Flora of Israel: Silver nailroot

Paronychia argentea, Silver nailroot, Silvery Whitlow Wort,
Hebrew: אלמוות הכסף, Arabic: رجل الحمامة


Scientific name:		Paronychia argentea Lam.
Common name:		Silver nailroot, Silvery Whitlow Wort
Hebrew name:		אלמוות הכסף
Arabic name:		رجل الحمامة
Family:		Caryophyllaceae, ציפורניים


Life form:		Hemicryptophyte
Stems:		stems 15-30cm, usually creeping, much branched, mat forming
Leaves:		Opposite, ovate-lanceolate; entire margins
Flowers:		Inflorescence, cyme; 5 White, yellow petals
Fruits / pods:		Achenes
Flowering Period:		January, February, March, April
Habitat:		Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:		Mediterranean
Summer shedding:		Perennating

Derivation of the botanical name:

Paronychia, Greek, para, by the side of, near; onyx, nail; “a whitlow,” a painful abscess on the side of the nail at the end of a finger or toe. One of the common names for Paronychia is whitlow-wort, an herb thought to be a cure for whitlow.

argentea, silvery.
The Hebrew name:אלמות,אלמוות, almavet, in the Bible, Proverbs 12:28 “In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality”. What makes the plant unique is not its white flowers, but the bracts that remain even after the flower’s emergence – so it is called “immortal.”

The standard author abbreviation Lam. is used to indicate Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744 – 1829), a French soldier, naturalist, academic.

See the list of Medicinal herbs in Israel, the parts used and their medical uses to treat various diseases.