Where does aconite grow? Use of aconite in traditional and folk medicine

- a perennial herbaceous plant. Among the people there are other names for this plant: wrestler-root, wolf-root, wolf-killer, Issyk-Kul root, king-potion, king-grass, black root, black potion, goat death, iron helmet, skullcap, helmet, hood, horse , slipper, blue buttercup, blue-eye, lumbago-grass, cover-grass.

Paracelsus believed that the name “monkshood” comes from the name of the city of Akoni, the environs of which were considered the birthplace of one of the species of this plant.

Dzungarian wrestler, or Dzungarian aconite (lat. Aconitum soongaricum)

The ancient Gauls and Germans rubbed the tips of arrows and spears with the extract of this plant for hunting wolves, panthers, leopards and other predators. This is to some extent confirmed by the popular nicknames of aconite - wolf root, wolf killer, among the Slavs - dog death, dog potion, black potion, etc.

In ancient Rome, because of its brightly colored flowers, aconite was popular as an ornamental plant and was widely cultivated in gardens. However, the Roman Emperor Trajan banned the cultivation of ako-pit in 117, as there were frequent cases of suspicious deaths from poisoning. Plutarch talks about the poisoning of Mark Antony's soldiers with this plant. Warriors who ate aconite lost their memory and were busy turning over every stone in their path, as if they were looking for something very important, until they began to vomit bile. There is a legend that the famous Khan Timur was poisoned precisely by the poison of aconite - the juice of this plant was soaked in his skullcap.

IN Ancient Greece and in Rome they poisoned those sentenced to death with aconite.

In ancient times, the properties of aconite were used in medicinal purposes, however, the Roman writer and scientist Pliny the Elder in his “Natural History” warned that one must be very careful with it, and dubbed it “vegetable arsenic.”

Dzungarian wrestler, or Dzungarian aconite (lat. Aconitum soongaricum)

There are several legends about the origin of aconite. One of them is associated with the mythological hero of Ancient Hellas - Hercules.

While in the service of King Eurystheus, Hercules, in order to earn immortality for himself, had to complete twelve labors; the twelfth is the pacification of the ferocious guardian of the underworld, Cerberus, a huge three-headed dog, around each of whose heads a mane of poisonous snakes curled. This terrible dog let everyone into Hades, but did not let anyone back. To get out of the underworld, Hercules needed to pacify the beast. Seeing him, the hero was not afraid, grabbed the dog by the throat and strangled him until he submitted to him. Hercules chained him with diamond chains and pulled him to the surface. Cerberus, blinded by the bright sunlight, began to struggle wildly, growling and barking wildly. Poisonous saliva flowed from its three mouths, flooding the grass and earth around it. And where the saliva fell, tall slender plants with amazing, similar to the helmets of warriors rose blue flowers, collected in apical brushes. And since all this supposedly happened near the city of Akoni, the unusual perennial aconite was named in his honor.

In Indian mythology, there is a legend about a beautiful girl who taught herself to consume only the roots of aconite and gradually became so saturated with poison that it was impossible to touch her, and even admiring her appearance was mortally dangerous.

Monkshood (Aconitum napellus)

Aconite was mentioned in “Domostroy” - a set of rules for organizing a family in Rus'. In scientific medicine, information about aconites appears in the 17th century, when they began to be placed in official catalogs of German pharmacies. In those days, aconite was used internally as an analgesic and externally for gout, rheumatism and radiculitis. In Indian and Oriental medicine, aconite was used as an analgesic, for febrile diseases, and externally as an irritant and distracting agent. Aconite was included in a number of Russian pharmacopoeias.

All types of aconite (there are 300 of them) are common in Europe, Asia, and North America.

Over 50 species of aconite grow in Russia. The most common aconites are bearded, curly, Dzungarian, Karakol, antidote, northern (high), white-eared, Baikal, white-violet, Amur, oak, arcuate, Korean, shadow, Fischer, Kuznetsov, Shchukin, Chekanovsky.

Aconite grows in damp places along river banks and roadsides, on humus-rich soils, and in mountain meadows. It is often cultivated in gardens, and it happens that housewives in villages do not even suspect that aconite is growing in their front gardens - people usually know this beautiful ornamental plant under other names.

Aconite is a perennial herbaceous plant of the ranunculaceae family. The stem is straight, densely leafy, up to 1.8 m tall. The leaves are alternate, round in outline, dark green, petiolate, deeply and repeatedly lobular-five-dissected.

The inflorescence is an apical raceme of large irregular flowers, depending on the type having different colors: blue, purple, lilac, yellow, cream and rarely white. They have large, bizarrely shaped sepals - five-leaved, corolla-shaped; the top one looks like a helmet or cap, under which all other parts of the flower are hidden. Under this helmet there is a reduced corolla, transformed into two blue nectaries that attract pollinators - bumblebees. Without bumblebees, aconites cannot reproduce, so their areas geographical distribution on Earth coincide with the distribution areas of bumblebees.

The fruit is a dry three-locular leaflet. The tubers are elongated-conical in shape, longitudinally wrinkled on the surface, with traces of removed roots and with buds on the tops of the tubers. The length of the tubers is 3-8 cm, the thickness in the wide part is 1-2 cm. The color is black-brown on the outside, yellowish on the inside. Taste and smell are not checked, since aconite tubers are very poisonous, which is explained by the presence of alkaloids, the content of which is 0.8%. Aconite blooms in the second half of summer.

Karakol aconite ( Aconitum karakolicum) differs from Djungarian aconite in narrow linear leaf segments. Characteristic feature These types of aconite are that they form a long chain of tuber roots, consisting of 12-15 tubers. This occurs due to the fact that the old tubers of the plants do not die off or separate, but remain linked to the new young tubers, so that the chain of tubers lengthens every year.

Aconites are beautiful ornamental plants, frost-resistant, undemanding to soil, normally developing in partial shade. Preferred for group plantings on the lawn, along the edges of groups of shrubs in parks and gardens. In culture, the most commonly represented species is the horned aconite.

Dried tubers of wild plants and their leaves are used as medicinal raw materials. Tuberous roots are harvested in the fall from August 15 to October 1. Dig it out with a shovel, clear it of soil and damaged parts, wash it in cold water and subjected to rapid drying at a temperature of 50-70 ° C with good ventilation. From 4 kg of fresh tubers, 1 kg of dry tubers is obtained. The leaves are collected before the plants bloom or during their flowering, withered in the sun and dried under a canopy. The raw materials should remain dark green after drying. Raw aconite must be stored separately from non-poisonous herbs, with the obligatory “Poison!” label, out of the reach of children. Shelf life in bags or closed containers is 2 years.

Since wild and decorative types aconite contain poisonous compounds in their stems and tubers; they must be collected after wearing gloves or mittens. While working with aconite, do not touch your eyes, and upon completion of work, wash your hands thoroughly with soap.

Chemical composition aconite has been poorly studied to date.

Aconite has anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, narcotic, antitumor, analgesic, and antispasmodic effects.

Aconite and, accordingly, preparations from its tubers (tincture) are prescribed in extremely small doses as an analgesic for severe pain. This is a very effective medicine, but highly toxic, used only under the strict supervision of a doctor!

