Staphisagria macrosperma

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Staphisagria macrosperma
Delphinium officinale - Kohler-s Medizinal-Pflanzen-052.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Ranunculaceae
Genus: Staphisagria
Species:
S. macrosperma
Binomial name
Staphisagria macrosperma
Spach, 1839
Synonyms
  • Delphinium staphisagria L., 1753
  • Delphidium staphysagria(L.) Raf., 1830
  • Delphinium officinaleWender., 1834

Staphisagria macrosperma, formerly known as Delphinium staphisagria, is a species of Staphisagria of the family Ranunculaceae. It used to belong to the subgenus or section Staphisagria of the genus Delphinium , but molecular evidence suggests Staphisagria should be a genus which is a sister group to the Aconitum -Delphinium clade. [1] [2] It is described botanically as a stoutly-stemmed, hairy biennial with large palmate leaves up to 6 inches (15 cm) across. The flowers are mauve-blue to blue, short-spurred, and up to 1 inch (2.5 cm) across, occurring in racemes. The plant grows to a height of 4–5 feet. It grows throughout the Mediterranean. [3] [4] All parts of this plant are highly toxic and should not be ingested in any quantity. [5]

Contents

Names

The genus name Staphisagria and the common name stavesacre come from the Ancient Greek name mentioned by Dioscorides, σταφὶς ἀγρία (staphis agria, "wild raisin"). [6] Dioscorides described the plant as having wild grape vine-like leaves, but Barton and Castle considered the name as an allusion to the large wrinkled brown seeds. [7] This name derivation by Barton and Castle seems to have been arrived at independently by a modern horticulturalist, David Bassett, who also gives a detailed account of his experiences in growing this species. [8]

Ancient Greeks also called the plant φθειροκτόνον (phthiroctonon, "louse killer") because of its use in traditional medicine to kill lice. [6] This meaning is retained in many of the plant's common names in different languages, [7] such as lice-bane in English, matapiojos in Spanish, bit otu in Turkish.

History

The use of herbal preparations made from S. macrosperma (D. staphisagria) seeds for destroying body-lice has been recognized since antiquity. The Greek physician Dioscorides and the Roman historian Pliny are most often mentioned in this context, [7] [9] and in assessing this classical literature, Barton and Castle expressed the opinion that Dioscorides's description of staphis agria was consistent in most respects with the plant they knew as Delphinium staphisagria. [7] One of the founders of American pharmacognosy, John Uri Lloyd, writing in his famous Pharmacopeia, also cited references to the use of D. staphisagria preparations in the writings of Nicander and Crescenzio. [10]

Stavesacre is mentioned in a fourth century "magical" papyrus codex from Egypt where it is said to have facilitated a man gaining an erection. The plant was to be crushed and mixed with water, then sprinkled around the house. However, the interpretation of the formula remains uncertain. [11]

A Delphinium preparation of some sort (most likely from D. staphisagria) was apparently a standard issue to British troops at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. [12]

Traditional uses

As noted above, preparations made from S. macrosperma (apparently principally from the seeds) were used as a pediculicide throughout the last two millennia. Maud Grieve, in her famous Herbal, written in 1931, refers to stavesacre as being a "vermifuge" and "vermin-destroying", as well as to its parasiticidal properties. She also mentions that it is "violently emetic and cathartic". [9] [13]

Chemical studies

Not surprisingly, in view of the long and well-known uses of stavesacre against insect and animal pests, S. macrosperma (D. staphisagria) was investigated by chemists as early as the beginning of the 19th Century. Two French scientists, Lassaigne and Feneulle, were the first to isolate an alkaloid, called delphinine from D. staphisagria seeds in 1819. [14] The completely correct molecular structure of delphinine was not determined until 1971, [15] due to the chemical complexity of this substance, coupled with the technical limitations of the times. However, it was established quite early that delphinine was a member of the diterpenoid family of alkaloids, and it is often cited in handbooks of poisonous plants as being a representative toxin of the genus Delphinium. The occurrence of delphinine is somewhat limited in this genus. Although delphinine is the major alkaloidal constituent of D. staphisagria seeds, several other related diterpenoid alkaloids have been isolated from them as well. [16]

Homoeopathy

Introduced into homeopathy by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, Leipzig, 1817. [17]

Related Research Articles

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Aconitum, also known as aconite, monkshood, wolfsbane, leopard's bane, devil's helmet or blue rocket, is a genus of over 250 species of flowering plants belonging to the family Ranunculaceae. These herbaceous perennial plants are chiefly native to the mountainous parts of the Northern Hemisphere in North America, Europe, and Asia; growing in the moisture-retentive but well-draining soils of mountain meadows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aconitine</span> Toxic plant alkaloid

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pedanius Dioscorides</span> Greco-Roman physician and pharmacologist, prominent writer on plant drugs (AD c.40-90)

Pedanius Dioscorides, "the father of pharmacognosy", was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of De materia medica —a 5-volume Greek encyclopedia about herbal medicine and related medicinal substances, that was widely read for more than 1,500 years. For almost two millennia Dioscorides was regarded as the most prominent writer on plants and plant drugs.

