page_title: Physochlaina
section_title: Westernmost species : P. orientalis
hierarchical_section_title: Physochlaina / Westernmost species : P. orientalis
caption_attribution_description: English: The ripe, fruiting calyces of Physochlaina orientalis (M.Bieb) G. Don, showing nodding growth habit and indumentum of sticky trichomes with trapped insect remains.
context_page_description: Physochlaina is a small genus of herbaceous perennial plants belonging to the nightshade family, Solanaceae, found principally in the north-western provinces of China although one species occurs in Western Asia, while another is found as far east as those regions of Siberia abutting the eastern borders of Mongolia and, furthermore, not only in Mongolia itself, but also in the Chinese autonomous region of Inner Mongolia. Some sources maintain that the widespread species P. physaloides is found also in Japan, but the species is not recorded as being native in one of the few English-language floras of the country. The genus is a valuable one, since its species are not only of considerable medicinal value, being rich in tropane alkaloids, but also of ornamental value, three species having been grown for the purpose, although hitherto infrequently outside botanical gardens. Furthermore, the genus contains a species formerly used as an entheogen in Siberia.
context_section_description: Habitat in cryptis circa acidulam Narzana et in Iberia. Floret primo vere. 
  – Marschall von Bieberstein. Flora Taurico-caucasica 1808
  Confusingly, the species of Physochlaina most commonly encountered in cultivation not only bears what appears to be a counter-intuitive specific name, but is also not a universally-accepted species : the plant grown as an ornamental under the name Physochlaina orientalis (M.Bieb.) G.Don, far from being ( as its specific name appears to imply ) the Physochlaina species with the easternmost distribution is, in fact, that with the westernmost, as it is native to eastern Turkey, southern Russia, the Caucasus and north-western Iran.
  This apparent misnomer is an artifact of the plant's having initially been placed in the henbane genus Hyoscyamus as H. orientalis before the creation of the genus Physochlaina and the discovery and naming of its (Physochlaina 's) species of predominantly Chinese provenance.
  The plant cultivated under the name Physochlaina orientalis (referable possibly to P. physaloides – see below) is a rhizomatous, clump-forming, perennial, up to 45 cm in height, bearing attractive, funnel-shaped flowers of a pale purplish-blue, followed, in fruit, by pubescent calyces much longer than the capsules enclosed.
  In cultivation in the United Kingdom it can flower between March and May, flowering usually in the month of April, when it can make a fitting companion for Spring-flowering bulbs, particularly those sharing its preference for well-drained soil – indeed its Summer dormancy, as a perennial desert ephemeral (an adaptation to drought, characteristic of Mediterranean vegetation) resembles that of many genera of bulbous plants e.g. Tulipa.
  Despite its merits as a garden flower, P. orientalis is still seldom to be seen in British gardens, although it has been grown in Britain since at least 1818 – as noted by Robert Sweet :
  This pretty Spring-flowering plant was raised from seed, received from Moscow, by Messrs. Whitley, Brames and Milne, at Fulham in the year 1818.
  [ Note: the Fulham nursery of the above-mentioned Whitley, Brames and Milne was founded originally by Matthew Burchell ( c. 1752–1828 ), father of the celebrated naturalist William Burchell. It was owned subsequently – in various partnerships – by nurseryman Reginald Whitley ( c.1754–1835 ).]
  In the wild, near the historic, Turkish, silver-mining town of Gümüşhane (on the westernmost edge of its range) P. orientalis is frequently to be found growing near cave mouths and in rock crevices- exactly the type of microclimate referenced by Marschall von Bieberstein in his original description of 1808, where he speaks of ' grottos near the acidic mineral springs of Narzana (= Narzan Baths, Kislovodsk, North Caucasus) '. ( Compare also a similar penchant for growing in rock crevices on the part of the Xinjiang species Physochlaina capitata – see above ).
  The plant's country of origin is given in von Bieberstein's original description of ' Hyoscyamus orientalis ' (now Physochlaina orientalis) as Caucasian Iberia  – a former kingdom, the heartland of which is the modern Georgian province of Kartli. The Caucasian Kingdom of Iberia also encompassed parts of Armenia, Azerbaijan, southern Russia and eastern Turkey.
  Flora Iranica is in agreement on this range of occurrence for P. orientalis, adding also to the list of territories not only north-western Iran but also 'Syr Darja' – the latter being referable to lands traversed by the river Syr Darya and, more especially the historic Syr-Darya Oblast and hence modern Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan lies outside the area encompassed by Flora Iranica, but parts of neighbouring Turkmenistan do not. Either way, Flora Iranica is unequivocal in describing the range of Physochlaina orientalis as extending eastward into Central Asia.
caption: The ripe, fruiting calyces of Physochlaina orientalis (M.Bieb.) G.Don, (length circa 18mm) showing nodding growth habit and indumentum of sticky trichomes with trapped insect remains and thistle pappus.
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