IN folk medicine used for fractures and dislocations of bones, bruises (externally), arthritis, articular rheumatism, gout, radiculitis, osteochondrosis, sciatica (externally), epilepsy, convulsions, mental illness, nervous disorders, depression, fear, hysteria, overexcitement nervous system, neuralgia, especially with trigeminal neuralgia (internally and locally), severe headaches, migraines, dizziness, paralysis, Parkinson's disease, paralytic relaxation of the tongue and bladder, anemia, pneumonia, pleurisy, bronchial asthma, acute and chronic bronchitis, colds , tonsillitis, senile decline, to improve vision and hearing, persistent uterine bleeding, impotence, stomach pain, stomach ulcers, gastritis, intestinal and hepatic colic, flatulence, constipation, cystitis, dropsy, hypertension, angina pectoris, scabies, lice (externally ), as a diuretic, as an anthelmintic, as an antidote for poisoning, psoriasis, erysipelas, ulcers, as a wound-healing agent (externally).

Aconite leaves are used for abscesses and old ulcers.

People say that aconite drives away evil spirits.

It is used for wedding slander (from damage): before the arrival of the newlyweds, the wrestler-root is placed under the threshold of the groom’s house, and the bride must jump over it - then all the slander falls on those who wish her harm.

Extreme toxicity limits the use of Djungarian aconite. Currently, only a tincture of the herb Djungarian aconite is used, which is part of the drug “Akofit”, recommended for radiculitis.

Due to active collections by both private individuals and government organizations, the population of Djungarian aconite has become very depleted. On the world market, these plants are valued for their medicinal, primarily anti-cancer properties. In Kazakhstan, Djungarian aconite costs about $100 per 50 g.

Due to historical reasons, by the beginning of the 20th century, Chinese miners had almost completely dug up the roots of Dzungarian aconite from the eastern spurs of the Dzhungar Alatau due to the high value of this plant in traditional Chinese medicine. The same fate befell episodic inclusions of Aconite Dzungarian in Kashmir. In Soviet Kyrgyzstan, Djungarian aconite has been an item of foreign exchange income since the early 60s of the 20th century.

Kazakhstan geographically owns the main growing areas of Djungarian aconite.

BE CAREFUL!

Aconite is a very poisonous plant. “Mother Queen of Poisons” was the name given to aconite in ancient times. It must be handled with great care, since upon contact with the plant, the poison can penetrate even through the skin.

The most poisonous part of the plant is the tuber roots, especially in the fall, after the tops have withered. A.P. Chekhov described cases of poisoning of people on Sakhalin who ate the liver of pigs who were poisoned by aconite tuber roots. The above-ground part is especially poisonous before and during flowering. The degree of toxicity of various aconites is influenced by both the type of plant and the place of distribution, growing conditions, the growing season and the part of the plant being harvested. The most poisonous are Fischer's aconite and Djungarian aconite (the content of aconitine group alkaloids in tubers reaches 3%).

European species of aconite are less poisonous. According to some researchers, when European species of aconite are cultivated as an ornamental plant, after 3-4 generations they generally lose their toxic properties. But due to the impossibility of determining the quantitative content of alkaloids in a given plant at home and, accordingly, assessing the degree of its toxicity, any aconite used must be treated as highly poisonous and strictly follow all the rules for harvesting, drying, storage, and preparation dosage forms and dosage when used.

The name Djungarian aconite comes from the merger of two terms. According to legend, extremely poisonous grass grew in abundance in the vicinity of the Greek city of Akone. The semi-mythical plant akoniton gave the name to a real plant, used in ancient times to bait predators, wolves. Dzhungar is a modern prefix that characterizes the geographic region of Dzhungar Alatau, where industrial harvesting of the crop took place several decades ago.

Aconite often appears in the myths of Ancient Greece. In one of them, the appearance of the plant is associated with the hellish dog Cerberus, who spat poisonous saliva while Hercules dragged him from the underworld. And it was from this saliva that erect stems with deep purple flowers and an intoxicating smell emerged. Medea was going to poison Theseus with their juice, as the legendary poet Ovid spoke about in one of his works.

The second commonly accepted name of the culture, grass fighter, first mentioned in Scandinavian myth, also has mythological roots. He talks about how the plant arose at the site of the death of the god Thor, who fought with a poisonous snake. The shape of the flowers of the plant reminded ancient storytellers of Thor's helmet.

The first mentions of the actual use of wolfsbane come from the history of Nepal. There is evidence that local residents they used it in case of a military threat: they poisoned water bodies from which enemies could drink. The army of the ancient Roman commander Mark Antony was defeated by the smell of the plant. And the juice from the stems poisoned the famous Tatar prince Timur.

Features of Djungarian aconite

Due to its extreme toxicity, modern medicine is wary of the plant. But folklore classifies it as a medicinal drug with a proven effect. Wolfsbane is valuable vegetable raw materials due to the extreme limitation of its distribution.

Region of growth

The geographical area of ​​the culture includes the warm regions of Pakistan, India, China, and Kyrgyzstan. The grass grows in mountainous areas, exclusively on northern slopes, preferring moist soils with a rich composition. It is not actively distributed, whereas its extraction in the 20th century was carried out on an industrial scale. This resulted in the almost complete disappearance of the population in the growing regions of China (Dzhungar Alatau) and Pakistan (Kashmir).

On the territory of the USSR, population areas of aconite were found in Kyrgyzstan. The closest relative of the Dzungarian wrestler, Karakol, grew here. It has an almost identical appearance and properties, differing in the percentage of active substances in the raw material. Their level was sufficient from a medical point of view, so industrial harvesting of the crop in the sixties of the last century was carried out at an active pace. At the same time, the plant was not used in the Soviet Union, so there is no information about it in reference books of medicinal plants of this period. The USSR carried out procurement for export: the sale of the plant fighter to China provided the state with a source of foreign exchange income and practically exhausted its Kyrgyz reserves.

Today, the only country where the population of the culture has survived is Kazakhstan. Its industrial production is controlled by the Land Code, which allows the fighter to reproduce.

Description

The aconite plant is a perennial erect herb, the stems of which reach a height of one hundred and thirty centimeters. They are thickened at the bottom, narrowing towards the top, and can be completely bare or well pubescent. Leaves on long, rounded, heart-shaped petioles are scattered throughout the stem. Closer to the rhizome they are pale, and in the upper part of the stem they are deep green. The root itself consists of many cone-shaped tubers that form a chain. Each “link” grows no more than two and a half centimeters long and does not exceed a centimeter in thickness.

During flowering, the plant produces several blue-violet clusters. They are large, up to four centimeters in length, on narrow legs. The walls are unequal, which gives the flowers a specific shape, as if beveled in one direction or another. Flowering begins in the second half of summer, the plant emits a scent rich in essential substances. During this period, it causes poisoning as a result of inhalation of the aroma.

By September, the fruits ripen - dry leaflets collected in a ternary bunch. Due to the weak vegetation, out of three, usually only one leaflet opens, which produces seeds for the subsequent development of the plant. The length of the seeds is up to five millimeters, they are brownish-brown in color and angular.

Collection and preparation

Aconite root is stored in spring and autumn. Preparations begin immediately after the snow melts before the onset of heat. In the summer, preparations are not carried out for the sole purpose of avoiding poisoning from evaporation. essential oils, which becomes many times more intense when the plant heats up in the sun. Work continues in the fall, from the second half of September. The roots are dug up, washed in cold water, and dried in electric dryers at a temperature of fifty degrees. Slow drying is allowed in the attic, under metal roofing. The mass of the feedstock after drying is reduced by four times.

