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Aconitum napellus

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Aconitum napellus
Plant in flower, Austria
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Ranunculaceae
Genus: Aconitum
Species: A. napellus
Binomial name
Aconitum napellus
L.

Aconitum napellus (Monkshood, "aconite", "Wolf's Bane", Fuzi, and "Monk's Blood") is a species of Aconitum in the family Ranunculaceae, native and endemic to western and central Europe.

It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 1 m tall, with hairless stems and leaves. The leaves are rounded, 5-10 cm diameter, palmately divided into five to seven deeply lobed segments. The flowers are dark purple to bluish-purple, narrow oblong helmet-shaped, 1-2 cm tall.

Nine subspecies are accepted by the Flora Europaea:

  • Aconitum napellus subsp. napellus. Southwest England.
  • Aconitum napellus subsp. corsicum (Gáyer) W.Seitz. Corsica.
  • Aconitum napellus subsp. firmum (Rchb.) Gáyer. Central and eastern Europe.
  • Aconitum napellus subsp. fissurae (Nyár.) W.Seitz. Balkans to southwest Russia.
  • Aconitum napellus subsp. hians (Rchb.) Gáyer. Central Europe.
  • Aconitum napellus subsp. lusitanicum Rouy. Southwest Europe.
  • Aconitum napellus subsp. superbum (Fritsch) W.Seitz. Western Balkans.
  • Aconitum napellus subsp. tauricum (Wulfen) Gáyer. Eastern Alps, southern Carpathians.
  • Aconitum napellus subsp. vulgare (DC.) Rouy & Foucaud. Alps, Pyrenees, northern Spain.

Plants native to Asia and North America formerly listed as A. napellus are now regarded as separate species.

Plants are grown in gardens in temperate zones for their spike-like inflorescences that are showy in early-mid summer and their attractive foliage. There are white and rose colored forms in cultivation too.

Uses

Like other species in the genus, it is extremely poisonous, generating enough cardiac poison to be used to tip spears and arrows for hunting and battle in ancient times, also earning A. napellus its namesake.

Aconite made from the roots of a number of different species is used ethnomedically at low dilutions in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), to treat "coldness", general debility, and "Yang deficiency", it is used as an analgesic by homeopaths; it effects the cardiovascular and central nervous systems and a number of cases of poisoning have been documented from its use.

References

  • 19th century illustration 19th century illustration

External links

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  1. J Ethnopharmacol. 1981 Nov;4(3):247-336. Arrow poisons in China. Part II. Aconitum--botany, chemistry, and pharmacology. Bisset NG.
  2. Fatovich, D M Aconite: a lethal Chinese herb. Citation:Ann-Emerg-Med. 1992 Mar; 21(3): 309-11 http://grande.nal.usda.gov/ibids/index.php?mode2=detail&origin=ibids_references&therow=202451
  3. Vet Hum Toxicol. 1994 Oct;36(5):452-5.Links Aconitine poisoning due to Chinese herbal medicines: a review. Chan TY, Tomlinson B, Tse LK, Chan JC, Chan WW, Critchley JA
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