Phedimus aizoon

Safety & Hazards

Phedimus aizoon is a commonly used medicinal herb in China. Research has shown that the plant contains pyrrolidine (sic) alkaloids (we assume this means pyrrolizidine alkaloids[ K Title Plants for a Future Author Ken Fern Description Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips. ]). Many pyrrolizidine alkaloids have pronounced hepatic toxicity, but the lungs and other organs may be affected as well. Mutagenic and carcinogenic activities of pyrrolizidine alkaloids have also been reported[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. There have been reported cases in China of kidney disease in a small minority of people using this plant for medicinal purposes - the total dose taken ranged from 300 - 900g taken over a period of around 13 days and symptoms ranged from mild to very severe[ 1239 Title Computed tomography findings of hepatic veno-occlusive disease caused by Sedum aizoon with histopathological correla Publication Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research (2015) 48(12): 1145-1150 Author H. Shao; H.Z. Chen; J.S. Zhu; B. Ruan; Z.Q. Zhang; X. Lin; M Website http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1414-431X20154563 Publisher Year 2015 ISBN 1414-431X Description ]. All species in the genus Sedum (including the closely allied genera such as Hylotelephium and Phedimus) have more or less edible leaves and young flowering stems, though they are not always totally desireable with several species having bitter, acrid or peppery flavours! However, the plants contain various alkaloids including sedine and sedamine. These can sometimes cause gastric upsets, usually of a mild nature[ 293 Title Poisonous Plants of North Carolina Publication Author Website http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/poison.htm Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent concise but comprehensive guide to toxic plants that grow in N. Carolina. It lists even those plants that are of very low toxicity, including several well-known food plants such as carrots and potatoes. ]. This is most likely to happen with species that have yellow flowers, though eating large quantities of any species could be problematic[ 62 Title A Field Guide to N. American Edible Wild Plants. Publication Author Elias. T. and Dykeman. P. Publisher Van Nostrand Reinhold Year 1982 ISBN 0442222009 Description Very readable. , 85 Title Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. Publication Author Harrington. H. D. Publisher University of New Mexico Press Year 1967 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9 Description A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants. ].