Plant Indices
- Alphabetical Index (Genera)
- Alphabetical Index (Vernacular)
- Cladistic Index
MONKSHOOD/WOLFSBANE (Aconitum)
Family: Ranunculaceae
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| Aconitum variegatum |
Asia, East
- Chinese: Fu Zi, Wu Tou
- Japanese: Bushi
Asia, Southeast
- Vietnamese: Thông Lang
Asia, West
- Turkish: Sarığı
Europe, Central
- German: Blauer Eisenhut, Echter Eisenhut, Eisenhut, Hundsgift, Ranunkel, Sturmbut, Sturmhut, Teufelswurz, Venuswagen
- Hungarian: Napel, Tojadfaj
- Polish: Akonitum, Tojad
Europe, Northern
- Danish: Hasselurt, Stormhut, Thung
- Finnish: Akoniitti, Kotilokukka, Myrkkykeiso
- Norwegian: Hjelm
- Swedish: Munkhätta, Stormhatt
Europe, Southern
- Greek: Akónikos
- Latin: Napellus
- Portuguese: Luvas-De-Nossa-Senhora, Orelha De Frade
- Spanish: Capucha De Fraile, Casco De Júpiter, Quebranta Huesos, Torero
Europe, Western
- Dutch: Stormhoed
- English: Monkshood, Aconite, Blue Rocket, Devil's Helmet, Devil's Herb, Friar's Cap, Helmet Flower, Iron Hat, Leopard's Bane, Monk's Blood, Mousebane, Odin's Helmet, Queen of Poisons, Storm Hat, Troll's Hat, Venus' Chariot, Venus' Wain, Wolfsbane, Wolfshood, Women's Bane
- French: Aconit, Casque, Panze De Loup
Native to:
- Africa, Northern: Morocco
- America, North: Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Quebec, Yukon), Mexico (Aleutian Islands), United States (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming)
- Asia, Central: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia (Altay, Tuva, West Siberia), Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang
- Asia, East: China, Japan, Korea, Russia (Amur, Buryatiya, Chita, Irkutsk, Kamchatka, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kuril Islands, Magadan, Manchuria, Primorye, Sakhalin, Yakutiya), Taiwan
- Asia, Northern: Russia
- Asia, South: Afghanistan, East Himalaya, India (Assam), Nepal, Pakistan
- Asia, Southeast: Myanmar, Vietnam
- Asia, Western: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Turkey, Tibet
- Europe, Central: Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland
- Europe, Eastern: Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine
- Europe, Northern: Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden
- Europe, Southern: France (Corsica), Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain
- Europe, Western: Belgium, France, England, Scotland
Introduced to:
- America, North: Canada (New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario), United States (Vermont)
- Europe, Northern: Denmark
Biome: Principally mountain meadows.
Aconite is a genus of over 250 species of tuberous-rooted herbaceous perennials in the buttercup family. They grow principally in mountainous areas with moisture-retentive but well-draining soils of mountain meadows. One possible etymology for the name comes from the Greek akonae, referring to the rocky ground the plant is typically found in.
Most of these plants are highly poisonous.
Aconite has numerous highly suggestive names such as wolfsbane, monkshood, leopard's bane, mousebane, women's bane, devil's helmet, queen of poisons, blue rocket, etc., that warrant their own deep treatment in our compiler's notes.
Death
Being a highly toxic plant, Aconite has obvious death symbolism. In Greek legend, Chiron the Centaur discovered its poisonous properties by dropping an arrow treated with its juice onto his hoof.
Ovid said it sprang from the saliva of Cerberus, the monstrous, polycephalic hound that guards the gates of the underworld. Skinner claims that the plant was identified with Hecate, and further that it was sown into her garden by Cerberus by the aforementioned slavering.
Poison
Aconite's poison has been employed symbolically short of death, as in the traditional Japanese comedy Busu (literally titled "Dried aconite root"). The well-known and frequently taught play based on the 13th century Shakekishu anthology collected by Mujū, the story centers on the use of the plant in traditional Chinese medicine. In the story, a foolish servant concludes the busu is actually sugar and consumes it, with thoroughly unpleasant but non-lethal symptoms to follow.
More dramatically, in Henry IV (Act 4 Scene 4), Shakespeare employed it alongside "rash gunpowder" as analogy for the "venom of suggestion" to break up close relationships.
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| Aconite Root |
Victorian Flower Language
Like its many names, Aconite had disparate meaning in Victorian flower language. Greenaway tells us in its poisonous role as wolfsbane it's an emblem of misanthropy. Both Greenaway and Roux contrariwise state that as helmet flower/monkshood its form suggests chivalry and knight errantry, as its posterial petal resembles a helmet.
As such, based on the social context or other contextualizing flowers in an arrangement, the sender may tell the recipient they are "miserable company," or that the recipient is their "knight in shining armor."
Spiders
Supposedly Athena used the wolfsbane to transform Arachne into a spider. This establishes a mythological and therefore iconographic relationship to the [spider], rendering them interchangeable if one wishes to do so.
Hunting
It is believed based on mythological sources that ancient people used the juice of this plant to poison arrows, darts, and spearheads employed in hunting. Such is described in the Rig Veda, and Greek tradition holds that this was the favored poison when hunting or baiting wolves for their pelts.
The Ainu of Japan used it to hunt bears, as did the Matagi hunters prior to the adoption of firearms. The Aleuts of Alaska employed aconite when hunting whales, tipping their lances with the poison to cause the whales to drown.
