to 3 times a day (chronic); parenterally: 1 to 2 ml sc acute: 3 times daily; chronic: once a day (HAB34).

By tradition, a stauncher of blood, perhaps from the colour of its flowers, which are of a dark crimson (the generic name, Sanguisorba, comes from Latin sanguis, blood). “Burnet is a singular good herb for wounds … it stauncheth bleeding and therefore it was named Sanguisorba, as well inwardly taken as outwardly applied” (Gerard), in other words, surface wounds as well as internal haemorrhages. The plant was actually called Bloodwort (Clair), or Burnet Bloodwort (Prior). An interesting fact, whether this use is from flower colour or not, is that it is taken in Chinese medicine for haemorrhages, too (Geng Junying), as well as for dysentery and other ailments. The leaves of Sweet Basil and Burnet steeped in boiling water make a cooling face wash (H N Webster).

Part(s) Used Herb
Constituents
The following is compiled from several sources, including General Reference G40.
All phytochemical data located refer to the underground plant parts and not to the herb.
Flavonoids Flavones, unstable flavonol derivatives. Saponins Ziyu glycosides I and II (major glycosides),(1) pomolic acid as aglycone (not tomentosolic acid as documented in earlier work), sanguisorbin 2.5–4.0%.
Tannins Numerous compounds (condensed and hydrolysable) have been isolated, including 3,3,4-tri-O-methylellagic acid.(2–6) Other constituents Volatile oil, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in the fresh plant.
Food Use
Burnet is not used in foods.
Herbal Use
Burnet is stated to possess astringent, antihaemorrhagic, styptic and antihaemorrhoidal properties. It has been used for ulcerative colitis, metrorrhagia, and specifically for acute diarrhoea.(G7,G64)
Dosage
Dosages for oral administration (adults) for traditional uses recommended in older standard herbal reference texts are given below.
Dried herb 2–6g as an infusion three times daily.(G7)
Liquid extract 2–6mL (1:1 in 25% alcohol) three times daily.(G7)
Tincture 2–8mL (1:5 in 45% alcohol) three times daily.(G7)
Pharmacological Actions
In vitro and animal studies
None documented for bur net. The roots have been reported to contain an antihaemorrhagic principle, 3,3,4-tri-O-methylellagic acid.(2)

Synonyms

• Poterium officinale (L.) A. Gray
• Sanguisorba microcephala C. Presl
• Sanguisorba officinalis subsp. microcephala (C. Presl) Calder & Roy L. Taylor
• Sanguisorba officinalis var. polygama (W. Nyl.) Mela & A. Caj.

References

1. http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Sanguisorba officinalis&redblue=Both&lifeform=7 [Accessed: 12/1/2014 7:41:43 PM ]
2. [Bonediseases] Chemical constituents from Sanguisorba officinalis inhibits osteoclastogenesis E. Sakai, M. Iwatake, T. Tanaka, T. Tsukuba PharmaNutrition Volume 2, Issue 3, July 2014, Pages 99