ゲルセミウム『ビッグ4』

Gelsemium, in The Big Four

アガサ・クリスティーの『ビッグ4』には，「黄色いジャスミン」の名で，猛毒アルカロイドのゲルセミンを含む有毒植物Gelsemium sempervirensが現れるが，この植物は，わが国ではカロライナジャスミンの名前で知られる。一方，その近縁の植物として，中国南部〜東南アジアに自生する猛毒植物Gelsemium elegansもあり，その根の乾燥品は「冶葛」という生薬名で，古来，奈良の正倉院に収蔵されている。

Abstract

The poisonous plant Gelsemium sempervirens, described in Agatha Christie's novel The Big Four, contains the highly toxic alkaloid gelsemine, which is commonly known as “yellow jasmine” and as Carolina jasmine in Japan. The highly poisonous G. elegans plant, which is closely related to G. sempervirens, grows wild in southern China and Southeast Asia. The dried roots of this plant have been preserved as the medicinal product “Yakatsu” at Shosoin in Nara City since ancient times.