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Aconitum napellus

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Read about Aconitum napellus in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 

Aconitum napellus, Linn. (A. tauricum, Jacq. A. pyramidale, Mill. A. inunctum, Koch). True Monkshood. Officinal Aconite. Fig. 111. The best known and most poisonous species, and used in medicine. Sts. erect, 3-4 ft.: lvs. divided to the base, and cleft 2-3 times into linear lobes: fls. blue, in a raceme; peduncles erect, pubescent; helmet broad and low, gaping, smoothish: fr. 3-4-celled. June, July. Gn. M. 4:34. R.V.8:2. Gn. 12, p. 362 — Very many varieties, differing in shade of fls.. often mottled or lined with white. Var. album is nearly white. Var. bicolor and yar. versicolor, much used in gardens for the large blue and white fls. Reichenbach has divided this species into 20-30 species. A. Halleri is one of his divisions appearing in catalogues. B.M. 8152 (as var. Emnicus).


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Aconitum napellus
Plant in flower, Austria
Plant in flower, Austria
Plant Info
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

Aconitum nepellus is grown in gardens for its attractive spike like inflorescences and showy blue flowers.[1] It is a cut flower crop used for fresh cutting material and sometimes used as dried material. The species has a low natural propagation rate under cultivation and is propagated by seed or by removing offsets which are generated each year from the rootstock's and the use of micropropagation protocols have been studied.[2] This species has been crossed with other Aconitums to produce attractive hybrids for garden use, including Aconitum x cammarum [3]

Like other species in the genus, A. napellus contains several poisonous compounds, including enough cardiac poison that it was used on spears and arrows for hunting and battle in ancient times.[4] A. napellus has a long history of use as a poison, with cases going back thousands of years.[5] During the ancient Roman period of European history the plant was often used to eliminate criminals and enemies, and by the end of the period it was banned and any one growing A. napellus could have been legally sentenced to death.[6] Chemicals derived from the plant, which include the highly toxic alkaloids aconitine, mesaconitine, hypaconitine and jesaconitine, have been used more recently in murder plots.[7]

Aconite produced from the roots of a number of different species of Aconitum is used ethnomedically in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), to treat "coldness", general debility, and "Yang deficiency." Such use has been shown in some cases to negatively affect the cardiovascular and central nervous systems including documented instances of poisoning and death.[8][9][10]

References

  1. ↑ Datta, Subhash Chandra. 1988. Systematic botany. New Delhi: Wiley Eastern Ltd.
  2. ↑ A. A. Watad, M. Kochba, A. Nissim and V. Gaba Improvement of Aconitum napellus micropropagation by liquid culture on floating membrane rafts Journal Plant Cell Reports Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg ISSN 0721-7714 (Print) 1432-203X (Online) Issue Volume 14, Number 6 / March, 1995 DOI 10.1007/BF00238594 Pages 345-348
  3. ↑ Armitage, A. M. 2000. Armitage's garden perennials a color encyclopedia. Portland, Or: Timber Press. Pages 19-20.
  4. ↑ J Ethnopharmacol. 1981 Nov;4(3):247-336. Arrow poisons in China. Part II. Aconitum--botany, chemistry, and pharmacology. Bisset NG.
  5. ↑ Toxicology in the Old Testament: Did the High Priest Alcimus Die of Acute Aconitine Poisoning? Authors: Moog F.P.1; Karenberg A.1 Source: Adverse Drug Reactions & Toxicological Reviews (now known as Toxicological Reviews), Volume 21, Number 3, 2002 , pp. 151-156(6) Publisher: Adis International
  6. ↑ Roberts, M. F., and Michael Wink. 1998. Alkaloids biochemistry, ecology, and medicinal applications. New York: Plenum Press. Page 18.
  7. ↑ http://md1.csa.com/partners/viewrecord.php?requester=gs&collection=ENV&recid=4297677&q=Aconitine+murder+&uid=792020396&setcookie=yes
  8. ↑ 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
  9. ↑ 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
  10. ↑ Severe Acute Poisoning with Homemade Aconitum napellus Capsules: Toxicokinetic and Clinical Data Authors: Fabienne Moritz a; Patricia Compagnon b; Isabelle Guery Kaliszczak a; Yann Kaliszczak c; Valérie Caliskan a; Christophe Girault d DOI: 10.1080/15563650500357594 Clinical Toxicology, Volume 43, Issue 7 December 2005 , pages 873 - 876

  • 19th century illustration

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External links

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