Muretia

Muretia

 

a genus of plants of the family Umbelliferae. They are perennial herbs with tuberlike roots. The leaves are pinnatisect, with narrow-linear or threadlike lobes. The calyx is not dentate. The petals are yellow, and the cylindrical fruits have filamentous ribs. There are eight species of Muretia in southeastern Europe and western Asia. The USSR has five species, four of which are found in Middle Asia. Muretia lutea grows on clayey slopes and in the steppes of the southern European USSR, in Ciscaucasia, and in the southern part of Western Siberia; the species is toxic to livestock. M. fragrantissima, which grows in Middle Asia on mountain slopes of the steppe zone, contains an essential oil.