Cicerbita alpina

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Campanulids
Ordo: Asterales

Familia: Asteraceae
Subfamilia: Cichorioideae
Tribus: Cichorieae
Subtribus: Lactucinae
Genus: Cicerbita
Species: Cicerbita alpina
Name

Cicerbita alpina (L.) Wallr., Sched. Crit.: 434. (1822)
Synonyms

Homotypic
Sonchus alpinus L., Sp. Pl.: 794. 1753
Aracium alpinum (L.) Monnier, Ess. Monogr. Hieracium: 72. 1829
Mulgedium alpinum (L.) Less., Syn. Gen. Compos.: 142. 1832
Picridium alpinum (L.) Philippe, Fl. Pyren. 1: 576. 1859
Lactuca alpina (L.) A. Gray, Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 1(2): 444. 1884
Heterotypic
Hieracium coeruleum Scop., Fl. Carniol. 2: 111. 1772.
Mulgedium multiflorum DC., Prodr. 7: 249. 1838.
Sonchus racemosus Lam., Encycl. 3: 400. 1792.
Sonchus montanus Lam., Encycl. 3: 401. 1792.
Sonchus coeruleus Sm., Fl. Brit. 2: 815. 1800.
Sonchus alpestris Clairv., Man. Herbor. Suisse: 231. 1811.
Sonchus acuminatus Bigelow, Fl. Boston., ed. 2: 290. 1824.
Sonchus pallidus Torr., Comp. Fl. N. Middle Stat.: 279. 1826.
Sonchus multiflorus Desf., Tabl. École Bot. ed. 3: 145. 1829.
Soyeria alpina Gren. & Godr., Fl. France [Grenier] 2: 327 (1850)

References

Wallroth, K.F.W. 1822. Schedulae Criticae de Plantis Florae Halensis Selectis. Corollarium novum ad C. Sprengelii Floram halensem. Accedunt generum quorundam specierumque omnium definitiones novae, excursus in stirpes difficiliores. Tom. I. Phanerogamia 434.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2021. Cicerbita alpina in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Apr. 19. Reference page.
Hassler, M. 2018. Cicerbita alpina. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2018. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2018 June 25. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2018. Cicerbita alpina. Published online. Accessed: June 25 2018.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Cicerbita alpina in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 07-Oct-06.

Vernacular names
English: Blue Sowthistle
suomi: Pohjansinivalvatti
français: Laitue des Alpes
italiano: Cicerbita violetta
svenska: Torta

Cicerbita alpina, commonly known as the alpine sow-thistle or alpine blue-sow-thistle[4] is a perennial herbaceous species of plant sometimes placed in the genus Cicerbita of the family Asteraceae, and sometimes placed in the genus Lactuca as Lactuca alpina.[5] It is native to upland and mountainous parts of Europe.

It was once used as an herb in Sami cooking, and known as jierja.[6]

Description

Cicerbita alpina on average reaches 80 centimetres (31 in) in height, with a minimum height of 50 cm (20 in) and a maximum height of 150 cm (59 in). The stem is erect and usually unbranched. It has glandular hairs and contains a white milky juice, a kind of latex. The alternate leaves are broad, triangular and clasping the stem, bluish-grey beneath, hairy along the veins and with toothed margins. The inflorescence is a panicle. Each composite flower is about 2.5 cm (1 in) wide and is set within a whorl of bracts. The individual blue-violet florets are tongue-like with a toothed, truncated tip, each having five stamens and a fused carpel. All the florets are ray florets; there are no disc florets. The seeds are clothed in unbranched hairs. The flowering period extends from June to September in the temperate northern hemisphere.[7]
Distribution and habitat

Cicerbita alpina grows on many mountains of Europe (the Alps, the Pyrenees, the northern Apennines, the Scandinavian Peninsula, Scotland (where it is endangered and found in only four known locations), the Carpathians and the Urals.[8] These plants can be found in alpine woods, besides streams, in rich-soil in hollows and in tall meadows, usually between 1,000 and 1,800 metres (3,300 and 5,900 ft) above sea level.[7]
Conservation

It became a protected species in the UK in 1975 under the Conservation of Wild Creatures and Wild Plants Act.[9]
Ecology

In Finland, this plant is known as "bear-hay" because the Eurasian brown bear feeds on it, as do elk and reindeer. People also sometimes make use of it and eat it raw or cooked in reindeer milk.[7]
Secondary metabolites

The edible shoots of Cicerbita alpina contain 8-O-Acetyl-15-beta-D-glucopyranosyllactucin, which causes the bitter taste of the vegetable, and caffeic acid derivatives chlorogenic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, caffeoyltartaric acid, and cichoric acid.[10]
Gallery
Flowers of Cicerbita alpina

Flower of Cicerbita alpina

Leaf of Cicerbita alpina
References

Collett, L. & Korpelainen, H. (2017). "Lactuca alpina". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
The International Plant Names Index
The Plant List, Lactuca alpina (L.) A.Gray
BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
Flann, C (ed) 2009+ Global Compositae Checklist [permanent dead link]
Nilsson, Lena Maria; Dahlgren, Lars; Johansson, Ingegerd; Brustad, Magritt; Sjölander, Per; Guelpen, Bethany Van (18 February 2011). "Diet and lifestyle of the Sami of southern Lapland in the 1930s–1950s and today". International Journal of Circumpolar Health. 70 (3): 301–318. doi:10.3402/ijch.v70i3.17831. ISSN 2242-3982. PMID 21631968.
"Alpine Sowthistle". NatureGate. Retrieved 2013-12-24.
http://www.plantlife.org.uk/scotland/wild_plants/plant_species_scotland/?ent=171
"Caithness CWS - Caithness Field Club - Annual Bulletins - 1975 - October - Conservation".

Fusani, P; Zidorn, C (2010). "Phenolics and a sesquiterpene lactone in the edible shoots of Cicerbita alpina (L.) Wallroth". Journal of Food Composition and Analysis (Amsterdam, the Netherlands). 23 (6): 658–663. doi:10.1016/j.jfca.2009.08.014. ISSN 0889-1575.

Pignatti S. - Flora d'Italia - Edagricole – 1982. vol. III