Rhaponticum carthamoides

{{Short description|Species of flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae}}

{{Speciesbox

|name = Maral root

|image = Rhaponticum carthamoides.jpg

|genus = Rhaponticum

|species = carthamoides

|authority = (Willd.) Iljin

|synonyms = {{hidden begin|title = List}}

{{Species list

|Carduus carthamoides|(Willd.) Steud.

|Centaurea carthamoides|(Willd.) B.Fedtsch.

|Cirsium carthamoides|(Willd.) Link

|Cnicus carthamoides|Willd.

|Fornicium carthamoides|(Willd.) Kamelin

|Leuzea carthamoides|(Willd.) DC.

|Serratula carthamoides|(Willd.) Poir.

|Stemmacantha carthamoides|(Willd.) Dittrich

}}

{{hidden end}}

|synonyms_ref = {{cite web |title=Rhaponticum carthamoides (Willd.) Iljin. |work=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|url=http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:241391-1 |access-date=2023-11-06 }}

}}

Rhaponticum carthamoides, synonym Leuzea carthamoides, is a species of herbaceous perennial plant in the family Asteraceae. It is known as maral root or rhaponticum.[http://www.biologie.uni-ulm.de/cgi-bin/query_all/details.pl?id=30989&stufe=A&typ=PFL&lang=e&sid=T&extid=-1&extidname=null&syno=no SysTax - detailed information on Rhaponticum carthamoides (Willd.) Iljin] It inhabits the sub-alpine zone ({{convert|4500|-|6000|ft|m|abbr=on}} above sea level) as well as alpine meadows. It can be found growing wild in Southern Siberia, Kazakhstan, the Altay region, and Western Sayan Mountains. Maral root is widely cultivated throughout Russia and Eastern Europe.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} This plant derives its traditional name maral root (maralu) from the maral deer that fed on it.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

R. carthamoides is high in 20-hydroxyecdysone, one of the most common molting hormones in insects, crabs, and some worms and can disrupt their molting and reproduction.{{Cite journal|last=Głazowska|first=Joanna|last2=Kamiński|first2=Marcin M.|last3=Kamiński|first3=Marian|date=December 2018|title=Chromatographic separation, determination and identification of ecdysteroids: Focus on Maral root (Rhaponticum carthamoides, Leuzea carthamoides)|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30303602|journal=Journal of Separation Science|volume=41|issue=23|pages=4304–4314|doi=10.1002/jssc.201800506|issn=1615-9314|pmid=30303602}}

File:Почтовая марка СССР № 5652. 1985. Лекарственные растения Сибири.jpg stamp, depicting Rhaponticum carthamoides]]