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Aconitum napellus
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Aconitum napellus
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, "Monk's Blood", or "Monk's Hood") 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.
Aconite flowers
• Aconitum napellus subsp. lusitanicum Rouy.
Southwest Europe.
Aconitum napellus
• 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 napellus 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 that are generated each year
from the rootstocks. The use of micropropagation protocols has 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] Aconites have been used more
Seeds
recently in murder plots; they contain the Chemical alkaloids aconitine,
mesaconitine, hypaconitine and jesaconitine, which are highly toxic.[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". Misuse of the medicinal
ingredients contained in this plant can negatively affect the cardiovascular and central nervous systems, thus
resulting in death.[8][9][10][11]
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] CSA (http:/ / md1. csa. com/ partners/ viewrecord. php?requester=gs& collection=ENV& recid=4297677& q=Aconitine+ murder+ &
uid=792020396& setcookie=yes)
[8] Just like the misuse of water can cause drowning.
Its non-murderous uses by homeopathic medicine are Applying Aconitum as an ointment to the skin will create a
pain-relieving numbing sensation. It's used for treating joint pains from rheumatism, lumbago and neuralgia. When
Aconitum is processed into a tincture it can be used to slow down the heart rate in cardiac patients. As it slows down
the pulse it can also be used to treat nervous ailments. Because of its cooling effect on the internal system it has been
used to reduce fevers and treat colds and pneumonia. Source: http:/ / www. bitterrootrestoration. com/
medicinal-plants/aconitum-napellus-linn.html
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Aconitum napellus
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aconitum napellus is used by Hylands Homeopathic since 1903. Saying that it is only used for poison & murder is
like saying that firewood is only used to knock people in the head: sure it could be done but that is not how it is used
by the majority of firewood holders. 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] Moritz, Fabienne; Compagnon, Patricia; Kaliszczak, Isabelle Guery; Kaliszczak, Yann; Caliskan, Valérie; Girault, Christophe (2005).
"Severe Acute Poisoning with HomemadeAconitum napellusCapsules: Toxicokinetic and Clinical Data". Clinical Toxicology 43 (7): 873–6.
doi:10.1080/15563650500357594. PMID 16440517.
[11] Bonnici, Kathleen; Stanworth, Denise; Monique, SJ Simmonds; Mukherjee, Elora; Ferner, Robin E (2010). "Flowers of Evil". Lancet 376
(9752): 1616. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61059-8. PMID 21056765.
• Flora Europaea: Aconitum napellus (http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/
feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Aconitum+&SPECIES_XREF=napellus&
TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK=)
• http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/circulationaha;102/23/2907
• http://www.henriettesherbal.com/eclectic/felter/aconitum-nape.html
• http://library.thinkquest.org/C007974/1_1com.htm
19th century illustration
External links
• Aconite, Aconitum napellus (http://www.sandmountainherbs.com/aconite.html) - Resource for aconitum
napellus seed & information
Article Sources and Contributors
Article Sources and Contributors
Aconitum napellus Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=472880757 Contributors: Arion 3x3, Drphilharmonic, Fireineyes, Hardyplants, Jean-Pol Grandmont, JoJan, Johan Lont,
Look2See1, MPF, Mendaliv, Mkoyle, MrDarwin, Nick UA, Noder4, PigFlu Oink, PouponOnToast, Ricardo Carneiro Pires, Rjwilmsi, Rmky87, Sugeesh, ThracianSlave, Tjmayerinsf,
VanishedUser314159, Wiki wiki1, Ytrottier, 14 anonymous edits
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
file:Aconitum napellus 230705.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Aconitum_napellus_230705.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5
Contributors: Bernd Haynold
File:Aconitum napellus JPG1a.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Aconitum_napellus_JPG1a.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Contributors: Jean-Pol
GRANDMONT
Image:SeedsAconitumnepellus.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:SeedsAconitumnepellus.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Hardyplants
Image:AconitumNapellusByKoehler1887.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:AconitumNapellusByKoehler1887.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Bjh21,
Chris 73, MPF
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