[3] It is native to warm, open woodland habitats in southern Europe, north Africa and much of Asia.

purpureus in which the violet-purple is confined to veining of white petals with a slight blush, has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

[4][5] Dictamnus is tap-rooted, making mature plants difficult to establish and resistant to division; young plants often need three years before they begin to flower, and since it is late to break into leaf in spring, even quite mature clumps may be harmed with vigorous soil-working in spring.

The daughter of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus is said to have ignited the air once, at the end of a particularly hot, windless summer day, above Dictamnus plants, using a simple matchstick.

More than 100 chemical constituents have been isolated from the genus Dictamnus, including alkaloids, limonoid triterpenoids, flavonoids, sesquiterpenoids, coumarins, and Phenylpropanoids.