The leaves are collected before flowering begins. Harvesting is also possible during the flowering period of the plant, but it is important to follow safety precautions and not inhale toxic fumes. Raw materials are laid out on newspapers thin layer, wither in the sun for two days, after which they are moved under a canopy. The finished raw material is dry and crumbles, but retains a rich green color.

The rhizome and leaves of the tall borer should be stored in a breathable container, for example, in linen bags, for no more than two years.

Compound

After harvesting, the plant retains the bulk of the active substances. The main ones are alkaloids, in particular aconitine. Leaves collected in spring are richer than those collected in autumn. In the rhizome the level of active substances is stable.

The volume of aconitine in tubers is up to four percent. The tissues contain sugars, benzoic and fumaric acids, traces of ephedrine, a combination of linoleic, palmic and stearic acids. Tannins, flavonoids and more than twenty types of trace elements were found in the leaves with a high aconitine content. But to date, the composition of the northern wrestler has been little studied.

Uses of Wolfsbane

The roots of the plant are used as medicinal raw materials in official medicine, and green shoots are also used in folk medicine. The rhizome can be dried or freshly harvested; in the latter case, the level of active substances in it is higher.

The culture has anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, has antimicrobial and anesthetic effects, and reduces the severity of spasms. This property is used only in one medicine- tincture of Djungarian aconite “Akofit”, recommended for radiculitis. It has an analgesic and distracting effect during exacerbations of the disease.

Traditional medicine uses aconite capulaceae much more widely. It is recommended for neuralgia of various natures, rheumatism, migraines.

Treatment of cancer with Djungarian aconite is practiced in patients with the fourth stage of the disease. Official medicine does not confirm the effectiveness of the method. It is based on taking a tincture that has toxic properties. As the dosage increases, the tincture has a detrimental effect on diseased cancer cells. Healthy cells are more resistant to the toxin and therefore do not die.

For cancer

Aconite tincture is used, reviews of which confirm the effectiveness of the drug for oncological diseases of the esophagus, intestines, and stomach.

Preparation

1. Grind 10 grams of dried root.
2. Fill with alcohol of 40 percent strength, volume 0.5 liters.
3. Leave for 14 days at room temperature.

Recommendations for taking aconite to treat cancer include gradually increasing the dosage. Start with one drop of the composition per day, within forty days increase the dosage by one drop. After the forty day period, a person should take forty drops of the product. After this, the dosage is reduced by one drop per day. Full cycle treatment is 80 days. The cycles are repeated until recovery.

For pain

In folk medicine, the plant is used to treat pain syndromes caused by migraines, inflammatory processes in the teeth and gums, rheumatism, and neuralgia.

Preparation

1. Grind 20 grams of dried root.
2. Fill with 500 ml vodka.
3. Leave for a week in a dark place.
4. Strain before use.

For rheumatic pain, the product should be rubbed into the affected area, then wrapped in a warm cloth and left as a compress until the severity of the symptoms subsides.

For migraines and neuralgia, the infusion is taken orally, one teaspoon per day for a month.

You can relieve toothache by dropping a drop of tincture on a painful tooth or treating your gums with it.

For wounds, boils

An aqueous decoction of the wrestler flower is used, which has an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory effect.

Preparation

1. Grind 20 grams of dried roots.
2. Pour 250 ml of boiling water.
3. Boil over low heat for 20 minutes with the lid on.
4. Cool and strain.

Wash old boils and purulent wounds three times a day with warm broth.

Precautions

The plant is considered extremely poisonous and deadly. Official medicine does not recommend its independent use. The toxicity of the drug occurs both when taken orally and when used externally, so it is important to exercise extreme caution when using it.

Contact with the skin of the composition always causes itching, after which an anesthetic effect is observed. This is not a sign of poisoning.

Intoxication is manifested by itching and tingling that occurs in different parts body, attacks of severe burning in the stomach or intestines, and the development of increased salivation. A person who has been poisoned may experience dizziness, difficulty breathing, and impaired heart function. Death causes respiratory paralysis.

If these symptoms occur, you should immediately consult a doctor and take urgent measures: rinse the stomach, give an enema, give the patient strong black tea, sorbent (black or white coal, Polysorb, Enterosgel).

In homeopathy, aconite is non-toxic, which is due to the extremely small volume of raw materials used. One bottle of infusion may contain only one molecule of the substance, so the rationality of purchasing and taking such products is assessed individually. And it is decided by answering the question: do you believe in homeopathic medicines or not.

Wolfsbane is a specific and extremely dangerous plant. Official medicine does not use it in the manufacture of medicines. And he recommends that if pain occurs, replace it with safer drugs that are no less active. In oncology, it can serve as the last hope for a person with stage four cancer. There are no official data or statistics on its effectiveness. However, a strong belief in healing is known to be capable of imparting magical properties to any medicine.

Djungarian aconite is a herbaceous perennial plant that belongs to the buttercup family. This plant has a horizontal rhizome, and the aconite tubers are large, cone-shaped and fused. The Djungarian aconite has a straight, strong and simple stem, its height varies between 70–130 cm, and it can be bare or pubescent. The stem has petiolate leaves, and the lower leaves die off during the flowering period of the plant. The inflorescence is a terminal raceme bearing large zygomorphic flowers, and the calyx consists of five purple leaves. The pedicels of Djungarian aconite have two narrow-linear bracts, and towards the end they thicken. The sepal, located at the very top of the aconite, is bent in the form of an arc, similar to a helmet with a long nose, in which there are two nectarine petals.

Flowering of Djungarian aconite lasts from July to September, and ripening occurs from August to October.

Aconite can be seen on moist and grassy mountain slopes, and it also grows on the banks of rivers and streams located near the mountains. The plant reproduces vegetatively and with the help of seeds.

Djungarian aconite is also called “fighter”; the plant owes this name to Scandinavian mythology. The wrestler grew up in the place where the god Thor died, who defeated the poisonous snake, but died from its bites. Then the Germans said that Thor fought the wolf with the help of aconite, hence the name of aconite - “wolf slayer”, or “fighter”.

“Tsar Grass” is another name for Djungarian aconite. It received this name because of the strong poison in its composition. Even in ancient times, aconite was not considered a medicinal plant, but on the contrary, it was called poisonous. It was used as an ointment on arrow and spear tips and even on sword blades.

Collection and preparation of Djungarian aconite

Tuberous roots are harvested from mid-August to October 1, and it is during this period that they are the most poisonous. The tubers need to be dug out of the ground, the soil removed from them, washed cold water. Next, without stopping for a second, you need to dry them in a dryer, where the temperature is not lower than 60 degrees Celsius.

Aconite leaves are collected before and during the flowering of the plant, because during this period they are very poisonous. The leaves need to be collected and dried in the sun. After drying, they are dried under a canopy. If the raw material turns dark green after drying, this means that the drying was correct.

Raw aconite cannot be stored together with non-poisonous plants. It must be packaged in a sealed package and labeled “Poison”! This raw material is stored for a year.

Medicinal properties and use of Djungarian aconite

Due to the fact that aconite is toxic, traditional medicine does not use it, but traditional medicine, on the contrary, has found worthy use for this plant. In folk medicine, aconite is used for the following diseases:
– osteochondrosis;
– arthritis;
– gout;
– epilepsy;
– external bruises;
– external sciatica;
– convulsions;
– depression and nervous disorder;
– excessive tearfulness;
– nervous system disorders;
– migraines and headaches;
– paralysis;
– sore throat and acute respiratory infections and many other diseases.