Today it is still used by the Minaro of Ladakh, India, to hunt Ibex.
Early Medical Experimentation
Pope Clement VII is the first person recorded to have performed a trial of poison since the ancient Greeks. He is said to have intentionally poisoned prisoners in 1524, by means of aconite-laced marzipan. He then gave some prisoners an antidote, where those so treated survived and those untreated died in agony.
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| Sebastiano del Piombo's portrait of Pope Clement VII, circa 1531. |
Aconite has a long history of magical associations, and was widely regarded as one of the most potent and dangerous of all magical herbs. We see the plant's strong association with the witch Medea in the Greek myths of Theseus. It has the name "troll hat" in Denmark, where "troll" refers not just to the strange fey creatures but to all witchcraft.
Curses
Aconite is thought to come from the Greek akon, meaning a dart or javelin. It was so named for its use in poisoning such devices in the ancient world. This has strong affinity with the notion of spirit intrusion, the idea that disease is caused by an intrusion to the body by a spirit or an object like a magical dart. This belief is common in tribal cultures the world over, reframing disease and affliction as a willful act of harm.
Flying Ointment
Monkshood was one of the herbs used by witches to mix the potent hallucinogen called "flying ointment." Witches would rub this on their bare backs, and experience violent hallucinations where they fly to fiery black sabbaths and made compacts with the Devil (Vaulderie).
This was supposedly created by mixing any three of the following together: [datura] (D. ferox or D. metel), [deadly nightshade] (Atropa belladonna), [henbane] (genus Hycoscyamus), [mandrake] (genus Mandragora), monkshood (genus Aconitum), and in the earliest recorded recipe, [moonwort] (genus Lunaria) for its astrological affiliations.
While the Spanish Inquisition concluded that flying ointment was nonsense following a failed court demonstration, the idea that flying ointment was a historical reality gained traction more recently.
In 1966, German Professor Will-Erich Peukert of Gottingen mixed a concoction of belladonna, henbane, and datura and rubbed it on his forehead along with several other consenting colleagues. The result was all fell into a sleep for 24 hours, wherein they dreamed of wild rides, frenzied dancing, and other adventures similar to medieval witches' confessions of black sabbath orgies. This strongly suggests that many witches who confessed to such had actually believed themselves in pact with the Devil, making their confessions genuine (if mistaken).
Invisibility
In Norway, this plant is called "Odin's helmet," calling upon the tarnhelm which granted that god the power of invisibility.
Love Philtres
Aconitum was employed by witches not just for the hallucinogenic witches' ointment, but also in the concoction of love potions. This is the likely source of the name "Venus' chariot" and "Venus' wain (wagon)," being the vehicle of love.
Given the high recurrence of love charms for employ by women in the historical record, it is reasonable to presume the plant's name "women's bane" has something to do with women poisoning themselves by imbibing these philtres.
Lycanthropy
In the 1941 Lon Chaney The Wolf Man film, a poem is repeated:
"Even a man who is pure of heart
and says his prayers by night,
may become a wolf when the wolf bane blooms
and the autumn moon is bright."
While an affectation of film, the flower's identification with the wolf and its poisonous/magical properties make the transition to lycanthropic affiliation seamless. This idea is reinforced in Lady Gwen Thomson's 1974 poem "Rede of the Wiccae":
"Widdershins go when Moon doth wane,
And the werewolves howl by the dread wolfsbane."
These associations aren't purely based on having "wolf" in the name, but because some people associated aconite poisoning with rabies, due to a bevy of similar symptoms. This maps well to beliefs in lycanthropy as a contagious disease.
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| Lon Chaney, Jr., in The Wolf Man (1941). |
Ward against Vampires
In the classic 1931 Bela Lugosi Dracula, Van Helsing wards Dracula from entering Mina's room by placing a sprig of wolfsbane around Mina's neck, and the Count is unable to enter Mina's room until the wolfsbane is put away outside the room.
Despite being an affectation of the film, vampires have long had a connection to the wolf symbolically and lycanthropy in affliction, so its employ as a ward against the supernatural predation of Dracula is entirely in keeping with the sensibilities of folk magic.
Thelema
Aleister Crowley uses wolfsbane as an analogy for the power of divine communion in verses 1:13-16 of Liber 65, one of the Holy Books of Thelema.
We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.
Aconitum has a long history Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine, as well as in the Greek and Roman medicine of Theophrastus, Dioscorides, and Pliny the Elder. Today it is still used in some Slovenian traditional medicine.
For specifics, see the individual species entries.
Monkshood is notoriously toxic, hence the name "queen of poisons." Nearly all species of Aconitum contain dangerous alkaloids in sufficient amounts to kill human beings and larger animals.
This poison was regarded as so potent that in Greek myth of Theseus, when Medea used it in her concoction to poison Theseus, when it was spilled it cracked the marble and dissolved it to powder like a potent acid.
It has even been speculated that the poison Socrates drank was aconite rather than hemlock, and others believe that assassins slipped this plant to Alexander the Great and Ptolemy XIV Philopator.
It is quite popular as a poison in historical fiction, with numerous titles centering on the plant's malevolent employ.
The actual chemical toxins of the plant are a group of related alkaloids, principally aconitine, which is a potent neurotoxin and cardiotoxin. This attacks the sodium channels of the nerves, especially in tetrodotoxin-sensitive tissues, causing persistent depolarization and delaying repolarization. This increases the excitability of this tissues.
