Sanguisorba is a genus of perennial herbs or small shrubs in the family Rosaceae, native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The common name is Burnet. The stems grow to 50-200 cm tall, with a cluster of basal leaves, and further leaves arranged alternately up the stem. The leaves are pinnate, 5-30 cm long, with 7-25 leaflets, the leaflets with a serrated margin. Young leaves grow from the crown in the center of the plant. The flowers are small, produced in dense clusters 5-20 mm long; each flower has four very small petals, white to red in colour.

Sanguisorba species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Grizzled Skipper and Mouse Moth (both recorded on Sanguisorba minor).

Species

• Sanguisorba albanica
• Sanguisorba alpina
• Sanguisorba ancistroides
• Sanguisorba annua
• Sanguisorba applanata
• Sanguisorba armena
• Sanguisorba canadensis - Canadian Burnet
• Sanguisorba caucasica
• Sanguisorba cretica
• Sanguisorba diandra
• Sanguisorba dodecandra - Italian Burnet
• Sanguisorba filiformis
• Sanguisorba hakusanensis - Hakusan Burnet
• Sanguisorba hybrida
• Sanguisorba magnifica
• Sanguisorba menendezii - Canary Islands Burnet
• Sanguisorba menziesii
• Sanguisorba minor - Salad Burnet
• Sanguisorba obtusa - Japanese Burnet
• Sanguisorba officinalis - Great Burnet
• Sanguisorba stipulata
• Sanguisorba tenuifolia - Asian Burnet

Cultivation and uses

Burnet tolerates drought, heat and cold well. The leaves contain Vitamin C; those of S. minor have a mild, cucumber-like taste, and are sometimes used in salads. A poultice of its leaves will stop minor bleeding; some species were used for this in the Han Dynasty period in China.

References

• Sanguisorba in Cultivation Royal Horticultural Society, June 2007.