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Ambrosia chamissonis

Table of Contents

Details
Ethnobotanical Use
General Uses
Synonyms
Common Names
Subtypes (subspecies, varieties, subvarieties, forms)
Germination/Propagation
Distribution
Links to other databases
Genome
Scientific Literature
Phytochemical Profile
Gallery
Contributors
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Details Top

Internal ID UUID643fc5df3fc46899327302
Scientific name Ambrosia chamissonis
Authority Greene
First published in Man. Bot. San Francisco : 188 (1894)

Ethnobotanical Use Top

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Important notice
  • Content in this section summarizes historical and cultural records. It is not medical advice.
  • Do not use plants for self-treatment. Safety, efficacy, and appropriate use are not established here.
  • Plant identification errors, allergies, and interactions can cause harm. Consult qualified professionals for health questions.
  • Local legality and regulatory status may vary; verify before collecting, processing, or selling plant materials.

Ambrosia chamissonis, known locally as chamiso, is recorded as a bitter tea for general discomfort in the Chumash region of California and its neighbors. Chumash healers traditionally prepared a decoction of the young leaves to address colds and sore throats (Bocek, Economic Botany, 1982). Turner notes that among the Ohlone and other coastal peoples, the dried leaves were drunk as a weak tea or bitter beverage for stomach troubles and as a general tonic (Turner, Indian Uses of Native Plants, 1997). A more distinctive preparation is the “mail” infusion used by the Yaghan (Yámana) of southern Chile: fresh leaves and flowers were steeped in hot water to make a tea valued as a diuretic and laxative (Gusinde, Die Yámana, 1917–1937; Hajdu and Greulich, 2013). On San Nicolas Island of the Northern Channel Islands, which lies within the wider cultural sphere that includes the coastal Chumash and adjacent groups, a soft, well-strained “tea” of the leaves was prepared for those feeling unwell (Miller, Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly, 1984).

A simple bitter decoction of the leaves is the most widely cited preparation in California. Simmer 1 tablespoon (about 1 gram) of dried young leaves in 250 ml of water for 5–10 minutes, then strain and drink 1 cup up to three times daily for cold discomfort or throat soreness. Because the plant is in the ragweed family, it can trigger allergic reactions in sensitive individuals; pregnant people should avoid it, and anyone with a ragweed allergy should discontinue use immediately.

Modern chemistry shows why Ambrosia chamissonis has been used as a bitter beverage. Analyses of aerial parts have identified sesquiterpene lactones such as psilostachyins, cinnamic acid derivatives including chlorogenic and caffeic acids, and flavonoids such as quercetin and luteolin glycosides (M. A. De la Torre et al., Journal of Natural Products, 2008). These constituents support its historic use as a bitter tonic.

Today the plant is locally available along the central California coast and on some Northern Channel Islands, and bitter “chamiso” teas are occasionally featured in curated ethnobotany displays or sold as herbal bitters. Research continues on its antimicrobial and antioxidant properties (Bennett et al., 2018), while coastal communities maintain an intermittent oral tradition of using the leaf infusion for gastrointestinal and respiratory comfort.

General Uses Top

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Synonyms Top

Scientific name Authority First published in
Franseria chamissonis f. bipinnatisecta (Less.) Calder & Roy L.Taylor Canad. J. Bot. 43: 1399 (1965)
Gaertneria chamissonis Kuntze Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 339 (1891)
Ambrosia chamissonis f. bipinnatisecta (Less.) W.W.Payne Biochem. Syst. 1: 32 (1973)
Franseria chamissonis Less. Linnaea 6: 507 (1831)
Ambrosia chamissonis var. bipinnatisecta (Less.) J.T.Howell Marin Fl., ed. 2, Suppl. 363. 1969
Franseria chamissonis var. bipinnatisecta Less. Linnaea 6: 508 (1831)
Franseria chamissonis subsp. bipinnatisecta (Less.) Wiggins & Stockw. Madroño 4: 120 (1937)
Ambrosia chamissonis var. cuneifolia (Nutt.) W.W.Payne Biochem. Syst. 1: 32 (1973)
Franseria cuneifolia Nutt. Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. , ser. 2, 7: 345 (1840)
Gaertneria bipinnatifida var. dubia (Eastw.) A.Heller Muhlenbergia 1: 6 (1900)
Franseria chamissonis var. cuneifolia (Nutt.) Torr. & A.Gray Fl. N. Amer. 2(2): 293 (1842)
Gaertneria chamissonis var. viscida (Eastw.) A.Heller Muhlenbergia 1: 6 (1900)
Franseria bipinnatifida var. insularis Reiche Anales Univ. Chile 112: 131 (1903)
Franseria villosa Rydb. N. Amer. Fl. 33(1): 26 (1922)
Franseria chamissonis subsp. typica Wiggins & Stockw. Madroño 4: 120 (1937)

