# white dittany

*Dictamnus albus*

On hot, windless summer days, the heavy, lemon-scented essential oils hovering around the plant can actually be ignited with a match, producing a brief flash of blue flame without harming the plant itself.

- **Taxonomy:** Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Sapindales › Rutaceae › Dictamnus
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** forest
- **Habitat:** Dry open forests, woodland margins, and stony scrublands, typically on nutrient-poor, calcareous or limestone soils.
- **Diet:** Autotrophic (photosynthesis, absorbing water and mineral nutrients from the soil).
- **Range:** Southern Europe, Central Europe, North Africa, Western Asia, Siberia
- **Size:** 60 to 100 cm in height, forming bushy clumps up to 60 cm wide.
- **Lifespan:** Perennial, known to live for 30 to 50 years in optimal conditions.
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Habitat fragmentation, loss of open woodland ecosystems due to canopy closure, and wild collection for ornamental use.
- **Safe to approach?:** Defensive. Do not touch this plant, especially on sunny days. Its leaves and stems are coated in furanocoumarins, which cause severe blistering phytophotodermatitis when exposed to sunlight. Maintain a safe distance of at least 1 meter. If contact occurs, immediately wash the skin thoroughly with soap and cold water, and strictly shield the affected area from sunlight for at least 48 hours.

## About

Dictamnus is a genus of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae, with a single species, Dictamnus albus , which has several geographical variants. It is also known as burning bush , dittany , gas plant , and fraxinella . It is a herbaceous perennial, native to warm, open woodland habitats in southern Europe, north Africa and much of Asia.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/5c8df19d-f91d-44b9-ab93-3c01a2251054
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/161875
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictamnus albus
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/4000585/medium.jpg (Jörg Hempel, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.