Aconite can be used as a diaphoretic. Aconite is also used by people who have urine retention in the body or blood flowing from the nose. Aconite affects hair growth.

Chemical composition of Djungarian aconite

In addition to these substances, myristic, stearic, palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids were found in aconite.

The stems and leaves of the plant contain the alkaloid aconitine, inositol, ascorbic acid, tannins, flavonoids and trace elements in an amount of more than 20 items.

Recipes from Djungarian aconite

Half an hour before meals, take 1 drop of tincture mixed with 50 ml of water, 3 times daily. Every day, add 1 drop per dose, and when you reach 10 drops, you need to drink this amount for 10 days in a row, and then you need to reduce 1 drop per dose every day - this way you will reach one drop 3 times a day.

Stop taking the tincture for 1 month. And then continue the treatment again, and so it is necessary to undergo 7 courses of treatment.

The tincture can also help with migraines, toothache, rheumatism, and neuralgia. In order to prepare it, you need to take 20 grams of roots and pour 500 ml of vodka into them, all this must be left to brew for a week. The tincture should have the color of brewed tea. If a person has rheumatism, then he needs to rub this tincture into the problem area at night, and then wrap himself in a flannel cloth.

For neuralgia and migraine, the tincture should be drunk, starting with 1 teaspoon and increasing the dose every day until the dose per dose is 1 tbsp. spoon. Treatment should be carried out for 1 month. If a person suffers from toothache, then aconite tincture will help him. In this case, you need to drop 1 drop of the prepared tincture into the hollow of the tooth, and rub 1 tbsp into the cheek where the tooth hurts. spoon of tincture.

Contraindications to the use of Djungarian aconite

Djungarian aconite is a very poisonous plant, so it must be handled skillfully. Do not increase your dosage under any circumstances! Aconite should not be given to children - accordingly, it must be stored where children cannot reach it. Label the container in which you will store aconite: “Poison.” If you grow Djungarian aconite yourself, and you have a hive with bees nearby, then place the aconite plantings at a great distance from the hive, otherwise the bees will collect poisonous honey.

Aconite is a plant from the genus of herbaceous poisonous perennial plants Ranunculaceae family. It has palm-shaped alternating leaves and straight stems.

The Latin name of this herb comes from the Greek word Asopae - “cliff, rock.” The genus is close to plants of the genus Spur, or Larkspur.

Story

As mentioned above, aconite is a plant whose name comes from Akone, an ancient Greek city where these flowers could be seen in abundance.

According to one myth, the plant grew from poisonous saliva hellhound Cerberus, overwhelmed with horror, whom Hercules brought to earth from the underworld (11th labor of Hercules). The grass is also called “wrestler”, which it owes to Scandinavian mythology: at the site of the death of the god Thor, who overcame a poisonous snake and died from its bites, a wrestler grew up.

Aconite - poisonous flower, its properties were known in ancient times: the Chinese and Greeks made poison for arrows from it, and they used it for poisoning in Nepal drinking water in case of enemy attack and bait for predators. The plant is extremely poisonous, even its smell. Plutarch said that the soldiers of Mark Antony, poisoned by aconite, lost their memory and also vomited bile. There is a legend that it was from this that the famous Khan Timur died - his skullcap was completely saturated with the juice of the plant. It is also called wolfsbane because it was used to bait wolves.

Another legend is associated with the poisonousness of the plant. According to him, when the Lord created flowers for the joy of people, which are therefore like invisible threads connecting earth with heaven, the devil tried to break this connection to spite man and God. Staring at the flowers, he tried to pour poison into them. But God noticed this and sent wind to the earth. Under its breath, the plants tilted their heads to the ground, Satan’s gaze did not touch them. Only a few did not want to obey the Lord out of pride, and Satan’s gaze struck them. These flowers became poisonous, and aconite was among them.

It is worth noting here that the toxicity of this plant is caused by the alkaloids contained in it. They affect the central nervous system and cause paralysis of the respiratory center and convulsions. Its toxicity depends on the climate and soil in which it grew, as well as on the age of the plant; for example, it is most toxic in southern latitudes, while in Norway it is used to feed livestock.

Growing on fertile garden soil, the grass aconite loses its poisonous properties after several generations. This plant has various medical uses: in Tibet it is considered the “king of medicine”, since it was used to treat pneumonia and anthrax; in domestic folk medicine it was used as an external pain reliever. At the moment, some of its species are included in the Red Book.

Description

Aconite is a plant up to 2.5 m high. It has dark green leaves, palmately divided, alternate, lobed or dissected. Monkshood has flowers irregular shape, large, purple, blue, sometimes yellow or white, collected in racemose apical inflorescences, similar in appearance with lupine. Plants bloom for a long time in the 2nd half of summer, for a month or more.

As mentioned above, this is a very poisonous plant. But it loses these properties after many years if grown on fertile garden soils.

Spreading

It is found in the wild in the mountains throughout Central Europe, most often in high-mountain wet meadows where rich soils are found. In our country, it is quite often cultivated as an exclusively ornamental plant, and periodically runs wild. Its curtains are mainly found near roads, on the site of former villages, in landfills, and wastelands.

Landing

You need to think before planting aconite monkshood. Planting and care will not be difficult, but you need to understand that you can be poisoned by this plant. It is not recommended to plant it in places where there are pets and small children.

Wolfsbane is an unpretentious grass that feels good both in the shade and in sunny areas. Although climbing varieties are still better planted under trees. In direct sunlight, the plant can get burned. Aconite does not like stagnant water, therefore, it does not need to be planted in lowlands.

Grass seeds are planted in autumn period V open ground. In this case, shoots will appear next spring. But when sowing in spring, only a year later the first shoots of aconite will appear.

When sowing seeds, stratification is used. The container with seeds is kept at 20 degrees for about a month, then transferred to the cold for about a month. Due to this, the seeds germinate simultaneously.

Soil for planting

Aconite is a plant that will grow well on all cultivated soils, excluding rocky or sandy ones. The soil must be breathable, drained, nutritious and moist.

Care

Throughout the summer you need to periodically weed out weeds and loosen the soil. During the flowering period, organic and mineral fertilizers should be applied. In summer, it is necessary to mulch the soil 1-2 times with mown grass, humus or peat. Due to this, moisture in the soil can be preserved. In dry, hot weather, aconite (fighter) must be watered. To make the plant bushes look more decorative, you need to remove faded inflorescences, thereby stimulating new flowering.

If you need to get seeds, you need to choose the most beautiful inflorescence. After it fades, it needs to be tied in gauze. This way the seeds will not fall into the ground. For active flowering, the bush must be divided every 4 years.

The aconite plant, a photo of which can be seen in this article, is frost-resistant. In the fall, it must be cut short, and the rhizome should be covered with peat to a depth of 20 centimeters.

Emerging difficulties

The toxicity of this plant does not save it from all kinds of pests. Aconite is easily affected by root-knot and leaf nematodes, aphids, rapeseed flower beetle, slugs and other unwanted “guests”.

Diseases are also the sworn enemies of this plant: ring mosaic (green, sometimes turning brown, stripes and spots on the leaves), powdery mildew (a coating appears on flowers and leaves white), greening of flowers, spotting. However, the plant is difficult to cure. To stop the spread of the virus, the only way out is to remove the diseased plant.

In winter, with poor drainage or low acidity, root rot may develop from stagnation of soil moisture, therefore, it is necessary to use coarse-grained substrates, and also water the plant with biological preparations at the root.

