Delphinium tricorne
| Delphinium tricorne | |
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| Species: | D. tricorne
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| Delphinium tricorne | |
Delphinium tricorne is a perennial flowering plant, known also by the common name dwarf larkspur, in the family Ranunculaceae. It sends up long, stringy thin stems with few leaves and bears attractive flowers in shades of blue. It is found throughout the eastern United States and in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. D. tricorne is one of the Delphinium species mentioned by Chesnut in an old report in connection with livestock poisoning in the United States.[1]
Chemical studies
The diterpenoid alkaloids lycoctonine and tricornine (otherwise known as lycoctonine-18-O-acetate) have been isolated from D. tricorne.[2] The toxicology and pharmacology of lycoctonine have been quite well studied, but there is only limited information available concerning the biological properties of tricornine.[3] Both alkaloids have neuro-muscular blocking properties,[4] and D. tricorne should be treated as a potentially poisonous plant.
References
- ^ V. K. Chesnut (1898) USDA Farmer's Bull. 86 11-13.
- ^ S. W. Pelletier and J. Bhattacharyya (1977) Phytochemistry 16 1464.
- ^ M. H. Benn and J. M. Jacyno (1983). In Alkaloids: Chemical and Biological Perspectives, Vol. 1, (S. W. Pelletier, Ed.) pp. 153-210, New York: Wiley.
- ^ See Wikipedia entry for methyllycaconitine.
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