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 .NPIN: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Database — Delphinium nudicaule (Red larkspur) . accessed 1.10.2013
The plant sends up thin and long stems with finely dissected leaves. It bears attractive larkspur flowers in shades of red and orange that are generally pollinated by hummingbirds.Jepson Flora Project: Jepson eFlora — Delphinium nudicaule D. nudicaule readily hybridizes with several other species of Delphinium.
Uses The root of Delphinium nudicaule has been historically used as a medicinal narcotic, chiefly by the Mendocino Native Americans of the Yuki tribe. The Concow tribe called the plant sō-ma’ in the Konkow language, and sō-ma’ yem (root).University of Michigan (Dearborn): Native American Ethnobotany — 'Delphinium nudicaule' . accessed 1.10.2013
Phytochemistry The first phytochemical study of this plant was carried out by Michael Benn and Palaniappan Kulanthaivel at the University of Calgary in Canada.P. Kulanthaivel and M. Benn (1985) Heterocycles 23 2515-2520. These researchers reported the presence of a number of diterpenoid alkaloids: hetisine, 2-dehydrohetisine, 6-deoxydelcorine, dictyocarpine, dihydrogadesine, methyllycaconitine, lycoctonine, takaosamine, nudicaulamine, nudicauline, and nudicaulidine.
The presence of these alkaloids in D. nudicaule implies that the plant is likely to be quite poisonous. The LD50 for MLA is ~5 mg/kg, i.v., in the mouse, and the LD50 for nudicauline is ~3 mg/kg, i.v., in the mouse.K. E. Panter et al. (2002) Biochem. Syst. Ecol. 30 113-128.
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment: Delphinium nudicaule Univ. of Michigan: Ethnobotany Delphinium nudicaule — U.C. Photo gallery