Usage

Many species of plants growing in the temperate zone are often cultivated by gardeners for decorative purposes. The grass has very beautiful inflorescences of blue, purple, and sometimes white colors; it looks great in various garden compositions. Climbing varieties of aconite are used for vertical gardening. Other species are suitable against the backdrop of a lawn or thickets for tapeworms, as cut flowers and for side-by-side plantings.

Almost all varieties, except for a few modern bred species, contain in their vegetative organs a stupefying toxic substance with a rather bright, burning taste, in fact, that is why it is considered a poisonous plant. You need to understand that aconite poisoning often leads to death. Uninformed people often mistake the roots of the plant for the roots of lovage or vegetables.

In India, arrow poison is made from the plant by mixing its juice with Dillenia speciosa. Tamerlane, according to legend, was also poisoned by aconite juice. The ancient Gauls and Germans applied plant juice to arrowheads when hunting various predatory animals.

It appeared in medicine in the seventeenth century thanks to the physician of the Emperor of Austria. Currently, it is widely used in homeopathy and folk medicine. It has antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, antitumor and antispasmodic properties. Aconite is used for neuralgia, oncology, pneumonia, epilepsy, tuberculosis, peptic ulcer, diphtheria, lice and other diseases. In addition, anthelmintic and wound-healing medicines are made from this plant.

Djungarian aconite

This is a poisonous perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the Ranunculaceae family. It mainly grows in Kashmir, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan on rich, well-moistened soils of the northern slopes. You will never see it in open mountain meadows or along river banks. The Chinese have almost completely dug up the plants that grow on the territory of their state, since a black mass is made from their roots, which serves as medicine. Since the sixties of the last century in Kyrgyzstan, Djungarian aconite has been one of the main items of foreign exchange income.

Its rhizome consists of cone-shaped roots fused together, reaching 2.5 centimeters in length. The stem is up to 130 centimeters, simple, straight, periodically densely pubescent. In this case, the leaves are located on elongated petioles, rounded-heart-shaped, dark green, dissected into wedge-shaped segments. By the flowering period, the lower leaves completely die off.

Inflorescence - apical, terminal raceme. The flowers are large, purple or blue. There are quite a lot of stamens, they look more like threads with 2 denticles. Pistils are formed from carpels. This variety of aconite blooms in August. The fruit is a dry, compact three-leaflet. The seeds are brownish-brown, small, and begin to ripen in September.

Wolfsbane climbing

This is a herbaceous ornamental plant with very flexible stems reaching 2 meters in height. The homeland of this species is considered to be Korea and Siberia. The leaves are dark green, carved. The flowers are small, collected in loose large inflorescences, mostly white or deep purple.

Wolfsbane

A poisonous, perennial herbaceous plant that belongs to the Ranunculaceae family. This aconite is distributed throughout Europe. Often used as a garden ornamental plant.

Reaches 150 centimeters in height. Every year, this plant develops a new root tuber, while the old one dies. The leaves are divided into several lobes. Dark blue flowers form at the top of the shoot. The sepal shape very much resembles a bumblebee. By the way, this insect pollinates only aconite. Flowering time is the whole summer. Fruits with a huge number of seeds, follicular.

Fisher's aconite

It is a herbaceous plant reaching 1.6 meters in height. Most often found in nature in the Far East. The leaves of this variety are divided into lobes and leathery. Flowers of a bright blue hue are collected in dense or sparse inflorescences. This blue aconite blooms from June to September.

Baikal aconite

This is a herbaceous plant that reaches a height of 1.2 m. It has a profusely drooping, straight stem. The flowers are purple, collected in loose large racemes. The leaves are dissected, the lower ones are located on long petioles, while the upper ones are sessile. Most often grows in Siberia and Mongolia.

Aconite arcuate

This is a non-poisonous, shade-tolerant, herbaceous plant that is used for ornamental purposes. The homeland is considered Far East. This plant blooms very profusely. Frost-resistant, unpretentious grass, not susceptible to disease and undemanding to soil.

Useful properties

This plant is used in folk medicine due to its following beneficial properties:

• anti-inflammatory;
• antibacterial;
• pain reliever;
• antitumor;
• narcotic;
• anticonvulsant;
• sedative;
• antiallergic;
• hypolipidemic;
• sweatshop.

Application in homeopathy

Preparations prepared on the basis of aconite are used as an antipyretic in homeopathic medicine. They are used for otitis and neuritis, which are accompanied by tingling and severe pain. For radiculitis, it is prescribed as an anti-inflammatory and pain reliever. Active in the fight against hypertension. This drug is used for the following diseases: endocarditis, arrhythmia, angina pectoris, pericarditis, pneumonia, hepatitis, bronchial asthma. Helps with urinary retention, menopausal hot flashes, and conditions associated with fear. In addition, aconite is prescribed for furunculosis, goiter, and carbuncles.

Use in folk medicine

Preparations containing aconite root are used for colds, joint pain, and neuralgia. Tincture of the plant is used in the treatment of various cancer diseases. There is evidence that such drugs can improve hair growth. The herb is used for diseases of the mucous membranes, as well as for bleeding. Aconite is used in the form of tinctures, oil extracts, ointments, powders, rubs, and decoctions.

It also helps with the following pathologies:

• pinched sciatic nerve;
• arthritis;
• gout;
• soft tissue bruises;
• osteochondrosis;
• sciatica;
• epilepsy;
• osteochondrosis;
• nervous disorders;
• headaches;
• depressive states;
• toothaches;
• migraines;
• tuberculosis;
• benign neoplasms;
• paralysis;
• multiple sclerosis.

Due to their cytostatic effect, such drugs can slow down the growth of tumors and act as an immunomodulator. In cancer patients, aconite reduces pain. Of course, its use must be combined with primary anticancer therapy.

Due to its diaphoretic effect, the tincture is used for laryngitis, feverish conditions, tonsillitis, pneumonia, and bronchitis. Its use is justified in these diseases due to its antibiotic action, which allows it to cope with pathogenic microorganisms.

There are positive results in the treatment of breast fibroadenoma, nodular goiter and nodular mastopathy using aconite.

Tincture of aconite

Usually, for internal use, a 10% tincture of aconite is used (100 grams of the plant root is poured with 40% alcohol, then infused for 2 weeks and filtered).

It is taken according to a certain method, which depends on the degree of neglect of the disease and the person’s well-being. In the case of a gentle method, you need to drink it once a day, diluting it in half a glass of water: the first day 1 drop, the second - 2, etc. up to ten drops. Then we go to the reduction to the final one drop. This course of twenty days must be repeated at least 3 times if we want to see the result. In this case, there must be a break of at least one week between courses.

With the intensive method, this tincture is drunk according to the same scheme, only three times a day.

Treatment cannot be combined with treatment with other potent plant poisons, including such poisonous plants as princeling, hemlock, fly agaric, wolf's face. Together with the tincture, it is possible and necessary to use herbal teas, cleansing tinctures and herbs, as well as balms. Black elderberry syrup goes well with aconite (in the case of treating breast fibroadenoma, mastopathy), an aqueous infusion of European grasshopper and marsh cinquefoil (for nodular goiter), lungwort and Cetraria isladica (for pneumonia, lung cancer). External use of aconite ointment for tumors enhances the effect: the ointment is applied twice a day in a thin layer to the projection of the diseased organ (breast area, thyroid gland, lungs from the back and chest, enlarged lymph nodes, as well as other neoplasms).

