American pasque flower

Restlessness and low mood with a tearful, changeable emotional state, historically likened to Pulsatilla vulgaris but noted to act more strongly and less predictably

Spasmodic dry cough with nervous irritability, as used historically for whooping cough

Overview. Anemone patens, now generally classified as Pulsatilla patens, is a low, hairy perennial of the buttercup family native to dry prairies and open woodlands of central and western North America and parts of Eurasia. The whole fresh flowering plant was used by nineteenth century eclectic and homeopathic physicians as a close relative and reputed substitute for European Pulsatilla vulgaris. It has a minor place in older American materia medica, valued as a nervine and antispasmodic, but its acrid, irritant fresh-plant chemistry always demanded caution.

Clinical Notes. Eclectic writers regarded American pulsatilla as similar in spirit to European pasque flower but sharper and less forgiving in overdose, useful for nervous complaints, dysmenorrhea, and spasmodic coughs when a gentler remedy had failed.

Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage. This plant is acrid and poisonous. It has been recommended in amaurosis and other diseases of the eye, secondary syphilis, cutaneous diseases, and whooping-cough, in doses of 1 or 2 grains daily. These, however, are its old-time uses.

History and Chemical Composition. This plant blossoms in April and May. "Anemone nemorosa abounds in an acrid juice, which is particularly intense in the root. These properties disappear when the plant is dried, and hence only the recent plant, or preparations of the recent plant, are of value in medicine.