Abstract
Dried B. officinalis was purchased from a local store and from the Indiana Botanical Gardens, Hammond,
Indiana. Seed was purchased from Stokes Nursery, and plants were grown to maturity for identification
(CSU Herbarium No. 53478; D. Wilken, Department of Botany). Alkaloid isolations from gardengrown
leaves and stems indicated similar alkaloid content whether fresh or dried. Roots contained the alkaloids
as the free base, while fresh leaves had mainly N-oxides. A purchased, dried, bulk sample of plant
fragments (496 g) yielded 48 mg of a crude alkaloid mixture (Zn reduction procedure). Tic (with ochloranil-
Ehrlich’s reagent visualization (5)] showed two major and four trace alkaloids. One major alkaloid
was identified as lycopsamine by 360 MHz pmr, ms, and tic comparison with a standard and with
literature (6) values. The second was tentatively identified as supinidine viridiflorate (either cynaustine or
amabiline) (6,7) by 360 MHz pmr and ms. A standard sample was not available for this identification.
