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 6500feet.[1]
The plant sends up thin and long 1feet–2feetft (–ft) stems with finely dissected leaves.[1] It bears attractive larkspur flowers in shades of red and orange that are generally pollinated by hummingbirds.[1] [2] D. nudicaule readily hybridizes with several other species of Delphinium.[2]
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).[3] [4]
The first phytochemical study of this plant was carried out by Michael Benn and Palaniappan Kulanthaivel at the University of Calgary in Canada.[5] 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.[6]