Symptoms appear almost immediately, up to the most extreme:
- Sweating
- Dizziness
- Difficulty breathing
- Headache
- Confusion
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Burning, tingling, or numbness of the mouth and face.
- Burning of the abdomen
- Pronounced motor weakness
- Tingling/numbness of the extremities
- Hypotension
- Sinus brachycardia
- Ventricular arrhythmia
- Asystole
- Paralysis of the heart
- Paralysis of the respiratory center
- Death
As little as 20-40ml of tincture can prove fatal, with the only postmortem signs being those of asphyxia.
Treatment is typically relegated to support, involving close monitoring of blood pressure and cardiac rhythm. GI detox can be performed with activated charcoal if given within an hour of ingestion. There is no antidote to the poison itself, but its principle physiological antidote is atropine, which treats bradycardia. The arrhythmia can be treated with lidocaine, amiodarone, bretylium, flecainide, procainamide, and mexiletine. Sometimes it is treated surgically with a cardiopulmonary bypass, and charcoal hemoperfusion (filtering the blood through charcoal) shows some success with those with severe aconitine poisoning.
Contact poisoning does not result in severe toxicity, but has been noted to result in:
- Headache
- Nausea
- Parasthesia
- Heart palpitations
Contact poisoning is not simply the result of topical application of the plant's juices but can also come from contact with bare hands when picking up the plant's leaves. Treatment is the same as ingestion.
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| Aconite root as sold in as Traditional Chinese Medicine. |
- Take full advantage of this plant's association with hats and headwear.
- A possible read on the names "monkshood" or "friar's cap" is that pushes it past the superficial resemblance to the garment takes full advantage of its poisonous qualities as a virtue. The poison is associated with fending off wolves, which is an emblem of man's bestial vices. Donning the monk's hood is to put to death one's sins, or, to put to painful death one's basest self.
- The name "blue rocket" references the archaic use of "rocket," which is a bobbin or small spindle. This name lends it a domestic quality, if the explosives we now associate with the word are unavailable to the storyteller.
- Further exploration of the "blue bobbin" could be used as an emblem of toxicity within a noble's household, being both a poison and "the bobbin of the blue-bloods."
- "Devil's helmet" wraps together the flower's helmet-shape with both poison and malevolent sorcery. However, this also overlaps with its role as "Odin's helmet." The tarnhelm conferred invisibility to Odin, as it also did to Alberich in Wagner's opera Der Ring des Nibelungen. Perseus also used a helmet of invisibility, gifted to him by Hades. One of the Roman names for Hades was Dispater, which in the Middle Ages was synonymous with the Devil. This connection goes deeper, as the tarnhelm was crafted by the Dwarf, Mime. Scandinavian dwarves are known for wearing invisibility caps, called huliðshjálmr, and such dwarves are contiguous with trolls, hence the Norwegian "troll hat."
- As the bane of "wolves" and "leopards," a ward against predators, human or supernatural. It belongs to the Devil but drives him away, causes lycanthropy but poisons the wolf. It seems, then, that its benefic or malefic properties are wholly determined by the magical agent leveraging the plant.
- As mousebane, it drives away disease vectors and pests that eat one's stored food. This can be employed by a ruler or other kind of prince to drive off social parasites from their court or social circle. More malevolently, this might be employed by the cruel and inhospitable against refugees or other oppressed persons seeking shelter (identified as mice).
- Under the name "wolfshood," it would likely be an essential reagent in the production of wolf garters, which allow one to don the mantle of a wolf (lycanthropy).
- As "iron hat" it protects one from the influences of faeries, both socially by identifying faerie bane as one's highest principle (the crown or head), and by shielding one from any attacks from faeires by the function of helmet.
- The name "queen of poisons" suggests that poisons have a queen, and therefore a court and social hierarchy. This could be used shallowly to indicate command over poisons by means of feminine (generative) authority. One might be able to cure a poison by "negotiating" with a poison of greater authority. This could also be embodied, where poisonous plants are anthropomorphized into a faerie court and Wolfsbane is an actual queen.
- As "storm hat" it is the helm of Thor or Perun. It might protect one from storm, or perhaps allow one to wield the wrath of the storm, as the hat or helm is a mark of authority.
- "Troll's hat" refers not only to the mystical creature but the human witch. Therefore this plant is also a "witch's hat," and may be treated as an iconographic synonym.
- From the above, as "iron hat," it draws lightning by magnetic attraction.
- Under the names "Venus' chariot," etc., it suggests the poisonous or occult dimensions of romantic love, as those who are in love are charmed, and the consequences of infatuation can become deadly.
- Under the name "women's bane," aconite can be employed comedically by wizards to protect their magical powers from women. An internet meme from the 2000s and 2010s is that men who are virgins over the age of 30 acquire magical powers. This is based on the Magician card of the Major Arcana of the Tarot representing "virginal masculine energy," or infinite shaping potential. Under this formulation, it could be employed by a wizard in any context to execute the command "BEGONE, THOT!"
- Wolfsbane's lycanthropy association can be employed willfully in a curse. The magical agent may mix wolfsbane in the patient's food, leave it in relevant proximal context, or through a sympathetic at-distance action to impose the rabies-like symptoms of aconite poisoning. Like-rabies is rabies is contagious lycanthropy. This would be especially useful if the defixioner wants to do something particularly heinous, like compel the patient to tear their own family apart with their bare hands and teeth.
