Drosera rotundifolia
Made from the sundew — the carnivorous bog plant whose sticky red glands yield plumbagin, a naphthoquinone of modern research interest.
The whole picture, in one breath
Think of coughing fits that come in storms: violent paroxysms one after another, gagging and retching, waking the child from sleep around midnight, worse as soon as the head touches the pillow, with hoarseness and the fear that the next fit will choke. Deep, barking, gagging paroxysms: that is Drosera.
The substance, in plain words
The sundew is a carnivorous plant that traps insects with glistening sticky hairs — a survival chemistry of naphthoquinones, above all plumbagin. Prepared from the fresh plant, it became the classical whooping-cough remedy, and its quinones remain a subject of antimicrobial and anti-tumour research.
The traditional picture Classical sources
The inner state
- Anxiety with the cough. Fear of the next paroxysm, of suffocation; dread at night when attacks come.
- Irritability and restlessness. Crossness from broken sleep and the strain of constant coughing.
- Hypersensitivity. The books note quarrelsome excitability and sudden anger in the proving picture.
The body
- Paroxysmal cough. The keynote: coughing comes in rapid repeated fits — a dozen coughs in one breath — ending in gagging, retching or vomiting.
- Worse lying and after midnight. Attacks begin the moment the child lies down; worst between midnight and morning.
- Deep hoarseness. Voice deep, hoarse, cracked; larynx sensitive; the cough sounds barking and deep from the chest.
- Bleeding with coughing. Nosebleed or vomiting of blood from the violence of the fits.
- Swollen glands. Enlarged cervical glands; the classical remedy of scrofulous children with cough.
- Worse warmth of the bed. Heat aggravates; better in open air, though cold air can provoke the tickle.
Modalities (worse and better factors)
| Worse from ⬇ | Better from ⬇ |
|---|---|
| lying down; after midnight; warmth of the bed; talking and singing; cold air provoking tickle. | open air; sitting up; holding the chest. |
Where it acts (organ affinities)
Larynx and trachea (cough centre), respiratory tract, glands, digestive tract via the gag reflex.
Where the classical picture comes from
The sundew's quinones irritate mucous membranes strongly; provings produced exactly the violent, gagging, deep cough the remedy became famous for. In the era of whooping cough epidemics it was one of the most used children's remedies in the classical world.
The substance in real medicine Pharmacology
What this section is: the pharmacology and toxicology of the source substance. It is not clinical evidence that a homeopathic preparation of it treats any condition. What controlled trials do and do not show is set out on the Evidence page.
Plumbagin and the sundew's naphthoquinones are actively researched for antibacterial, antifungal and anticancer activity in laboratory models; carnivorous-plant chemistry is a genuine modern research field. No clinical drug has emerged yet, but the plant's pharmacology is real and continues to be studied.
Look-alikes (how the classical authors told it apart)
| Remedy | Looks similar because… | Tells it apart because… |
|---|---|---|
| Spongia tosta | Barking dry cough | Spongia is dry, sawing, better warm drinks and before midnight; Drosera is gagging, paroxysmal and worse after midnight lying. |
| Cuprum metallicum | Spasmodic cough | Cuprum's cough ends in spasm, cramps and blue face; Drosera's ends in gagging and vomiting. |
| Antimonium tartaricum | Rattling chest cough | Ant-tart is drowsy with rattling mucus; Drosera is dry with paroxysmal violence. |
| Rumex crispus | Tickling cough worse cold air | Rumex is a light throat-tickle cough; Drosera is a deep life-of-the-child paroxysmal cough. |