Ointments

Ointments with aconite, in addition to standard use for pain, can be used by cancer patients to improve cytostatic therapy. The remedy for this is applied to enlarged lymph nodes, projections of diseased organs. Ointments made from aconite extracts relieve pain from rheumatism and neuralgia, joint pain, and are also used for tumors. Excellent results were used in the treatment of nodular goiter, fibroadenoma of the mammary gland and nodular fibrocystic mastopathy.

Contraindications

In its fresh form, aconite is a very poisonous plant, despite the fact that the flowers of the fighter are incredibly beautiful. Self-medication is contraindicated for them! A specialist should work with him. This applies not only to the use of the plant as a medicine. In general, you need to be extremely careful when using poisonous plants for treatment. It is necessary to be extremely careful when planting aconite (plant) in the garden, and it is advisable to refrain from breaking off flower stalks that beckon with their beauty. If you can find such a plant in the wild in your city, be sure to inform your children about the danger. In case of short-term contact with it, you need to be extremely careful, wash your hands thoroughly and use protective equipment. Aconite contains aconitine (a highly toxic alkaloid), which is especially abundant in the roots of this plant.

Symptoms of poisoning are as follows: numbness of the mouth and tongue, tingling, vomiting and nausea, irregular and weak pulse, difficulty breathing, paralysis, cold sweat. Just 2 mg of aconitine (5 ml tincture or 1 gram of plant) can lead to the death of a healthy adult in less than four hours.

In case of aconite poisoning, you should immediately call ambulance, since, most likely, home remedies will not be enough. If symptoms of poisoning occur, you must drink a lot of salted water, then induce vomiting, then do an enema and drink activated carbon or saline laxative.

Gardeners very often deal with previously cultivated wild herbs, which is what the aconite plant has been like since ancient times. Paying attention to the attractiveness of this weed, as well as its good adaptability to any conditions, cultivated species were bred. This flower does not bring much trouble to its owner, does not take much time and effort, but in combination with other ornamental plants in the garden it looks bright and interesting, harmoniously complementing them.

The article provides detailed description aconite and its species with photos, after viewing which a gardener, previously unfamiliar with such a plant, will be able to choose something new for his site.

Aconite or fighter (Aconitum), belongs to the large buttercup family (Ranunculaceae), which includes more than 300 species of mostly herbaceous perennials. Most of them have poisonous properties to varying degrees. They contain nerve-paralytic alkaloids, of which the most dangerous are aconitine, zongorine, mesaconitine, delsimine and others used in medicine. The characteristics of many types of aconites allow them to be used as ornamental garden plants. Some rare species need protection.

Biological description of aconite flower

According to biological description, aconite is a perennial root-tuberous or rhizomatous herbaceous plant with erect or climbing shoots. The straight stem reaches a height of 1.5 m, and the climbing one - up to 3 m.

The leaves are alternate, round in outline, dark green, petiolate, deeply and repeatedly lobular-five-dissected.

The inflorescence is an apical raceme of large irregular flowers, depending on the type having different colors: blue, purple, lilac, yellow, cream and rarely white. They have large, bizarrely shaped sepals - five-leaved, corolla-shaped; the top one looks like a helmet or cap, under which all other parts of the flower are hidden. Under this helmet there is a reduced corolla, transformed into two blue nectaries that attract pollinators - bumblebees. Without bumblebees, aconite plants cannot reproduce, so their geographic distribution areas on Earth coincide with the distribution areas of bumblebees.

The fruit is a dry three-locular leaflet. The tubers are elongated-conical in shape, longitudinally wrinkled on the surface, with traces of removed roots and with buds on the tops of the tubers. The length of the tubers is 3–8 cm, thickness in the wide part is 1–2 cm. The color is black-brown on the outside, yellowish on the inside. Taste and smell are not checked, since aconite tubers are very poisonous, which is explained by the presence of alkaloids, the content of which is 0.8%. Aconite blooms in the second half of summer from late July to September.

You can see the aconite flower in the photo above, where its distinctive features are clearly visible.

Where does the perennial aconite grow?

Aconite grows in damp places along river banks and roadsides, on humus-rich soils, and in mountain meadows. Often cultivated in gardens.

Northern fighter grows in forest-tundra, forest and forest-steppe zones of the European part of Russia. Confined to fresh and moist soils, it grows in forests, their edges, tall grass and forest meadows, ravines, river banks, in the mountains it rises above the forest belt and is found there in subalpine, less often alpine meadows.

White-mouthed wrestler grows in the Altai mountains at an altitude of 1500 - 2500 (3000) m above sea level, in forest and subalpine meadows, glades and spruce forests, among creeping juniper and thickets of bushes, mainly on shady, less often on steppe slopes, with mountain meadow and mountain forest soils.

Aconite climbing flower grows in forests, along the edges, edges of swamps, tall grass, floodplain and dry meadows in Western Siberia (Irtysh, Altai regions), in Eastern Siberia (all regions), in the Far East.

As you can see, this grass is found everywhere due to its vitality and unpretentiousness to growing conditions. These qualities are appreciated by many gardeners and they successfully grow ornamental species of wrestler on their site.

Popular types of aconite

All types of aconite are common in Europe, Asia, and North America.

About 75 species of aconite grow in Russia. The most poisonous is the onion borer (poisonous borer). The following types are most often found and used: bearded, tall (northern), Dzungarian, medicinal, Karakol, Kuznetsov, antidote, blue (purple), Fischer, Chekanovsky. Some of them are found only in natural natural conditions, others were cultivated by man and moved into the garden. However, we should not forget that all wild and garden aconites are toxic to one degree or another.

Wolfsbane (A. napellus). Height up to 120 cm, erect stem, dark green, shiny leaves, dark blue flowers, collected in a branched inflorescence.

Aconite varieties:

"Bluesite Album" - white flowers

"Carneum" - pink

"Bicolor" - white and blue

This species prefers a shady location.

Wolfsbane (A. lycoctonum). The plant is 1.3-1.5 m high, pyramidal in shape.

The leaves are shiny, dark green, the flowers are often yellow.

A. Wilson (A. wilsonii). Plants up to 1.8 m high. The leaves are dense, deeply dissected. The flowers are light blue.

Northern fighter or aconite high – A. excelsum Reichenb. - a perennial herbaceous plant from the buttercup family.

In an adult, flowering plant vertical rhizome with thin adventitious roots and thicker perennial growth roots. Root system has a mesh-perforated structure, inside the rhizome with roots (especially in flowering individuals) a cavity is formed, filled with soil and dead tissues of the rhizomes and roots. The stem is erect, up to 200 cm high, ribbed, pubescent along with leaf petioles and pedicels, spaced and slightly matted hairs. The leaves of the herb aconite are large, heart-shaped or kidney-shaped in general outline, up to 30 cm wide and up to 20 cm long, up to 2/3 or 3/4 palmate, 5-9 divided into wide, almost rhombic lobes, alternate, dense, leathery. The basal leaves are long-petioled, the stem leaves are short-petioled, the upper leaves are almost sessile. On the upper side, both basal and stem leaves are covered with very sparse, slightly pressed hairs or almost bare. On the underside the pubescence is denser, especially along the veins, and consists of straight, less often slightly curly, hairs. The inflorescence is racemose, loose, branched, often very long (up to 45 cm in length), sparse. The lower pedicels are longer than the flowers, arched and pendulous. The flowers are monosymmetrical with a simple five-membered perianth, mostly intensely dirty or grayish-violet, almost white inside the throat. The helmet is high, tilted forward, its height is 20 - 25 mm, i.e. almost twice the width at the level of the spout.