Common Monkshood (Aconitum napellus)
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| Aconitum napellus |
Asia, West
- Turkish: Mavi Kurtboğan
Europe, Central
- Czech: Oměj Šalamounek
- German: Blaue Wolfswurz, Blauer Eisenhut, Blauer Sturmhut, Echter Sturmhut, Eisenhut, Kapuze, Kapuzenblume, Kutten-Blume, Sturmhut, Teufelswurz, Venuswagen, Ziegentod
- Polish: Stormhut Niebieski, Tojad Mocny
Europe, Eastern
- Croatian: Kapu Barinjak, Kukuljičasta Jedić
- Serbian: Omag
- Slovenian: Kapucin
Europe, Northern
- Danish: Blå Stormhat, Stormhat
- Finnish: Sininen Ukonhattu
- Norwegian: Monkhette
- Swedish: Munkhätta
Europe, Southern
- Italian: Aconito Napello, Napello
- Latin: Thora
- Portuguese: Orelha De Frade
- Spanish: Carro De Venus, Panza De Lobo, Quebranta Huesos
Europe, Western
- Dutch: Blauw Monnikskap, Napel, Plantkap
- English: Common Monkshood, Adam And Eve, Blue Helmet, Blue Rocket, Devil's Helmet, European Aconite, Friar's Cap, Garden Monkshood, Helmet Flower, Monk's Blood, Monkshood, Old Wife's Hood, Pope's Hoods, Soldier's Cap, Soldier's Helmet, Turnip-Rooted Aconite, Venus' Chariot, Venus' Wain, Wolfsbane
- French: Aconit Napel, Moine, Navets Du Diable
- Welsh: Elmete
- Europe, Central: Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, Switzerland
- Europe, Southern: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal, Serbia, Spain
- Europe, Western: Belgium, France
Aconitum napellus is a toxic herbaceous perennial that grows up to 1m (3ft3in) tall, with hairless stems and leaves. Its leaves are rounded, growing 5-10cm (2-3.9in) in diameter, and is palmately divided into between five and seven deeply lobed segments.
The flowers are narrow with an oblong, helmet shape, and range in color from dark purple to bluish purple.
Gardening
A. napellus is grown in gardens for its attractive blue flowers. It is a cut flower crop, often used for fresh cutting material and is even used dried.
It has a low rate of cultivated propagation, requiring growth from seed or removal of offsets. It does, however, produce attractive hybrids favored by many gardeners, including Aconitum × cammarum.
Hunting
The Minaro of Ladakh use this plant to poison their arrows for ibex hunting.
A. napellus is identified as the source plant for poisons placed on arrows and spears in the Ancient world, with records of its use in this way ranging from Persia to Italy in both warfare and hunting.
In Ancient Rome it was used in the execution of criminals and political enemies of the powerful. However, at the end of the Late Roman period this was criminalized, and even growing A. napellus in a private garden was treated as a capital offense.
- The gardening angle seems the most fruitful in regards to this particular plant, especially the Late Roman criminalization. A magician may well have reason to grow this plant as the locally-available wolfsbane species, with non-malefic intent. This adds a dimension of criminality to the act of gardening. This could be a very grounded way for police to identify magicians in worlds where magic is illegal, and it ties it to activity more mundane than flipping through arcane tomes (which adds to verisimilitude).
Chinese Monkshood (Aconitum carmichaelii)
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| Aconitum carmichaelii |
Asia, East
- Chinese: Bei Wu Tou, Fu Zi, Guan Wu Tou, Guan Zi, Guang Wu Tou, Tsao Wu, Wu Tou
- Japanese: Hangetsu, Kara Bushi, Tora No O, Torikabuto
- Korean: Sini
Europe, Central
- German: Chinesischer Eisenhut
Europe, Western
- English: Chinese Monkshood, Black Head, Carmichael's Aconite, Carmichael's Monkshood, Chinese Aconite, Chinese Wolfsbane, Daughter Root, Kara Aconite, Kusnezoff's Monkshood, Later Monkshood, Lateral Root, Sichuan Aconite
- French: Jardin D'automne
- Asia, East: China (North-Central, South-Central, Southeast, Inner Mongolia)
- Asia, Southeast: Vietnam
Chinese wolfsbane is an herbaceous perennial that grows up to 1.2m (4ft) tall with a rosette 30cm (12in) wide). Its stems are erect with 3- to 5-lobed ovate, leathery leaves. It produces its blue flowers in dense panicles, blooming in summer and autumn.
Its Chinese names stem from the shape of its root (fùzǐ: "daughter root/lateral root") and the root's color (wūtóu: "black head").
The Japanese name torikabuto (lit: "bird-hat") continues the independent observation of the plant's resemblance to headwear. Specifically, it refers to the phoenix headdress worn by miko priestesses during the shamanic Kagura dance.
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| A miko (dressed for the Kagura dance), wearing a tall torikabuto headdress. |
We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.
Chinese wolfsbane is employed in various ways in Chinese traditional medicine. First, the plant is harvested in autumn so that its toxic chemicals have had some time to diminish, then it is dried to break down what remains. Following proper harvesting and treatment, it is credited with these medical virtues:
- Anaesthetic
- Analgesic
- Anti-inflammatory
- Antirheumatic
- Cardiotonic
- Stimulant
- Vasodilator
It is prescribed by the folk medical tradition for these conditions:
- Sprains
- Contusions
- Shock
- Collapse
- Chronic disease with cold-like symptoms
- Gastralgia
- Rheumatism
- Rheumatic arthralgia
- Oedema
- Diarrhea from hypofunction of the spleen and kidney
Medical use should be undertaken with great caution, as the plant still contains aconitine, meaning overdose is still both possible and potentially deadly.
