50 Graines Nielle des blés, Agrostemma githago mélange

Nielle of white and pink wheat, Agrostemma Githago mixes |

The Nielle des Blés (Agrostemma Githago), is a species of annual herbaceous plant of the family of Caryophyllaceae. This commensal plant of cereal fields, dispersed by human action on all continents of the globe, is currently in the process of scarcity.

50 seeds

This herbaceous plant annual Measuring between 30 and 100 CM high1. A large part of the plant is covered with gray and silky hair, more dense on the leaves and even more on the floral parts. The rod, with erect port, can be branched out in its upper part. The leaves are sessile and of linear or closely lanceolate shape1. Each sheet presents a median rib more visible than the others, and measures from 40 to 130 MM of length for only 5 to 10 MM of width2.

It is fromEurope,Asia temperate andNorth Africa. After dissemination by hemérochorie, its distribution area has become Cosmopolite ; It was indeed introduced on all the continents of the globe, in particular in North America and of the South, in the southern part of theAfrica, in Australia and in certain islands of the Pacific such as New Zealand3.

It grows in the cereal fields, as well as in the meadows and on the roadside, in the company of grasses. It is one of the plants cited by Natura 2000 as commensals characteristic of extensive crops, in particular Cereals4.

It is one of the threatened plant species of Metropolitan France and is the subject of protection measures in the regions Limousin and Alsace (Article 1).

This Messicole plant (Adventice of Cereals) was feared because of the toxicity of its black and angular seeds. Indeed, the latter contain saponins which are toxic to animals (especially livestock and birds) as for humans (hemolytic and paralyzing properties, sources of misdeeds when the plant is found in flours )3. But in fact, the leaves and the stem are also toxic.

Contents subject to the CC-BY-SA license 3.0. Source : Article Nielle des Blés by Wikipedia in French (Authors)