<i>Materia medica</i> Historical Latin term for pharmacology

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranunculaceae</span> Family of eudicot flowering plants

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<i>Delphinium</i> Genus of flowering plants

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<i>Consolida</i> Genus of flowering plants

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<i>Aconitum lycoctonum</i> Species of plant

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Methyllycaconitine</span> Chemical compound

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<i>Staphisagria</i> Genus of plants

Staphisagria is a genus in the family Ranunculaceae. It used to be a subgenus or section in the genus Delphinium, but molecular evidence suggests it should be a genus.

<i>Delphinium nudicaule</i> Species of plant

Delphinium nudicaule, known by the common names canyon larkspur, red larkspur, orange larkspur, and canyon delphinium, is a flowering herbaceous perennial plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. It is native to low-elevation canyons and slopes, foothills, and mountain ranges of California, US, from the Sierra Nevada to the California Coast Ranges, and of Oregon. It grows below 6,500 feet (2,000 m).

<i>Delphinium glaucum</i> Species of plant

Delphinium glaucum, known by the common names Sierra larkspur, mountain larkspur, and glaucous larkspur, is a species of wildflower in the genus Delphinium, which belongs to the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. It is native to western North America from Arizona to Alaska, growing in moist mountainous environments such as riverbanks and meadows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delphinine</span> Chemical compound

Delphinine is a toxic diterpenoid alkaloid found in plants from the Delphinium (larkspur) and Atragene genera, both in the family Ranunculaceae. Delphinine is the principal alkaloid found in Delphinium staphisagria seeds – at one time, under the name stavesacre, a very well known herbal treatment for body lice. It is related in structure and has similar effects to aconitine, acting as an allosteric modulator of voltage gated sodium channels, and producing low blood pressure, slowed heart rate and abnormal heart rhythms. These effects make it highly poisonous. While it has been used in some alternative medicines, most of the medical community does not recommend using it due to its extreme toxicity.

<i>Delphinium tricorne</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Delphinium barbeyi</i> Species of plant

Delphinium barbeyi is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common names subalpine larkspur, tall larkspur, and Barbey's larkspur. It is native to the interior western United States, where it occurs in the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delsoline</span> Naturally occurring chemical compound

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<i>De materia medica</i> 1st century pharmacopoeia of medicinal plants and medicines by Pedanius Dioscorides

De materia medica is a pharmacopoeia of medicinal plants and the medicines that can be obtained from them. The five-volume work was written between 50 and 70 CE by Pedanius Dioscorides, a Greek physician in the Roman army. It was widely read for more than 1,500 years until supplanted by revised herbals in the Renaissance, making it one of the longest-lasting of all natural history and pharmacology books.

References

  1. ↑ Jabbour, Florian; Renner, Susanne (2011). "Resurrection of the genus Staphisagria J. Hill, sister to all the other Delphinieae (Ranunculaceae)". PhytoKeys (7): 21–6. doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.7.2010 . ISSN   1314-2003. PMC   3261041 . PMID   22287922.
  2. ↑ Jabbour, Florian; Renner, Susanne S. (2012). "A phylogeny of Delphinieae (Ranunculaceae) shows that Aconitum is nested within Delphinium and that Late Miocene transitions to long life cycles in the Himalayas and Southwest China coincide with bursts in diversification". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 62 (3): 928–942. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.12.005. PMID   22182994.
  3. ↑ D. Bown (2001), The Herb Society of America New Encyclopedia of Herbs and Their Uses p.192, London: DK.
  4. ↑ Further details of its distribution may be found at: http://www.ars-grin.gov/~sbmljw/cgi-bin/taxon.pl?13475 Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ "Delphinium staphisagria L., stavesacre". PFAF Plant Database. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  6. 1 2 Dioscorides, Pedanius (2000). "4-156. Staphisagria". In Osbaldeston, Tess Anne (ed.). De materia medica. Johannesburg: Ibidis Press. pp. 708–711. ISBN   0-620-23435-0.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Barton, B.H.; Castle, T. (1838). The British Flora Medica, or, History of the Medicinal Plants of Great Britain. Vol. 2. London: E. Cox. p. 321.
  8. ↑ "Growing Delphinium staphisagria". www.david.bassett.care4free.net. Retrieved 2012-05-10.
  9. 1 2 "A Modern Herbal | Stavesacre".
  10. ↑ J. U. Lloyd (1911), History of the Vegetable Drugs of the Pharmacopeia of the United States, Cincinnati.
  11. ↑ William Brashear and Roy Kotansky, "A new magical formula" in Magic and ritual in the ancient world, eds. Paul Allan Mirecki and Marvin W. Meyer (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2002), 3-24.
  12. ↑ F. Mitton and V. Mitton (1976). Mitton's Practical Modern Herbal, p.102, London: W. Foulsham & Co. Ltd.
  13. ↑ M.Grieve (1931), A Modern Herbal.
  14. ↑ J. L. Lassaigne and H. Feneulle (1819) Ann. Chim. Phys.12 358.
  15. ↑ K. B. Birnbaum, K. Wiesner, E. W. K. Jay and L. Jay (1971) Tetrahedron Lett. 867.
  16. ↑ S.A. Ross, H. K. Desai and S. W. Pelletier (1987) Heterocycles26 2895-2904.
  17. ↑ Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, Leipzig, 1817. in his Materia Medica Pura,
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