All parts of this plant are extremely toxic, just as any other wolfsbane, with identical symptoms.
- Perhaps the product of a western lens, but "Chinese monkshood" could be laundered into some relationship to Chinese martial arts (as in "Shaolin monk").
- The hat association is suggested to be universal, via the Japanese name.
- The name "daughter root" suggests a person's daughter may be a viable angle of magical attack against a target. A magician may use a curse based on this wolfsbane to afflict the target's daughter with a spiritual poison, either mimicking wolfsbane poisoning, or turning her into a vicious, seemingly rabid person and tearing the household apart.
- Likewise, thinking of the term "daughter root," following the same logic as naming things for what the plant restores, Chinese wolfsbane might be used to treat a daughter so afflicted by a proxy curse, or against a poltergeist (which typically target adolescent and teenage girls), or can be used in a charm to help repair a relationship between parent and daughter.
- "Black head" suggests some kind of relationship to acne.
Golden Monkshood (Aconitum flavum)
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| Aconitum flavum |
Asia, East
- Chinese: Huang Wu Tou, Mi Wu Tou
Europe, Central
- German: Gelber Eisenhut, Gelber Sturmhut
Europe, Western
- English: Golden Monkshood, Fluff Iron Hammer, Golden Wolfsbane, Yellow Aconite, Yellow Monkshood, Yellow Wolfsbane
- French: Aconite Jaune, Aconit Jaune
- Asia, Central: Tibet
- Asia, East: China (North-Central, South-Central, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai)
Biome: Grassy slopes and sparse forests
Golden wolfsbane is an herbaceous perennial native to East Asia named for the golden color of its flowers. It grows in grassy slopes and sparse forests at an altitude of 2,000-3,700m (6,600-12,100ft).
We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.
In East Asia, this plant's roots have been employed for a number of afflictions including:
- Drunkenness
- Opium poisoning
- Traumatic bleeding
- Recurrent tinea
It was also applied as a topical anaesthetic, taking advantage of wolfsbane's neurotoxic properties to treat:
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Joint pain
- Muscle soreness/numbness
- Lingering bruises
- Chronic pain after bone fracture
- The Chinese name means "fluff iron hammer." While we have zero clue as to this exact context, we can certainly provide our own. This would be an effective reagent for imparting textile material ("fluff") with the hardness, weight, and impact of iron ("iron hammer"). Wuxia convention may enable cultivators to impart these qualities on textiles through qi, but that doesn't stop us from pursuing the same effect through magic or alchemy.
- The play on pliability and strength in "fluff iron hammer" could play into its treatment of arthritis and strengthening of the joints. Especially in the case of manual laborers, as, for the smith, it "softens the blow of the hammer."
- The plant's use as a treatment for drunkenness and opium poisoning suggests magical efficacy against fascinations and malefic stupors.
Indian Monkshood (Aconitum ferox syn. Aconitum virorum)
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| Aconitum ferox |
Asia, South
- Bengali: Bis, Bish, Bish Kuchila
- Hindi: Atis, Bikhma, Dudhiya Bish, Mahavisha, Mahur, Meetha Telia, Mohra, Ponkiya, Teliya, Tilia Kachang, Vatsnabh
- Nepali: Bikh, Bish, Nabee
- Sanskrit: Sringika Visha, Vasa Nabhi, Vatsanabha, Visha
Europe, Western
- English: Indian Monkshood, Child-Navel Root, Fierce Aconite, Fierce Monkshood, Great Poison, Himalayan Aconite, Indian Aconite, Nepal Aconite, Nepalese Aconite
- Asia, South: India (Assam), Nepal
Biome: Forest clearings; shrubberies.
Aconitum ferox (syn. A. virorum) is an herbaceous perennial endemic to the Himalayas. It grows 1m (39in) tall and 50cm (19.5in) wide, at altitudes between 2,100-3,600m (6,900-11,900ft) in shrubberies and forest clearings. It blooms from Aug-Oct.
Poison Production
This plant was used as the principal ingredient source in the production of the subcontinental poison known variously as bikh, bish, and nabee. A. ferox was preferred due to its high content of pseudoaconitine (or nepaline, named for Nepal) relative to other potential sources.
Sandakphu Peak
Sandakphu is the tallest peak of the Singalila Ridge, with is the highest section of the Darjeeling Hills. The peak is named from the Tibeto-Burman Lepcha language, which translates as "the height of the poisonous plant." The plant was once so abundant there that the locals had to muzzle sheep and cattle driven through the area to prevent them from eating the plant (as well as certain toxic Rhododendrons also present).
Aghori Hallucinogen
The Aghori, a tradition of left-hand-path ascetics devoted to Shiva, employ the roots of A. ferox as a smoked hallucinogen when mixed with cannabis flowers. This ritual consumption is part consciousness expansion, part trial by poison.
Drug-induced, altered states of consciousness have three vectors of consideration: the particular drug's effect on the body, set, and setting. Aghori are tantrics who pursue spiritual liberation (moksha) in charnel grounds and other places of extreme horror and worship wrathful deities. The unpleasant somatic effects of A. ferox are entirely in keeping with their values and aesthetic sensibilities. They seek the dysphoria induced by such trips as necessary in pursuit of the euphoria of Advaita (realization of the oneness of Being).*
The Aghori are no strangers to all manner of dangerous drugs, including Datura metel, and so take great care to only mind the extreme danger of these plants. A. ferox mixtures are reserved only for the most experienced adepts of the tradition.
