Greater celandine is a perennial herb in the poppy family, native to Europe and western Asia, that grows as a weedy plant on waste ground, roadsides and woodland edges. It is grown mostly as a wild or medicinal plant rather than an ornamental garden plant.
Family
Papaveraceae (Poppy family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Part shade, Full sun
Water
Water regularly while establishing, then allow the top of the soil to dry slightly between waterings.
Soil
Tolerates a wide range of soils, including poor, rocky or disturbed ground, with good drainage.
Temperature
Hardy to about -20 °C; tolerates cold winters well.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Toxic: All parts, especially the yellow-orange latex, contain alkaloids that can irritate skin and, if swallowed, cause vomiting, abdominal pain and other poisoning symptoms.
Native range
Macaronesia, Europe to W. Siberia, Medit. to N. Iran
Climate
temperate
About
Chelidonium majus, the greater celandine, is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae. One of two species in the genus Chelidonium, it is native to Europe and western Asia and introduced widely in North America.
The plant known as lesser celandine (Ficaria verna) is not closely related, as it belongs to the buttercup family Ranunculaceae.
Where it grows
Chelidonium majus is native to most regions of Europe. It is also found in North Africa in Macaronesia, Algeria and Morocco. In Western Asia it is found in the Caucasus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia, Iran and Turkey. Its habitats include rocky slopes, woodlands, waste areas and roadsides.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Chelidonium majus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.