Cicerbita is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Asia and Europe.Wallroth, Carl Friedrich Wilhelm. 1823. Schedulae Criticae de Plantis Florae Halensis Selectis. Corollarium novum ad C. Sprengelii Floram halensem. Accedunt generum quorundam specierumque omnium definitiones novae, excursus in stirpes difficiliores. Tom. I. Phanerogamia 1: 433Tropicos, Cicerbita Wallr. They are known commonly as blue sow thistles.Genus Cicerbita Wallr. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). The word Cicerbita is from the Italian, meaning "chickory-like", a comparison to Cichorium, the chicory genus.Scartezzini, F., et al. (2012). Domestication of alpine blue-sow-thistle (Cicerbita alpina (L.) Wallr.): six year trial results. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 59(3) 465-71.
Description Cicerbita are usually perennial plants, often with rhizomes.Cicerbita. Flora of China. Annual species are also known.Bano, R. and M. Qaiser. (2010). The genus Cicerbita Wallr. (Cichoriae-Asteraceae) in Pakistan and Kashmir. Pakistan Journal of Botany 42, 35-56. The leaves are undivided or pinnate. The flower head has 5 to 30 florets in shades of blue or purple, or occasionally white or yellow. The achene is ribbed and has a pappus of bristles and hairs.
Systematics The plants of this genus were included in genus Lactuca, the lettuces, until 1822,Chu, S. (1991). On circumscription of the genus Cicerbita Wall., and two new genera of Compositae from Sino-Himalayan Region. Acta Phytotaxonomica Sinica 29(5) 394-417. when the first of them were separated based on the morphology of the fruits. The definition of the genus is still in debate and very unclear.
Species The following species are recognised in the genus Cicerbita:
Cicerbita acuminata Cicerbita adenophora Cicerbita alii Cicerbita alpina Cicerbita auriculiformis Cicerbita azurea Cicerbita benthamii Cicerbita boissieri Cicerbita bourgaei Cicerbita brassicifolia Cicerbita chiangdaoensis – Thailand Cicerbita crambifolia Cicerbita crassicaulis Cicerbita cyprica Cicerbita deltoidea Cicerbita × favratii Cicerbita garrettii Cicerbita kovalevskiana Cicerbita ladyginii Cicerbita macrophylla Cicerbita madatapensis Cicerbita microcephala Cicerbita mulgedioides Cicerbita neglecta Cicerbita nepalensis – Nepal Cicerbita nuristanica – Afghanistan Cicerbita olgae Cicerbita pancicii Cicerbita persica Cicerbita picridiformis Cicerbita plumieri Cicerbita prenanthoides Cicerbita putii Cicerbita racemosa Cicerbita rechingeriana Cicerbita roborowskii Cicerbita rosea Cicerbita sonchifolia Cicerbita songarica Cicerbita subplumosa Cicerbita thianschanica – Altay Republic, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang Cicerbita variabilis Cicerbita zeravschanica – Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan Cicerbita zhenduoi
Uses Cicerbita alpina is eaten as a vegetable in Italy, part of its native range. The young shoots are boiled and served in olive oil or tomato sauce. They are considered a delicacy and can be had in restaurants.Scartezzini, F., et al. Domestication and field management trials of Cicerbita alpina (L.) Wallr. In: First International Conference on Crop Wild Relative Conservation and Use. September 14–17, 2005. Agrigento, Sicily, Italy. pg. 14-17. The shoots in oil can be purchased in markets under the local name insalata dell'orso ("bear salad"). The plant is collected from the wild and there is some concern that it may be threatened with overexploitation, so local ordinances now limit wild collection in some areas. Field trials are underway to examine the possibility of cultivating the plant in agriculture.
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