Altitude Sickness
Sikkim folklore holds the (erroneous) belief that altitude sickness experienced by lowland travelers passing through is caused by the scent of upland flowers, including and especially A. ferox.
While altitude sickness is now known to be caused by altitude-related oxygen deprivation, the error is entirely reasonable. A. ferox is known to be highly toxic, and the regions of the Sikkim have an abundance of such plants. High levels of toxicity via pollen is unlikely, but sufficient inhallation of toxic pollen could conceivably result in mild symptoms. Therefore, it is not entirely out of order to attribute symptoms of ill health to these plants, thinking foreign travelers are underexposed and vulnerable while locals have a well-developed tolerance via constant exposure.
That said, it's also possible some such cases of travelers falling sick could have come from them walking unprotected through dense stands of the plant, resulting in contact toxicity.
We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.
A. ferox saw medical use in the Ayurvedic tradition under the names vatsanabha ("root resembling the navel of a child") and mahavisha ("great poison"). It's also employed in Sikkim tradition.
As noted by the name "great poison," medicinal use of this plant comes with recognition of its incredible toxicity and high risk of overdose. To this end it must be "properly cured" to "mitigate the virulent poison," though our sources confess they are ignorant of the exact process.
The basic medicinal properties attributed to the plant are:
- Analgesic for chronic pain
- Sudorific (causes sweating)
- Diuretic
- Expectorant
- Antipyretic (anti-fever)
It has also been said to effectively treat the following diseases and conditions:
- Diabetes mellitus
- Arthritis
- Asthma
- Ear infection
- Nasal infection
- Leprosy
- Paralysis
Hartal Treatment
A. ferox has been explicitly identified as an antidote to poisoning from hartal, which refers to mineral sources of arsenic such as orpiment and associated realgar. There are numerous local arsenic ores in Sikkim, including the above, as well as arsenopyrite and jordanite.
Unfortunately, the need for an anti-arsenic medicine derives from the fact that many local herbal medicines are mixed with these arsenic ores. These mixtures are done intentionally to cancel out the toxicity of multiple ingredients in an alchemical Ayurvedic practice known as Rasashastra.
A. ferox is identified as the most poisonous plant in the Himalayas and one of the most poisonous in the world. It is so renowned for its toxicity that it was the preferred ingredient in man-made poison (as noted in the Culture section).
Symptoms of this poisoning appear 45-60 minutes after consumption. It follows normal wolfsbane symptoms, save we have some more specific information, such as heart rate dropping to 30-40 BPM.
One harrowing characteristic of this poison is that typically the consciousness of the patient remains unclouded until the very end. This end is usually either asphyxiation or cardiac arrest.
Lakhvir Singh Murder Case
As recently as 2009, bikh poison was used in a murder in the UK!
Ms. Lakhvir Singh was found to have used the poison to kill her ex-lover, Mr. Cheema, and nearly kill the man's fiancée, Ms. Choongh. She mixed the bikh into curry and served it to the two. Mr. Cheema proceeded to violently comit, then succumbed to paralysis of his limbs, then blindness, then a drastic drop in blood pressure and heart failure. Ms. Choongh, who ate considerably less of the dish than her fiancée, managed to make a recovery after being put into a medically induced coma.
Various species of Aconitum (including A. ferox) have been added to alcoholic drinks in India to heighten their intoxicating effects. The adulteration involves only small amounts of the poison but has often led drinkers to exhibit symptoms of aconite poisoning, as well as actual fatalities.
- "Root resembling the navel of a child" is likely a reference to the umbilical cord. This has many options for exploitation under the name vatsanabha. Due to the plant's poisonous nature and association with the left-hand path, this umbilical connection lends itself to the malefic.
- Under mahashiva, this is the "great poison," which plays back into the hierarchy-of-poisons idea established by the name "queen of poisons."
- The dysphoria the Aghori attain through use of A. ferox brings to mind wolfsbane's occasional use in flying ointment. This opens the possibility for more organized use of flying ointment as a drug on the path to some sort of "dark enlightenment."
- This plant could be used to impose a curse of altitude sickness.
- Wolfsbane-adulterated alcohol seems like it could actually be incredibly effective for diplomacy. When two feuding parties meet, a common fear is a poisoning of the food or drink. In a meeting where wolfsbane-wine is served, both parties bypass the suspicion by agreeing to deliberately drink poison together. Both parties are engaging in openly high-risk behavior, and then share the same experience of trial-by-poison. This not only has a diplomatic dimension, but a social/fraternal dimension, bonding the two negotiators in a shared experience of suffering.
Korean Monkshood (Aconitum coreanum)
|
| Aconitum koreanum |
Asia, East
- Chinese: Hsin-pao-tzu, Kui Kui Tuan
- Japanese: Chosen Torikabuto
- Korean: Baek Bu Ja, Cham Bu Ja, Cham Bee San, Changbaeksan Beesein, Cheonbaegsan Beesein, Kwangyang Bu Ja, Nam Bu Ja, Yeongyang Bu Ja
Europe, Central
- German: Koreanischer Eisenhut
Europe, Western
- English: Korean Monkshood, Korean Aconite
- Asia, East: China (North-Central, Inner Mongolia), North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia
- Asia, Northern: Russia (Primorye)
Biome: Grassy areas in mountain valleys or on slopes.
Korean monkshood is a perennial shrub that grows up to 0.3-1m (12-39in) tall. It has thick roots and prefers soil that retains a little moisture, such as moist loam. It grows well on the leeward side of mountains and hills. It has strict, glabrous stems that are either simple or branched, and crowded with leaves. The leaves alternate, and are palmately cleft into 3—5 sections.