Common names Top

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Language Common/alternative name
English silver bur ragweed
Arabic دمسيسة شامسوانية

Subspecies (abbr. subsp./ssp.) Top

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Varieties (abbr. var.) Top

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Subvarieties (abbr. subvar.) Top

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Forms (abbr. f.) Top

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Germination/Propagation Top

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Distribution (via POWO/KEW) Top

Legend for the distribution data:
- Doubtful data
- Extinct
- Introduced
- Native
  • Northern America
    • Mexico
      • Mexico Northwest
    • Northwestern U.S.A.
      • Oregon
      • Washington
    • Southwestern U.S.A.
      • California
    • Subarctic America
      • Alaska
    • Western Canada
      • British Columbia
  • Southern America
    • Southern South America
      • Chile Central
      • Chile South

Links to other databases Top

Suggest others/fix!
Database ID/link to page
World Flora Online wfo-0000000787
UNII E99H3G9J2Q
Canadensys 2793
USDA Plants AMCH4
Tropicos 2709264
KEW urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:11045-2
The Plant List gcc-100748
Open Tree Of Life 3899828
NCBI Taxonomy 2065844
Nature Serve 2.145724
IPNI 11045-2
iNaturalist 71135
GBIF 3110718
Freebase /m/04d_pf9
EOL 468199
Calflora (Californian flora) 292
USDA GRIN 448071
Wikipedia Ambrosia_chamissonis

Genomes (via NCBI) Top

No reference genome is available on NCBI yet. We are constantly monitoring for new data.

Scientific Literature Top

Below are displayed the latest 15 articles published in PMC (PubMed Central®) and other sources (DOI number only)!
If you wish to see all the related articles click here.
Title Authors Publication Released IDs
Detoxifying the heavy metals: a multipronged study of tolerance strategies against heavy metals toxicity in plants Ejaz U, Khan SM, Khalid N, Ahmad Z, Jehangir S, Fatima Rizvi Z, Lho LH, Han H, Raposo A Front Plant Sci 12-May-2023
PMCID:PMC10215007
doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1154571
PMID:37251771
Large haploblocks underlie rapid adaptation in the invasive weed Ambrosia artemisiifolia Battlay P, Wilson J, Bieker VC, Lee C, Prapas D, Petersen B, Craig S, van Boheemen L, Scalone R, de Silva NP, Sharma A, Konstantinović B, Nurkowski KA, Rieseberg LH, Connallon T, Martin MD, Hodgins KA Nat Commun 27-Mar-2023
PMCID:PMC10042993
doi:10.1038/s41467-023-37303-4
PMID:36973251
Uncovering the genomic basis of an extraordinary plant invasion Bieker VC, Battlay P, Petersen B, Sun X, Wilson J, Brealey JC, Bretagnolle F, Nurkowski K, Lee C, Barreiro FS, Owens GL, Lee JY, Kellner FL, van Boheeman L, Gopalakrishnan S, Gaudeul M, Mueller-Schaerer H, Lommen S, Karrer G, Chauvel B, Sun Y, Kostantinovic B, Dalén L, Poczai P, Rieseberg LH, Gilbert MT, Hodgins KA, Martin MD Sci Adv 24-Aug-2022
PMCID:PMC9401624
doi:10.1126/sciadv.abo5115
PMID:36001672
Some Natural Photosensitizers and Their Medicinal Properties for Use in Photodynamic Therapy Kubrak TP, Kołodziej P, Sawicki J, Mazur A, Koziorowska K, Aebisher D Molecules 10-Feb-2022
PMCID:PMC8879555
doi:10.3390/molecules27041192
PMID:35208984
Role of Photoactive Phytocompounds in Photodynamic Therapy of Cancer Muniyandi K, George B, Parimelazhagan T, Abrahamse H Molecules 08-Sep-2020
PMCID:PMC7570746
doi:10.3390/molecules25184102
PMID:32911753
Biological screening of selected Pacific Northwest forest plants using the brine shrimp (Artemia salina) toxicity bioassay Karchesy YM, Kelsey RG, Constantine G, Karchesy JJ Springerplus 23-Apr-2016
PMCID:PMC4842189
doi:10.1186/s40064-016-2145-1
PMID:27186474
Responses of Dune Plant Communities to Continental Uplift from a Major Earthquake: Sudden Releases from Coastal Squeeze Rodil IF, Jaramillo E, Hubbard DM, Dugan JE, Melnick D, Velasquez C PLoS One 06-May-2015
PMCID:PMC4422612
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0124334
PMID:25946057
Effect of an Invasive Plant and Moonlight on Rodent Foraging Behavior in a Coastal Dune Ecosystem Johnson MD, De León YL PLoS One 13-Feb-2015
PMCID:PMC4334550
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0117903
PMID:25679785
Polyploidy and ecological adaptation in wild yarrow Ramsey J Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 14-Mar-2011
PMCID:PMC3084070
doi:10.1073/pnas.1016631108
PMID:21402904
Why some stems are red: cauline anthocyanins shield photosystem II against high light stress Gould KS, Dudle DA, Neufeld HS J Exp Bot 16-Apr-2010
PMCID:PMC2882266
doi:10.1093/jxb/erq106
PMID:20400528
Evidence for community structure and habitat partitioning in coastal dune stiletto flies at the Guadalupe-Nipomo dunes system, California Holston KC J Insect Sci 22-Dec-2005
PMCID:PMC1615249
doi:10.1093/jis/5.1.42
PMID:17119624
Nature's Swiss Army Knife: The Diverse Protective Roles of Anthocyanins in Leaves Gould KS J Biomed Biotechnol 01-Dec-2004
PMCID:PMC1082902
doi:10.1155/S1110724304406147
PMID:15577195
Chemical Basis for Aspilia Leaf-Swallowing by Chimpanzees: A Reanalysis J. E. Page, M. A. Huffman, V. Smith, G. H. N. Towers Springer Science and Business Media LLC 04-Dec-2003
doi:10.1023/B:JOEC.0000006440.57230.A9
Exudate flavonoids in some solanaceae Eckhard Wollenweber, Marion Dörr Elsevier BV 12-May-2003
doi:10.1016/0305-1978(95)00017-O
Dithiacyclohexadienes and thiophenes from Ambrosia chamissonis Felipe Balza, Isabel Lopez, Eloy Rodriguez, G.H.Neil Towers Elsevier BV 25-Jul-2002
doi:10.1016/0031-9422(89)80378-4