Wolfsbane - A. leucostomum Worosch.- a perennial herbaceous plant from the ranunculaceae family, popular among gardeners.

The root is taproot with numerous lateral branches, the rhizome is vertical without root tubers. The stem is 120 - 180 cm high, ribbed, pubescent below the inflorescence with short, velvety, bent hairs, in the inflorescence - glandular. Leaves are alternate, dense, leathery, 10 - 20 (40) cm wide and 10 - 20 cm long, kidney-shaped, rounded, palmately cut into 5 - 11 lobes, the length of which reaches 0.9 times the width of the leaf blade, glabrous above or with sparse hairs below , especially on strongly prominent veins, with short, more densely arranged bent hairs. The basal leaves are long-petioled, the stem leaves are short-petioled, the upper leaves are almost sessile. The stem and leaves never have long, straight bristles. The inflorescence is racemose, sometimes branched at the base, multi-flowered (up to 40 flowers). The pedicels are short, 4 - 23 mm long, pressed to the stem, densely pubescent. The bracts are usually longer, less often slightly shorter than the pedicels, almost thread-like, located at the base, in the middle part or below the middle of the pedicel. The flowers are monosymmetrical with a simple five-membered perianth, of various colors, most often dirty purple, less often grayish-yellow, almost white in the pharynx and inside. The helmet is straight, narrow, with a strongly elongated nose. The nectaries are large. The fruits are three-leafed, often glandular. The seeds are triangular, transversely wrinkled.

What one of the most famous varieties of aconite grass is, whitemouth, is shown in the photo above.

Baikal aconite - A. czekanovkyi Steinb.- perennial herbaceous plant, up to 80-120 cm high.

Its roots are in the form of two tubers; stem straight, simple or branched in inflorescence, round, bare below, internodes long; leaves are green, glabrous, lower ones on long, 4-7 cm petioles, upper ones on short or almost sessile; The leaf blade is pentagonal in general outline, 10-12 cm wide, 8-9 cm long, palmately dissected. The inflorescence is a terminal loose raceme, 15-40 cm long, of dark purple flowers; helmet about 1.5 cm long, hemispherical; leaflets 3 naked.

Blooms in July-October.

Wolfsbane climbing – A. volubile.- a herbaceous poisonous plant 45-115 cm high, the stems of which are climbing, the root tubers are small, about 5 mm thick; leaves are thin, pentagonal in outline, with lanceolate or broadly lanceolate, pointed lobes and teeth; peduncle with short, appressed, rarely erect straight hairs.

Aconite arcuate - A. arcuatum Maxim. - perennial herbaceous plant. The plant is close to A. Fischer, but differs from it in the following characteristics: its stem is erect, sinuous, sometimes slightly curly in the inflorescence, less often straight, the leaves are thin; the inflorescence is a very loose panicle, from arched peduncles and a peduncle that seems to be irregularly branched, the flowers are often bent back; spur up to 3.5 mm long.

Korean aconite -Acomtum coreanum- perennial herbaceous plant, up to 1.5 m high. Rhizome in the form of spindle-shaped thickened tubers: the stem is straight, slightly sinuous in the upper part of the inflorescence, evenly leafy from the middle, branched only in inflorescences, leaves up to 10 centimeters wide and long, palmately-five-dissected ; lower leaves on long (up to 10 cm long) petioles, upper leaves on short petioles, pressed to the stem; inflorescence - simple or branched raceme; flowers are 2-3 centimeters long and 1-2 cm wide, yellow with protruding darker veins, on pedicels 0.5-4 cm long, the perianth on the outside is densely pubescent with small yellowish curly hairs. Blooms in August-October.

Large aconite - Aconitum maximum- perennial herbaceous plant 100-200 cm high. The rhizome is short, knobby; the stem is tall, straight, strong. The inflorescence is few-flowered, straight, often a short and dense raceme; flowers are densely hairy, dirty purple, up to 3 cm long and up to 1.5 cm wide, hairy on the outside, the helmet is wide, without a spout or with a small spout up to 2 cm long. The nectaries are straight, with a curved spur and a bilobed lip. Blooms in August.

Akonite Kuznetsova – Aconitum Kuznezoffi- a perennial herbaceous plant, 70-150 cm high. The stems are smooth, tall, the terminal raceme is multi-flowered, very dense; the pedicels are thin, short, no longer than the flowers, the inflorescences are appressed, the flowers are dirty purple, the helmet is cone-shaped, 7-10 mm tall, with a long spout directed forward, the seeds-leaflets are parallel.

Aconite open-flowered - Aconitum chasmanthum Stapf.- perennial herbaceous plant up to 50 cm high.

Aconite antidote - Aconitum anthoroideum DC.- a perennial herbaceous plant, 20-100 cm high. The leaves are ovate in outline, palmately multipartite with linear or linear-lanceolate acute lobes; basal on long petioles, upper ones almost sessile. The flowers are large, yellow, collected in dense racemes with a simple fluffy, less often bare perianth. The upper unpaired leaflet is raised above the others, forming a helmet. Leaf fruit. Decorative plant. Known in floriculture garden forms of this type. It takes root well when transplanting adult plants.

Shadow aconite -Aconitum umbrosum Kom. - a perennial herbaceous plant, 80-120 cm high. The stem is somewhat erect, the basal leaves are long-petiolate (up to 40 cm) with 1-2 in number, with a plate up to 10 cm long and 20 cm wide, 2-3 stem leaves; The inflorescence is a loose, few-flowered raceme with a weakly branching raceme at the base. The flowers are dirty yellow, the bracts are small, filamentous, the helmet is broadly cylindrical, slightly compressed in the middle, widened at the end with a downward facing spout, 15-17 mm long, 7-10 mm wide, nectaries with a spur curved spirally backwards and downwards and a short, straight, notched lip. Blooms in June-August.

Akonit Turchaninova- Aconitum turczaninowii- a perennial herbaceous plant, 40-100 cm high, growing in cleared places, along forest edges, upland forests and steppes in Eastern Siberia (Angaro-Sayan region (Kansk forest-steppe), Daursky region).

The rhizome is in the form of two oblong tubers, the stem is strong, straight, branched, the leaves are gray-green up to 10 cm long and up to 12 cm wide, dissected to the base into 5 broadly lanceolate segments. The inflorescence is a terminal long raceme of large blue flowers, the length of the flowers is up to 3.0 cm, the width is about 1.3 cm with an arched beak; the helmet is shifted from the lateral tepals, its length is about 2 cm, its width is about 1.5 cm, its height is up to 1 cm. It blooms in July-August.

Fisher's aconite (Fischer's wrestler) -Aconitum fischeri Reichenb.- perennial herbaceous plant, 100-160 cm high.

Tubers are almost conical; by autumn additional tubers develop; the stem is round, strong, straight, bare; leaves are deeply palmately incised into 5-7 lobes, dense, sometimes leathery; inflorescence - a sparse raceme, often dense, the flowers are bright blue, rarely white; the helmet is dome-shaped and pin-shaped, with a moderately elongated spout, 2-2.4 cm long and 1.5-2 cm wide, up to 1.5-1.8 cm high, the spur is short (1-1.5 mm), capitate. Blooms in July-October.