The flowers are pale yellow with the occasional purplish tint, and bloom between July and Aug.
We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.
Korean monkshood has history in traditional Korean medicine, and has gained tradition in the past few decades in Chinese folk medicine.
It has been used to treat:
- Limb chills
- Articular pain
- Diuresis
- Cardiotonic
- Analgesia
- Neuralgia
- Gout
- Tumor treatment
Our sources cannot verify the efficacy of any of these claims. It has, however, shown some anti-inflammatory effect in-vitro.
See wolfsbane poison properties for side effects.
Same as other wolfsbanes.
- Retained for name, distribution, color, and purported medical effects.
- The color could lend this plant to the same martial-arts associations as Chinese monkshood through the "monk" connection.
Mixed-Leaf Monkshood (Aconitum heterophyllum)
|
| Aconitum heterophyllum |
Asia, South
- Hindi: Atees, Atis, Ativish, Patis, Vatsanag
- Sanskrit: Ativisha, Atvika, Sukla Kanda, Suvaasa, Vajratunga, Visha
- Tamil: Athividayam
Europe, Western
- English: Mixed-Leaf Monkshood, Differentleaf Aconite, Diverseleaf Aconite, Heterophyllous Aconite, Indian Atees, Variedleaf Monkshood, Variedleaf Aconite
- Asia, South: Nepal, Pakistan
Biome: Alpine; Sub Alpine; slopes.
Atis/atish/ativish/atvika/patis is an herbaceous perennial that grows on slopes in alpine and sub alpine areas between 2,500-3,500m (8,200-11,500ft).
We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.
Atis is used in many systems of Indian traditional medicine, including Ayurveda.
Roots
The roots are said to cure the following:
- Abdominal pain
- Cold colic
- Cough
- Diabetes
- Diarrhea
- Dysentery
- Dyspepsia
- Excessive menstrual flow
- Fever
- Headache
- Hysteria
- Malarial fever
- Piles (hemorrhoids)
- Throat infection
- Vomiting
Leaves
Fresh leaves are used to cure toothache.
- Retained for names, distribution, and medicinal properties.
Northern Monkshood (Aconitum lycoctonum)
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| Aconitum lycoctonum |
Europe, Central
- Czech: Tyčinkový Oměj
- German: Echter Gelber Eisenhut, Gelbe Wolfswurz, Gelber Eisenhut, Gelber Sturmhut, Wolfsgifte
- Polish: Stormhut Żółty, Tojad Wilczy, Żółty Tojad
Europe, Northern
- Danish: Gul Stormhat
- Finnish: Keltainen Ukonhattu
- Norwegian: Badmort, Gul Lusehatt, Ulvebane
- Swedish: Gul Stormhatt, Vargflock, Vargsporre
Europe, Western
- Dutch: Wolfsdood
- English: Northern Monkshood, Northern Wolfsbane, Wolf's Aconite, Wolfshood, Yellow Monkshood, Yellow Wolf's Bane, Yellow Wolfsbane
- French: Aconit Tue-Loup
- Asia, Northern: Russia (Central European Russia, East European Russia, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, South European Russia)
- Europe, Central: Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Slovakia
- Europe, Eastern: Belarus, Ukraine
Biome: Lowland and subalpine.
Northern wolfsbane is a toxic herbaceous perennial noted for high morphological variability but low genetic disparity. It grows up to 1m (3ft3in) tall. Its leaves are palmately lobed with four to six deeply cut divisions.
Its flowers are zygomorphic (bi-laterally symmetrical) and protandrous (meaning they start as male and later develop into female). The flowers have 5 petals, with the posterior petal resembling a helmet or other headwear. These flowers are 1.8-2.5cm (0.7-1in) long, and while usually dark violet in color occasionally come in pale yellow.
Gardening
These wolfsbanes are cultivated as ornamentals. Given that they grow well in garden soil, they are often found as escapees of old gardens.
We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.
Northern wolfsbane has some historical use as an analgesic, though that use by this species is medically long obsolete relative to other wolfsbanes.
- Retained for names and distribution.
- This wolfsbane is the wolfsbane identified by Carl Linnaeus in 1727, when he rendered this common name into the Latin lycoctonum.
Pyrenean Monkshood (Aconitum lamarckii)
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| Aconitum lamarckii |
Europe, Central
- German: Gelber Eisenhut
Europe, Southern
- Catalan: Tore, Tore Blau
- Spanish: Tora, Toro, Toro Azul
Europe, Western
- English: Pyrenean Monkshood, Lamarck's Aconite, Lamarck's Monkshood, Lamarck's Wolfsbane, Northern Wolfsbane, Pyrenean Aconite, Yellow Monkshood
- French: Aconit De Lamarck
- Africa, Northern: Morocco
- Europe, Central: Austria, Switzerland
- Europe, Southern: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Spain
- Europe, Western: France
Lamarck's wolfsbane is an herbaceous perennial native to Europe and cultivated in gardens. It has tall, thin, somewhat lax stems. Loved for its showy yellow flowers, it blooms throughout the summer.
- Retained for names and distribution.
