Delphinium elatum L.Family: Ranunculaceae
English: Alpine Larkspur
Arabic: عائق خلاب
Bulgarian: Рагулькі высокія
Chinese: 高翠雀花
Finnish: Isoritarinkannus
French: Pied d'alouette élevé, Dauphinelle élevée
German: Hoher Rittersporn
Latvian: Augstais gaiļpiesis
Polish: Ostróżka wyniosła
Russian: živokost vysokaja, живокост высокая
Sanskrit: Nirvisha निर्विषा
Swedish: stor riddarsporre
Description: Stems 40-200 cm; base green, pubescent or glabrous. Leaves cauline, 7-26 at anthesis; petiole 1-18 cm. Leaf blade round to pentagonal, 3-15 × 6-22 cm, ± puberulent; ultimate lobes 3-9, width 8-30 mm. Inflorescences 25-100(-more)-flowered; pedicel 1-3(-5) cm, glabrous to pubescent; bracteoles 2-5(-9) mm from flowers, green, linear, 5-9 mm, ± puberulent. Flowers: sepals blue, white, or purple, ± puberulent, lateral sepals spreading, 12-23 × 4-12 mm, spurs straight, ascending ca. 45° above horizontal, 15-22 mm; lower petal blades elevated, exposing stamens, 3-5 mm, clefts 0.2-1 mm; hairs sparse or dense, mostly near center of blade, yellow or white. Fruits 13-20 mm, 3.5-4.5 times longer than wide, ± puberulent. Seeds winged; seed coats ± with small wavy ridges, cells elongate, surface roughened.
Action: Whole plant—cardiac and respiratory depressant, emetic, diuretic, anthelmintic. Seed—insecticidal. Used in skin eruptions. Powdered flowers, mixed with mustard oil, are used for destroying lica.
Seeds are very poisonous; contain several aconitine-like alkaloids. Delphinidine, isolated from seeds, causes drastic gastro-enteric irritation [Indian Medicinal Plants An Illustrated Dictionary]
Elatine, a diterpene alkaloid obtained from Delphinium elatum, has been used to relax muscles similar to tubocurarine at a dose of 10 mg, 3 to 5 times daily. [Medicinal plants ff the Aisa-Pacific: Drugs for the future?]
44 Published articles of Delphinium elatum
