Cypripedium calcerolus

Cypripedium calcerolus, Yellow Lady Slipper, (Orchidaceae, the Orchid Family), 2-8 dm in height, yellow floral rays, habitat: bogs and moist woods; circumboreal, to S.C., L.A. and N.M. (102, 103)

Several North American Indian tribes used Cypridedium parviflorum, Lady Slipper as a nerve medicine. Recent scientific findings have shown it to produce cypripedin, an antispasmodic, which lessens anxiety and restlessness (13, 267).

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Delphinium virescens

Delphinium virescens, Larkspure, (Ranunculaceae, the Crowfoot Family), 4-12 dm in height, white floral rays, habitat: prairies and plains (102, 103).

The Greeks and Romans employed delphinium. Dioscorides, a first-century Greek physician famous for his writings on medicines, mentions it. Delphinine, the plant's main alkaloid, has effects similar to those of aconitine, the main alkaloid of aconite. Delphinine has been employed to treat neuralgia, rheumatism, and asthma, although improper dosage and administration can prove fatal. Delphinium has been used to expel worms and other intestinal parasites. However, scientific efficacy is not well established, and delphinium may cause cardiac problems. For this reason, it is not recommended by Germany's herbal experts, Commission E (239).

Members of this Genus are known to produce delphinine C₃₄H₄₇NO₉, veatchine, atisine C₂₂H₃₃O₂N, lycoctonine C₂₇H₃₇NO₅(OH)₄, and anthocyanins (97, 168, 169, 238).

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