Not to be semantically confused with : Herb-Robert (Geranium robertianum) [a plant with similar name belonging to a differing family]

Uniquely identifiable characteristics

Distinguishing Feature :

The plant grows in ancient woodland on moist but not soggy basic soils, not in open places, preferring dappled shade, but occasionally can be found lurking in the grykes of limestone paving.

From the black berries a persistent red dye can be extracted which will turn violet on addition of Lemon Juice (Citric Acid), whilst the leaves yield a yellow dye. It usually spreads vegetatively by means of underground rhizomes. It can propagate from seed but germination is very slow. The flowers have an obnoxious odour reminiscent of decaying meat, but your Author did not smell anything.

It was once used as a herb and medicinally, but perhaps its toxicity has out-dated its use in modern pharmacy. It contains some steroidal compounds that may be cardiotoxic, see below.

STEROIDAL SAPONINS and SPIROSTANOLs The whole plant is toxic, the berries highly so. Some older sources claim it contains the steroidal compound called Ecdysterone which is a steroidal hormone active in insects and crustaceans! Ecdysterone now seems to be sold as a body-building steroid. The same source claims Herb-paris also contains the steroidal saponins paridine, aristyphnin and α-paristyphnine, but the structural formulae for these three compounds is not to be found on the internet (they may have different common names now). α-paristyphnine is both a respiratory and a myocardial depressant. Ecdysterone is notably different to most other plant steroidal compounds. Your Author has re-drawn it using the same skeletal framework as Pannogenin below so that the reader can compare them directly. Ecdysterone is an analgesic and is an immnunostimulant. More recent studies claim Herb-paris contains the spirostanol Pannogenin, which is structurally almost identical to the aglycone of Saponoside A but with the addition of an -OH group. The same researchers have also discovered several other compounds structurally related to Pannagenin in Herb-paris, but they lack common names so your Author has not drawn them. This is a much more believable source. In species belonging to the Paris genera Spirostanins based upon the aglycone Diosgenin, such as the triple glycoside Gracillin are found, but your Author does not know if that includes Paris quadrifolia. The saponin Polyphyllin D, another spirostanol, is also found in Herb Paris. Many of these saponins exhibit anti-cancer activity. The Polyphyllins, of which there are about a dozen, are named after Paris polyphylla in which they were first found, and occur in other Paris species. One of the structurally very unusual Pannogenin-related glycosides is: (23S,24S)-spirosta-5,25(27)-diene-1β,3β,21,23,24-pentol- 1-O-β-D -apiofuranosyl- (1-->3)- α-L-rhamnopyranosyl- (1-->2)-[β-D- xylopyranosyl- (1-->3)]-β- D-glucopyranoside 21-O-β-D- apiofuranoside 24-O-β- D-fucopyranoside This same modern source also claims Herb-paris contains 5-HydroxyEcdysterone and 20-HydroxyEcdysone, so it may well contain Ecdysterone too.