Arum triphyllum
Arisaema triphyllum · Jack-in-the-pulpit, Indian turnip, wild turnip. · Plant · Araceae
People who respond best to Arum triph. tend to be excitable and nervous. They are often restless and cross. Characteristically, they may bore their heads into their pillows. Key conditions associated with Arum triph. involve irritation and inflammation of the mucous membranes and skin, such as allergic skin reactions, eczema, scarlet fever, or hay fever. Typical symptoms include raw, red, itchy skin, particularly on the face, and a raw, burning mouth and throat, with acute or chronic hoarseness. The lips may be chapped or cracked at the corners. Picking the lips and the nose are further common symptoms, especially if accompanied by delirium.
Key symptoms
- Acridity is the keynote; violent irritation of mucous surfaces
- Acrid excoriating nasal discharge producing raw sores
- Nose obstructed; must breathe through mouth with boring in nose
- Constant picking at nose until it bleeds
- Corners of mouth sore and cracked; lips chapped and burning
- Tongue red and sore; whole mouth raw
- Hoarseness; voice uncertain and uncontrollable; worse talking and singing
- Clergyman's sore throat; throat burns and constricted
- Hay-fever with pain over root of nose
Worse (aggravation)
Better (amelioration)
Jack-in-the-Pulpit
Arum maculatum, Italicum, Dracontium, have the same action as the Triphyllum. They all contain an irritant poison, causing inflammation of mucous surfaces and destruction of tissue. Acridity is the keynote of the kind of action characteristic of Arum.
Head
Bores head in pillow. Headache from too warm clothing, from hot coffee.
Eyes
Quivering of upper eyelids, especially left.
Nose
Soreness of nostrils. Acrid, excoriating discharge, producing raw sores. Nose obstructed; must breathe through mouth. Boring in the nose. Coryza; discharge blood-streaked, watery. Nose completely stopped, with fluent, acrid discharge. Hay-fever, with pain over root of nose. Large scabs high up on right side of nose. Face feels chapped, as if from cold wind; feels hot. Constant picking at nose until it bleeds.
Mouth
Raw feeling at roof and palate. Lips and soft palate sore and burning. Lips chapped and burning. Corners of mouth sore and cracked. Tongue red, sore; whole mouth raw. Picking lips until they bleed. Saliva profuse, acrid, corroding.
Throat
Swelling of sub-maxillary glands. Constricted and swollen; burns; raw. Constant hawking. Hoarseness. Expectoration of much mucus. Lungs feel sore. Clergyman's sore throat. Voice uncertain, uncontrollable. Worse, talking, singing.
Skin
Scarlet rash; raw, bloody surfaces anywhere. Impetigo contagiosa.
Modalities
Worse, northwest wind; lying down.
Relationship
Compare: Ammon carb; Ailanthus; Cepa.
Antidotes: Buttermilk; Acet ac; Puls.
Dose
Third to thirtieth potency.
(Indian Turnip)
Generalities
Many boys have wandered in the low grounds where this wild turnip grows, and have taken a nip out of it, and probably remember the sensations in the mouth that they received at that time.
I distinctly remember making an endeavor to enjoy a piece of wild turnip. The tingling that is left in the lips and tongue and from the throat to the end of the nose, and wherever sentient nerves come to the surface, is astonishing.
The prickling and tingling is painful. It is a sensation that cannot be let alone. It requires a continued manipulation, and from this we gather the sensations that must be present in children when they are suffering from acute diseases and this remedy is indicated.
Indian turnip. N. O. Araceæ. Tincture of fresh tuber or corm.
Clinical
Brain, inflammation of. Clergyman's sore throat. Delirium. Diphtheria. Glandular swellings. Headache. Jaw-joint painful. Mouth, sore. Scarlatina. Tongue, cracked. Typhoid fever. Voice, hoarse.
Characteristics
Ar. tri. is the most important of the Arums. Its irritating properties are well marked; excitable and irritable in mind and body. It is especially irritating to the nose and throat. This with its scarlet rash suggested its appropriateness in cases of scarlatina of malignant type, in which it has met with great success. An indication of its curative action in scarlatina is the urine becoming more abundant and watery. Raw, bloody surfaces appear on lips, on mouth, on nose, &c. With the rawness there is itching. "Picks lips till they bleed, corners of mouth sore, cracked, and bleeding "is a characteristic indication; also, "picking ends of fingers" and "boring nose" (especially side of nose). Tongue cracked and bleeding. Urine …
Indian Turnip (Araceae)
Coryza; acrid, fluent; nostrils raw. Nose feels stopped up in spite of the watery discharge (compare, Am. c., Samb., Sinap.); sneezing < at night. Acrid, ichorous discharge, excoriating inside of nose, alae, and upper lip (Ars., Cepa). Constant picking at the nose until it bleeds; boring with the finger into the side of the nose. Picks lips until they bleed; corners of the mouth sore, cracked, bleeding (with malignant tendency, Cund.); bites nails until fingers bleed. Patients pick and bore into the raw bleeding surfaces though very painful; scream with pain but keep up the boring (in diphtheria, scarlatina, typhoid). Children refuse food and drink on account of soreness of mouth and throat (Mer.); are sleepless. Saliva profuse, acrid, corrodes the mucous membrane; tongue and buccal cavity raw and bleeding. Aphonia: complete, after exposure to northwest winds (Acon., Hep.); from singing (Arg. n., Caust., Phos., Sel.). Clergyman's sore throat; voice hoarse, uncertain, …
General Face
Corners of mouth sore, cracked and bleeding; bores and picks at them until they bleed.
Nose
Discharge of burning, ichorous fluid from the nose, excoriating the nostril and upper lip, especially in diphtheria or scarlatina.
Nose
Nose obstructed; must breathe through the mouth.
Nose
Nostrils sore and chapped; constant picking at the nose.
Mouth and Throat
Acrid discharge from the nose, mouth, and throat; the nostrils, lips and corners of mouth sore, cracked and bleeding, and emitting a putrid odor.
Mouth and Throat
Mouth burns and is so sore that they refuse to drink, and cry when anything is offered.
Mouth and Throat
Clergyman’s sore throat; voice uncertain, continually changing; also with singers, accumulation of mucus.
- Discharge of burning, ichorus fluid from the nose, excoriating the nostrils and upper lip; corners of mouth sore, cracked and bleeding.
Phatak's chapter on Arum triphyllum is available in the app.
Read Phatak in the appClassical texts are in the public domain. Educational reference only — not medical advice.
