Wolfsbane/Monkshood/Blue Rocket
The ancient Chinese used this deadly plant as an arrow poison, and its generic name derives from the Greek akontion, which means "dart." The name Napellus comes from the form of its tuberous root, which resembles a turnip.
- Aconitum napellus was a popular plant among the Welsh doctors of Myddvai in the thirteenth century, but it was not widely used in medicine until the eighteenth century.
Description - Hardy herbaceous perennial; essentially biennial because roots are produced one year and flowers the next; stem erect to 150 cm; leaves dark green, glossy, 3-8 cm wide, divided flowers (summer and autumni violet blue, 2 cm high, helmet shaped, in terminal clusters); stem erect to 150 cm; leaves dark green, glossy, 3-8 cm wide, divided flowers (summer and autumni violet blue, 2 cm high, helmet shaped, in terminal clusters
Distribution - Mountainous regions of the northern hemisphere; native to the Alps and Pyrenees.
- It prefers wet, shady soils.
Cultivation - Root division occurs in the fall, and chosen daughter roots are kept in a warm location until being planted in wet loam in the middle of the winter.
- In 2-3 years, seeds planted in the spring will bloom.
- Blue Spectre, Sparks Variety, and other blue, white, and violet varieties make attractive garden decorations.
Constituents - Due to its sedative and poisonous properties.