Laurie Caron – Plant Card
Latin name: Anaphalis margaritacea (L.) Benth. & Hook
Common names: Immortal, Immortal silver, Life-everlasting, Anaphale daisy.
Anaphalis margaritacea is a herbaceous, perennial and widespread in the temperate boreal zone1. It is often found in fields and roadsides (Figure 1). You can easily recognize this plant by its long stem (30-100 cm) and the woolly inferiorly and superiorly pubescent leaves (Figure 2). The flowers are made of highbush and white bracts finely striated (Figure 3)1. The chemical compounds in different parts of the immortal are still poorly studied. Some articles mention that this plant was used in traditional medicine to treat colds, coughs, rheumatism and respiratory problems2.
The advantages of this plant are listed for various types of compounds such as flavonoids, triterpenes and diterpenes and also hydoxylactones2. These compounds are known for their antioxidant2, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory and antiviral activities3.
More specifically, the aqueous ethanolic extract of the plant leaves was identified as having interesting antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) with 18 mm of inhibition (disk diffusion method) area4. The extract of the aerial parts have also demonstrated significant antibacterial activity against B. cereus, P. aeruginosa and E. coli4. The few studies on the antibacterial activity of Anaphalis margaritacea all agree to say that this plant would have an interesting potential for use as an antibacterial agent in various pharmacological and medical sectors5.
Bibliography
(1) Marie-Victorin. Flore Laurentienne; 3e ed.; Gaëtan Morin éditor: Montréal, 2002.
(2) Ren, Z.; Wu, Q.; Shi, Y. Flavonoids and Triterpenoids from Anaphalis Margaritacea. Chemistry of Natural Compounds 2009, 45, 610–611.
(3) Ren, Z.-Y.; Zhang, Y.; Shi, Y.-P. Simultaneous Determination of Nine Flavonoids in Anaphalis Margaritacea by Capillary Zone Electrophoresis. Talanta 2009, 78, 959–963.
(4) Borchardt, J. R.; Wyse, D. L.; Sheaffer, C. C.; Kauppi, K. L.; Fulcher, R. G.; Ehlke, N. J.; Biesboer, D. D.; Bey, R. F. Antimicrobial Activity of Native and Naturalized Plants of Minnesota and Wisconsin. 2008, 2, 98–110.
(5) Haider M. Hassan, Zi-Hua Jiang, Christina Asmussen, Emma McDonald, W. Q. Antibacterial Activity of Northern Ontario Medicinal Plant Extracts. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 2014, 94, 417–424.