Pheasant's eye
Adonis vernalis
Other names: Spring pheasant's eye, false hellebore, Adonidis herba, горицвет весенний (goritsvet vesenniy)
Photo credit: Martin Bahmann / Wikimedia Commons
This plant carries serious safety risks. All information is for educational reference only.
Safety information
Toxicity: SERIOUS — contains cardiac glycosides (adonitoxin ~15–20% of glycoside fraction, cymarin, k-strophanthoside; total cardenolides ~0.2–1.0% dry wt). Narrow therapeutic index; overdose causes nausea, vomiting, bradycardia/arrhythmia, AV block, hyperkalaemia, cardiac arrest. Adonitoxin i.v. LD50 in cats ~191 µg/kg. Tea must NOT be used (uncontrolled dosing).
Contraindications: Concurrent digitalis/other cardiac glycoside therapy; hypokalaemia/potassium deficiency; AV block; pregnancy/lactation; children. Not for self-medication.
Interactions: Additive/dangerous with digitalis glycosides, other cardenolide herbs (Convallaria, Strophanthus, oleander, squill); potassium-depleting diuretics, corticosteroids, and laxatives increase glycoside toxicity; calcium and quinidine potentiate arrhythmia risk.
Pregnancy & breastfeeding: Contraindicated in pregnancy/lactation.
Evidence level
Documented in systematic traditional medicine literature.
Preparations
This plant carries serious safety risks. All information is for educational reference only.
standardized extract · aerial flowering herb
Part used: aerial flowering herb
Traditional use: cardiotonic (historical pharmaceutical only)(Folk and historical sources have not been validated by clinical research.)
Proposed mechanism: cardiac glycosides
Dosage note (descriptive only): no home/dosing detail — standardized galenic extracts only, historically
Reference only — not a dosage instruction
Associated conditions
Healing traditions
Sources (3)
- Adonis rose drug monograph — Arzneipflanzenlexikon (EN, transl. from DE)
- Adonis vernalis — Wikipedia (EN)
- The Genus Adonis as an Important Cardiac Folk Medicine (Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2019)