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Greater celandine
Toxic🐾Schöllkraut · (Chelidonium majus)
Poppy family (Papaveraceae)
Description
Break a stem of greater celandine and an orange-yellow latex wells out at once — the surest way to recognise this poppy-family plant, which grows to about 70 centimetres and flowers from May to October along walls, fences and path edges. Its alternate leaves are deeply cut and lobed, its small yellow flowers four-petalled. The whole plant carries more than twenty isoquinoline alkaloids, among them chelidonine, sanguinarine, chelerythrine and coptisine; it is poisonous, and the root highly so. Traditionally the fresh latex is dabbed on warts several times a day, keeping clear of healthy skin. Internal use as tea or tincture is now strongly advised against: numerous cases of serious liver damage are documented, from toxic hepatitis through to liver failure.
The fresh yellow-orange latex is traditionally dabbed directly onto warts several times a day. A folk practice in several European countries; surrounding healthy skin should be avoided as the sap is irritating.
Historical documentation only — do NOT use
These internal applications are historically documented. This plant is highly toxic — self-treatment can cause severe poisoning or death. For documentation only, explicitly NOT a recommendation.
Internally, an alcoholic tincture of the herb was traditionally used for cramping biliary and digestive complaints. Internal use is now discouraged because of documented, sometimes severe liver injury (toxic hepatitis up to liver failure).
A tea (infusion) of the dried herb was a folk remedy regarded as antispasmodic for stomach, intestinal and biliary complaints. Because of the alkaloids' hepatotoxicity, internal intake is strongly discouraged.
Sources: [1]
Greater celandine is toxic and the root is highly poisonous. Internal use is strongly discouraged because of numerous documented cases of liver injury (toxic hepatitis, cholestasis up to liver failure) – the benefit-risk ratio of internal preparations is considered negative. The fresh latex can irritate skin and mucous membranes. Do not use in pregnancy/breastfeeding or with liver disease.
Harvested part: Aerial herb during flowering; root in autumn, when it is especially rich in alkaloids and highly toxic.
- ChelidoninAlkaloid
The characteristic main isoquinoline alkaloid of greater celandine, with antispasmodic and mildly narcotic action.
- SanguinarinAlkaloid
A particularly toxic benzophenanthridine alkaloid, contributing to the plant's cellular toxicity.
- ChelerythrinAlkaloid
A benzophenanthridine alkaloid with irritant and cytotoxic properties.
- CoptisinAlkaloid
One of the most abundant alkaloids in the herb, of the protoberberine type.
- [3]MonographGreater Celandine – LiverTox: Drug-Induced Liver Injury (NIH)(accessed: 2026-06-24)
- [4]MonographCliniTox Giftpflanzen — Chelidonium majus L.: stark giftig ++ (Institut für Veterinärpharmakologie und -toxikologie, Universität Zürich)(accessed: 2026-08-10)
- [1]WikipediaSchöllkraut – Wikipedia(accessed: 2026-06-24)
- [2]WikipediaChelidonium majus – Wikipedia(accessed: 2026-06-24)