''Consolida ajacis'' (doubtful knight's spur or rocket larkspur) is an

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year ** Yearbook ** Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), ...

flowering plant of the family Ranunculaceae native to Eurasia. It is widespread in other areas, including much of North America, where it is an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

. It is frequently grown in gardens as an ornamental for its spikes of blue, pink or white flowers. It may reach a meter in height. Since the aerial parts and seeds of ''C. ajacis'' have been found to contain

diterpenoid Diterpenes are a class of chemical compounds composed of four isoprene units, often with the molecular formula C20H32. They are biosynthesized by plants, animals and fungi via the HMG-CoA reductase pathway, with geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate being ...

alkaloids (see below), including the highly toxic

methyllycaconitine Methyllycaconitine (MLA) is a diterpenoid alkaloid found in many species of ''Delphinium'' (larkspurs). In common with many other diterpenoid alkaloids, it is toxic to animals, although the acute toxicity varies with species. Early research was f ...

, the plants should be considered as poisonous.

Sowing

In the UK, ''Consolida ajacis'' can be sowed under cover between February and April, or directly outdoors between April and May and/or late August and September.

Flowering

In Europe, it flowers between June and October.

Chemical constituents

The first alkaloid to be isolated from ''C. ajacis'' seeds was ajaconine, reported by Keller and Volker in 1914. Since that time, over thirty other structurally related diterpenoid alkaloids have been reported; these are:V. Venkateswarlu, S. K. Srivastava, B. S. Joshi, H. K. Desai and S. W. Pelletier (1995) ''J. Nat. Prod.'' 58 1527-1532. 14-acetylbrowniine 14-acetyldelcosine 14-acetyldelectine 13-O-acetylvakhmatine ajabicine ajacine ajacusine ajadelphine ajadelphinine ajadine ajadinine ajanine ambiguine anthranoyllycoctonine browniine 14-deacetylajadine 14-deacetylambiguine delajacine delajacirine delajadine delcosine delectine delphatine delpheline delphisine delsoline deltaline deltatsine dihydroajaconine gigactonine lycoctonine 18-methoxygadesine

19-oxoanthranoyllycoctonine 19-oxodelphatine takaosamine vakhmatine

Gallery

File:Leaf morphology multifide.svg, Leaf morphology File:Consolida ajacis 20190518.jpg, In Spain File:Consolida ajacis espolón.jpg, In Spain File:Consolida ajacis fleur.jpg, In France

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment
ajacis Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Ranunculales-stub