Daphne mucronata Royle
مننت، بختيت، لزكام، مينتني
For people
- Eaten by people
- Not edible
- Toxic to people
- Toxic
For livestock
- Grazed by livestock
- Not grazed
- Toxic to livestock
- Unknown
Edibility and safety notes
Treat the whole plant as poisonous and do not eat any part. The leaves are reported to be poisonous and the skin-irritant toxin daphnetoxin has been isolated from the shoots; in the genus Daphne all parts, especially the berries, are toxic, burning the mouth and gut, and the sap can cause dermatitis. A few sources from Pakistan say the fruit is eaten, but this is unsafe to rely on. The field guide rates it as not grazed; goats are said to tolerate the leaves, but no reliable data on livestock poisoning was found.
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Description
An evergreen shrub of the family Thymelaeaceae, up to 2.5 m tall, with slender, pale green, densely branched twigs. Leaves are simple, alternate, small and leathery, oblong to obovate, 1-3 cm long, entire, ending in a short point, glossy green above and paler beneath. Flowers are small, bisexual and fragrant, in dense terminal heads; the calyx is tubular with four petal-like white to pink lobes, petals are absent and there are eight stamens. The fruit is a small ovoid fleshy drupe, orange to red when ripe. Flowers in spring. The plant is poisonous.
Habitat
Open rocky ground and rocky slopes in the mountains, also dry wadis; elsewhere recorded at about 800-3000 m, often near river banks.
Distribution
From south-eastern Turkey, Jordan, Palestine and Iraq through Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan to the western Himalaya, and in the Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia, Oman). In Oman it grows in the Hajar mountains (Ad Dakhiliyah).
Pastoral value
Not a grazing plant. The leaves are reported to be poisonous, although goats are said to be little affected by them.
Other uses
Traditionally used in folk medicine in Pakistan and Turkey, mostly externally: leaves and fruit paste for skin complaints, sores, muscular pain and rheumatism; the bark is used for washing hair, the fruit for colouring leather, and the wood for charcoal. Sometimes grown as an ornamental. Some sources report that the fruit is eaten, but the plant is poisonous and no part should be consumed.
Sources
- الدليل الحقلي المصور للنباتات البرية في سلطنة عُمان (BOOK.pdf p.194)
- Wikipedia - Daphne mucronata — en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia - Daphne (plant), toxicity section — en.wikipedia.org(plant)
- Chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial potential of essential oils from different parts of Daphne mucronata (Chemistry Central Journal 2018) — pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Phytochemistry and pharmacological activities of the diterpenoids from the genus Daphne (Molecules 2021) — pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- DNA barcoding of Daphne mucronata and Thymelaea hirsuta (Plants 2021) — pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Standard medical ethnobotany of Kohistan, North Pakistan (J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 2024) — pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- GBIF occurrence records - Daphne mucronata Royle in Oman (14 records) — api.gbif.org