Strong Monkshood (Aconitum firmum)
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| Aconitum firmum |
Europe, Central
- Czech: Oměj Tuhý, Pevný Oměj
- German: Fester Eisenhut, Karpatischer Eisenhut
- Polish: Mocny Tojad, Tojad Mocny
- Slovak: Tatranský Oměj
Europe, Eastern
- Ukrainian: Akonіt Mіtzniy
Europe, Western
- English: Strong Monkshood, Carpathian Monkshood, Robust Monkshood, Stiff Aconite, Strong Aconite, Sturdy Monkshood, Tatra Monkshood
- Europe, Central: Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia
- Europe, Eastern: Bulgaria, Romania, Russia (Central European Russia), Ukraine
- Europe, Southern: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia
Strong aconite is a species of wolfsbane native to Eastern Europe. It grows up to 40cm (16in) tall. It is noted for its indigo flowers, which are only 2cm across
The name "strong aconite" either comes from the plant's hardiness, or from the potency of its poison.
- Retained for names and distribution.
Yellow Monkshood (Aconitum anthora)
|
| Aconitum anthora |
Europe, Central
- Czech: Maslozrut Proti Jedu
- German: Gelber Eisenhut, Gegenblattrige Wolfswurz, Giftiger Eisenhut, Heilender Sturmhut, Heilgift, Heilsame Wolfswurz, Heilwurz
- Hungarian: Sarolta Sisakviraga
Europe, Eastern
- Estonian: Isotojad
Europe, Northern
- Swedish: Höggört
Europe, Southern
- Italian: Aconito Antora, Antora
Europe, Western
- English: Yellow Monkshood, Anthora, Healing Wolfsbane, Wholesome Wolfsbane, Yellow Helmet
- French: Aconit Anthore, Jardiniere, Panze De Panthere
- Asia, Central: Kazakhstan, Mongolia
- Asia, East: China (Xinjiang)
- Asia, Northern: Russia (Altay, Central European Russia, East European Russia, Krasnoyarsk, Krym, North Caucasus, South European Russia, Tuva, West Siberia)
- Asia, West: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey
- Europe, Central: Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Switzerland
- Europe, Eastern: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Ukraine
- Europe, Southern: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Spain
- Europe, Western: France
Anthora, or yellow monkshood, is a widespread herbaceous perennial of high morphic variability. It blooms from July to Sept.
We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.
This is the "healing wolfsbane," its name "anthora" meaning "against thora." Thora is an archaic name for the highly toxic leopard's bane, a flower previously identified in genus Aconitum that is now categorized as the aster [Doronicum pardalianches].
The root of anthora contains a large amount of volatile salt and essential oil, and its stems and leaves are high in diterpenoid alkaloids.
It is consumed medicinally to treat the following:
- Weak pulse
- Cardiac issues
- Cardiac arrest
- Fever/cold
- Pneumonia
- Croup
Externally applied, it is used to treat the following:
- Rheumatism
- Deep pain
Further, in keeping with its use against leopard's bane, the shoot of the anthora is identified as the active part of the plant for treating other vegetable poisons.
Unsurprisingly, topical over-application can result in irritation of the skin.
- "Healing wolfsbane" could be used to treat various forms of lycanthropy.
- The plant's role against plant poisons more generally suggests a symmetrical negation rather than the cure-by-countermand one might effect by the "queen of poisons."
* * * * * * *
Prestigious Plants
- Plants
- Flowers
- Trees
- Ferns
- Moss and Lichen [Pending]
- Fungi [Pending]
- Cladistic Index
- Herbal Medicine [Pending]
- Resin, Incense, Balsam, and Lacquer [Pending]
Other Ranunculales
- Berberidaceae
- Lardizabalaceae
- Papaveraceae
- Ranunculaceae
- Adonis/Anemone/Pasque
- Buttercup/Water Crowfoot
- Clematis
- Columbine
- Coptis
- Hellebore
- Hepatica
- Larkspur
- Love in a Mist
[Img 01 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aconitum_variegatum_110807f.jpg]
[Img 02 - https://www.hokeniryo1.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/shokuhin/eng/dokusou/03.html]
[Img 03 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:El_papa_Clemente_VII,_por_Sebastiano_del_Piombo.jpg]
[Img 04 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wolf_Man_(1941_film)]
[Img 05 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bushi2012.jpg]
[Img 06 - https://elmundoysusplantas.blogspot.com/2011/10/aconito-aconitum-napellus.html]
[Img 09 - http://www.fpcn.net/a/yeshenghuahui/20180722/7982.html]
[Img 10 - https://www.keralanaturals.com/product/indian-aconite-aconitum-ferox/]
[Img 11 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aconitum_koreanum.jpg]
[Img 12 - https://medplants.blogspot.com/2013/12/aconitum-heterophyllum-ativisha-atis.html]
[Img 14 - https://appeltern.nl/nl/tuinadvies/plantenencyclopedie/aconitum_lamarckii_monnikskap/]
[Img 16 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aconitum_anthora.jpg]
-Greenaway, Kate. Language of Flowers. George Routleage and Sons.
-Roux, Jessica. Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2020.
-Skinner, Charles M. "Myths and Legends of Flowers, Trees, Fruits, and Plants : In All Ages and in All Climes : Skinner, Charles M. (Charles Montgomery), 1852-1907 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming." Internet Archive, Philadelphia : J.B. Lippincott Co., 1 Jan. 1970, https://archive.org/details/mythslegendsoffl00skin.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitum)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitum_anthora)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitum_carmichaelii)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitum_coreanum)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitum_ferox)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitum_firmum)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitum_flavum)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitum_heterophyllum)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitum_lamarckii)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitum_lycoctonum)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitum_napellus)
(https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Aconitum+carmichaelii)
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