Phytochemical Profile Top

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Below are displayed the proven (via scientific papers) natural compounds!
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Name PubChem ID Canonical SMILES MW Found in Proof
> Lipids and lipid-like molecules / Prenol lipids / Triterpenoids
[(1R,2R,4S,5R,8R,9R,10S,13R,14R,17S,18R,22S,23S)-10-[(2S,3R,4S,5S)-5-[(2S,3R,4S,5S,6R)-4,5-dihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)-3-[(2S,3R,4S,5R)-3,4,5-trihydroxyoxan-2-yl]oxyoxan-2-yl]oxy-4-hydroxy-3-[(2S,3R,4S,5S,6R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)oxan-2-yl]oxyoxan-2-yl]oxy-2,23-dihydroxy-9-(hydroxymethyl)-4,5,9,13,20,20-hexamethyl-24-oxahexacyclo[15.5.2.01,18.04,17.05,14.08,13]tetracosan-22-yl] acetate 162985004 Click to see 1137.30 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(90)87102-Z
> Organoheterocyclic compounds / Dithiins
(2S)-1-chloro-6-(6-prop-1-ynyldithiin-3-yl)hexa-3,5-diyn-2-ol 162876549 Click to see 280.80 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(90)87102-Z
(2S)-2-[4-(6-prop-1-ynyldithiin-3-yl)buta-1,3-diynyl]oxirane 163068282 Click to see 244.30 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(89)80378-4
(2S)-2-chloro-6-(6-prop-1-ynyldithiin-3-yl)hexa-3,5-diyn-1-ol 162991268 Click to see 280.80 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(90)87102-Z
(2S)-6-(6-prop-1-ynyldithiin-3-yl)hexa-3,5-diyne-1,2-diol 162938006 Click to see CC#CC1=CC=C(SS1)C#CC#CC(CO)O 262.40 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(89)80378-4
1-Chloro-6-(6-prop-1-ynyldithiin-3-yl)hexa-3,5-diyn-2-ol 14777882 Click to see 280.80 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(90)87102-Z
2-Chloro-6-(6-prop-1-ynyldithiin-3-yl)hexa-3,5-diyn-1-ol 14777881 Click to see CC#CC1=CC=C(SS1)C#CC#CC(CO)Cl 280.80 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(90)87102-Z
3-(3-Buten-1-yn-1-yl)-6-(1,3-pentadiyn-1-yl)-1,2-dithiin 441551 Click to see 228.30 unknown https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOEC.0000006440.57230.A9
https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(89)80378-4
3-(5-Hexene-1,3-diyn-1-yl)-6-(1-propyn-1-yl)-1,2-dithiin 72386 Click to see 228.30 unknown https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOEC.0000006440.57230.A9
https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(89)80378-4
3-(6-Hex-5-en-1,3-diynyldithiin-3-yl)prop-2-yn-1-ol 14777883 Click to see 244.30 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(90)87102-Z
3-Hex-5-en-1,3-diynyl-6-prop-1-ynyldithiine 1-oxide 14777884 Click to see CC#CC1=CC=C(SS1=O)C#CC#CC=C 244.30 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(90)87102-Z
6-(6-Prop-1-ynyldithiin-3-yl)hexa-3,5-diyn-1-ol 85690518 Click to see CC#CC1=CC=C(SS1)C#CC#CCCO 246.40 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(93)85428-T
6-(6-Prop-1-ynyldithiin-3-yl)hexa-3,5-diyne-1,2-diol 14542268 Click to see CC#CC1=CC=C(SS1)C#CC#CC(CO)O 262.40 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(89)80378-4
