Dictamnus albus

This plant grows about {{convert|40|cm|0|abbr=on}} to {{convert|100|cm|0|abbr=on}} high. Its flowers form a loose pyramidal spike and vary in colour from pale purple to white. The flowers are five-petalled with long projecting stamens. The leaves resemble those of an ash tree.

Several varieties and cultivars have been selected for garden use. The variety D. albus var. purpureus in which the violet-purple is confined to veining of white petals with a slight blush, has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.{{cite web|title=Dictamnus albus var. purpureus|url=http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=655|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121224163235/http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=655|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 24, 2012|publisher=Royal Horticultural Society|access-date=24 July 2013}}{{cite web | url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf | title = AGM Plants - Ornamental | date = July 2017 | page = 29 | publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | access-date = 6 February 2018}} Dictamnus is tap-rooted, making mature plants difficult to establish and resistant to division; young plants often need three years before they begin to flower, and since it is late to break into leaf in spring, even quite mature clumps may be harmed with vigorous soil-working in spring. For all these reasons, added to toxicity of the foliage, Dictamnus is rarely seen in American gardens.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

The leaves have a bitter and unpalatable taste. Despite the lemon-like smell, the plant is acrid when eaten. All parts of the plant may cause mild stomach upset if eaten, and contact with the foliage may cause phytophotodermatitis.

The name "burning bush" derives from the volatile oils produced by the plant, which can catch fire readily in hot weather,{{Cite web|url=http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=286761|title = Dictamnus albus - Plant Finder}} leading to comparisons with the burning bush of the Bible, including the suggestion that this is the plant involved there. The daughter of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus is said to have ignited the air once, at the end of a particularly hot, windless summer day, above Dictamnus plants, using a simple matchstick. The volatile oils have a reputed component of isoprene.

More than 100 chemical constituents have been isolated from the genus Dictamnus, including alkaloids, limonoid triterpenoids, flavonoids, sesquiterpenoids, coumarins, and Phenylpropanoids.{{cite journal |author1=Gao X. |author2=Zhao P.-H. |author3=Hu J.-F. | title = Chemical constituents of plants from the genus Dictamnus | journal = Chemistry and Biodiversity | volume = 8 | issue = 7 | pages = 1234–1244 | year = 2011 | doi = 10.1002/cbdv.201000132 | pmid = 21766445|s2cid=46187608 }}

File:Illustration Dictamnus albus0.jpg|Illustration from Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885

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File:Blüten der Dictamnus albus.jpg

File:Rutaceae - DIctamnus albus.JPG

File:Dictamnus albus 003.JPG|Fruit

File:Rutaceae - DIctamnus albus-1.JPG

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.thegardenhelper.com/Dictamnus.htm Growing a Burning Bush, Dictamnus albus, in your Garden] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130219052407/http://www.thegardenhelper.com/dictamnus.htm |date=2013-02-19 }}
• [http://www.backyardgardener.com/pren/pg43.html Dictamnus - Gas Plant, Burning Bush, Perennials Guide to Planting Flowers]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQTZyS7BKV8 Video - Burning bush on fire]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q157755}}

Category:Medicinal plants of Africa

Category:Medicinal plants of Asia

Category:Medicinal plants of Europe

Category:Flora of Ukraine

Category:Zanthoxyloideae

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

Category:Plants described in 1753