Infraspecific chemical taxa of Achillea distans Waldst. Et Kit. from the Rodnei Mountains (Eastern Carpathians) – Romania

Achillea distans Waldst et Kit (Asteraceae) is an alpino-carpatho-balkan type species that vegetates on the upper limit of mountain forests and in subalpine shrubs. According to the length of ligulate florets and to their color, 2 subspecies are recognized: Achillea distans ssp. distans (I), with white flowers and 2mm length of ligulae and Achillea distans ssp. alpina (Rochel) Soo (II), with pink flowers and 3mm length of ligulae. [1,2,3]. Both subspecies were harvested from the Rodnei Mts., in the north of the Eastern Carpathians (Romania), near Iezer Lake, at 1700–1750m altitude, in August 2006 and 2007, in the blossom period. The extraction and quantification of the essential oil from dried inflorescences was made in a Neo-Clevenger apparatus, and was analyzed by TLC and GS-MS. The Wiley Library was used as reference database [4]. The content of the essential oil was 0.40ml/100g dried material (I) and 0.25ml/100g (II). Both oils are colorless and the EP test for prochamazulenes and the TLC assay for azulenes were negative. By GC-MS analyses, 18 compounds were separated in (I), the most important being α-thujone (33.31%), β-thujone (25.52%), sabinene (15.60%), and 36 compounds in (II), among them being eucalyptol (20.97%), sabinene (6.37%), camphor (4.94%), but thujones were missing. We consider that the 2 subspecies are significantly different concerning the chemical composition of the essential oils and they may be considered as infraspecific chemical taxa or chemovarieties of Achillea distans.

References: [1] Anon (1964) Flora RPR, Ed. Academiei, Bucuresti.

[2] Tutin, T. et al. (1976) Flora Europaea vol. IV, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge.

[3] Coldea, G. (1990) Muntii Rodnei – studiu geobotanic, Ed. Academiei Romane, Bucuresti.

[4] Oprean, R. et al. (2001)J. Pharm. Biomed. Anal. 24:1163–1168.