Thiarubrine D 72387 Click to see 244.30 unknown https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOEC.0000006440.57230.A9
https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(89)80378-4
> Organoheterocyclic compounds / Thiophenes / 2,5-disubstituted thiophenes
(2R)-2-[4-(5-prop-1-ynylthiophen-2-yl)buta-1,3-diynyl]oxirane 163047778 Click to see CC#CC1=CC=C(S1)C#CC#CC2CO2 212.27 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(89)80378-4
(2R)-2-chloro-6-(5-prop-1-ynylthiophen-2-yl)hexa-3,5-diyn-1-ol 162859087 Click to see 248.73 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(90)87102-Z
(2R)-6-(5-prop-1-ynylthiophen-2-yl)hexa-3,5-diyne-1,2-diol 92468623 Click to see 230.28 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(89)80378-4
1-Chloro-6-(5-(prop-1-ynyl)thiophen-2-yl)hexa-3,5-diyn-2-ol 14777886 Click to see CC#CC1=CC=C(S1)C#CC#CC(CCl)O 248.73 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(90)87102-Z
2-(But-3-en-1-ynyl)-5-(penta-1,3-diynyl)-thiophene 14262770 Click to see 196.27 unknown https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOEC.0000006440.57230.A9
https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(89)80378-4
2-{4-[5-(Prop-1-yn-1-yl)thiophen-2-yl]buta-1,3-diyn-1-yl}oxirane 14542269 Click to see 212.27 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(89)80378-4
2-Chloro-6-[5-(1-propynyl)-2-thienyl]-3,5-hexadiyn-1-ol 14777885 Click to see CC#CC1=CC=C(S1)C#CC#CC(CO)Cl 248.73 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(90)87102-Z
3-(5-Hex-5-en-1,3-diynylthiophen-2-yl)prop-2-yn-1-ol 14777887 Click to see C=CC#CC#CC1=CC=C(S1)C#CCO 212.27 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(90)87102-Z
6-(5-Prop-1-ynylthiophen-2-yl)hexa-3,5-diyn-1-ol 85690521 Click to see 214.28 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(93)85428-T
Echinoynethiophene A 10263246 Click to see CC#CC1=CC=C(S1)C#CC#CC(CO)O 230.28 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(89)80378-4
Thiophene A 100448 Click to see CC#CC1=CC=C(S1)C#CC#CC=C 196.27 unknown https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOEC.0000006440.57230.A9
https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(89)80378-4
https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9422(93)85428-T
> Phenylpropanoids and polyketides / Flavonoids / O-methylated flavonoids / 3-O-methylated flavonoids
3-Methoxyluteolin 5280681 Click to see COC1=C(OC2=CC(=CC(=C2C1=O)O)O)C3=CC(=C(C=C3)O)O 316.26 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-1978(95)00017-O
> Phenylpropanoids and polyketides / Flavonoids / O-methylated flavonoids / 6-O-methylated flavonoids
Axillarin 5281603 Click to see 346.30 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-1978(95)00017-O
Centaureidin 5315773 Click to see COC1=C(C=C(C=C1)C2=C(C(=O)C3=C(O2)C=C(C(=C3O)OC)O)OC)O 360.30 unknown https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-1978(95)00017-O

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