Akonite Shchukina - Aconitum sczukini Turcz- perennial herbaceous plant. Tubers are ovoid to spindle-shaped, 1.5-2.0 cm long and 0.5-1.3 cm thick, the stem is climbing or twisting only in the upper part, 45-115 cm tall, in climbing specimens up to 4 m; leaves 3-9.5 cm long and 5-15 cm wide, 3-5 lobed to the base, almost compound; blue flowers (2-3 cm long), collected in a raceme or loose panicle 15-20 cm long; the helmet is rounded-conical, its height is 15-18 mm; leaflets glabrous or pubescent; The seeds are compressed and triangular. Blooms in July-August.

Wolfsbane bearded a herbaceous poisonous plant with a long root, consisting of fused lobes, with a high fluffy stem 50 - 120 cm in height. The leaves are alternate, large (3–6 cm in diameter), five- or nine-parted, pubescent below. The flowers are gray-yellow, slightly pubescent, collected in racemes 8–25 cm long. Bearded aconite blooms in July-August. The fruit is a fluffy leaflet. The seeds are triangular, with a membranous wing. Distributed in the steppe and forest-steppe zones of Siberia and in the mountainous areas of the forest zone.

perennial Wilson's aconite It is classified as decorative; in addition, plants of this species are the tallest of the aconites, they grow up to 1.5 m.

The variety Barker's Variety, which blooms until October, is common in gardening. And although the plant is cultivated in the garden, it remains very poisonous. Under no circumstances should it be used independently for the preparation of medicines or used without the advice of a doctor. Children should definitely be warned about this. Poisoning can occur even if you carry the tuber in a wet hand for a long time or replant the plant without using gloves or mittens.

The perennial flower aconite dzungarian is most often used for medicinal purposes, collecting and drying raw materials.

It is a fairly tall (from 70 cm to 2 m) perennial with large, strongly dissected leaves (up to 10–12 cm). The rhizome is horizontal, multi-headed, consisting of fused large root tubers: a young one and one or several old ones, connected in the form of a chain. The flowers are large (2–4 cm), zygomorphic, collected in apical decorative racemes. The perianth is blue-violet. The corolla is modified into blue nectaries with a spur, the calyx is irregular, the upper leaf has the shape of a helmet with a spout. The fruit is a three-leaflet (often an underdeveloped one-leaflet) with a large number black seeds. It blooms in June–August, and the seeds ripen in September.

Karakol aconite close to Dzungarian. Also, this aconite flower is poisonous, and at the same time, the rhizome of the plant is used for treatment.

In recent years, new varieties have been developed:

"Bressingham Spire" - purple

"Bicolor" - blue and white

"Newry Blue" - dark blue

"Spark,s Variety" - tall (1.4 m)

"Aconitum napellus f. roseum" - pink-flowered form.

Purple (blue) aconite is a perennial.

It is widespread in Russia and can be found even in the northern regions. It has been in cultivation since 1951. This species has long, erect stems, reaching 120 cm in height. The leaves are long-petiolate, palmately dissected. Flowers can be yellow, blue, purple, and very rarely white. The root system consists of spindle-shaped powerful roots. Blooms in June – August.

Woolly aconite grows in forests, meadows, and rocky slopes. The plant has erect stems.

From the description of this aconite flower it follows that its leaves are dark green, their arrangement on the stem is alternate, the upper side of the leaf blade is covered with short dense hairs. The roots are thickened, usually tuberous. Flowers are located at the tops of the stems, collected in brushes. Before flowering begins, an inflorescence-spike, consisting of irregularly shaped flowers, appears in the upper part of the stem. They can be blue-white, white-yellow, purple and blue. Some of them have a clearly visible pointed spur. They bloom at different times in July – September. The fruit is a leaflet. There are other, less studied species of aconites. Physicians are showing great interest in aconite, from which the antiarrhythmic drug allapelin is obtained.

Growing and propagating aconite

When growing aconite perennial flower in the garden, you should work with it very carefully, preferably wearing rubber gloves.

Aconites are excellent ornamental plants, undemanding to soil, but grow better on loose, fertile substrates with good drainage. Aconite is light-loving and tolerates partial shade well. All types of aconite are frost-resistant.

Care is very simple: one or two fertilizing with complete mineral fertilizer; regular loosening of the soil, watering.

Aconite is very easily propagated by dividing the bush - in April-May. Plant 2-3 tubers per hole at a distance of 25-30 cm to a depth of 7-10 cm. It is better to divide climbing aconite in the fall, in the first half of September. Can be propagated by stem cuttings. To do this, use young grassy shoots that appear early spring from overwintered tubers. Later shoots that have developed into leafy stems do not take root.

It is possible to grow aconite using seeds, but the seed embryo may be underdeveloped, so they need to be stratified. The stratification period depends on the species and should be indicated on the seed bag. Optimal timing sowing for seedlings - in March, when it becomes light. The seeds are small and there is no need to cover them with soil. At the stage of one or two leaves, the seedlings dive. At the beginning of September they can be planted in place.

You can sow before winter. Shoots may appear after two winters. Varietal characteristics are not preserved during seed propagation. Seedlings usually bloom in the second or third year. Seeds remain viable for one to two years.

How is grapple or aconite used?

Now this flower, after many years of oblivion, is coming back into fashion. A discreet fighter or aconite plant with a sense of self-esteem will find a place in the flower garden. It can be used both to create cool groups, such as with white phlox, or as a balancing backdrop for a more bright colors or just in a mixborder.

Aconite looks great next to irises, aquilegias, and rudbeckias. Tall varieties and species are excellent tapeworms. If planted in the garden different types, then you can observe flowering all summer until frost. Aconites are elegant even without flowers. Not only their flowers are decorative, but also their leaves: strongly dissected, like all buttercups, shiny, dark green on top and slightly bluish below, sometimes slightly pubescent.

Knowing what aconite looks like, you can skillfully apply it in the design of ridges, flower beds, lawns, as well as in group and single landings. Climbing species are used to decorate gazebos and pergolas. Suitable for cutting.

Like all poisons, aconite is used in small doses in medicinal purposes, but rarely and very carefully. In Tibet, aconite is still used to treat many, including very serious, diseases.

Dried tubers of wild plants and their leaves are used as medicinal raw materials. Tuberous roots are harvested in the fall from August 15 to October 1. Dig it out with a shovel, clear it of soil and damaged parts, wash it in cold water and quickly dry it at a temperature of 50–70 °C with good ventilation. From 4 kg of fresh tubers, 1 kg of dry tubers is obtained. The leaves are collected before the plants bloom or during their flowering, withered in the sun and dried under a canopy. The raw materials should remain dark green after drying. Raw aconite must be stored separately from non-poisonous herbs, with the obligatory “Poison!” label, out of the reach of children. Shelf life in bags or closed containers is 2 years.

Since wild and ornamental species of aconite contain poisonous compounds in their stems and tubers, they must be collected after wearing gloves or mittens. While working with aconite, do not touch your eyes, and upon completion of work, wash your hands thoroughly with soap.

The poison of aconite is so strong that even bee honey collected from aconite is poisonous. The further south the plant grows, the stronger its poison. There is an opinion that our northern varieties of aconite are not so poisonous, and if they were grown on fertile soil, then after a few generations they lose toxicity. The name of the plant "monkshood" probably comes from the name of the city of Akon in Greece, where this plant was first collected to obtain a poison from which medicine was prepared.

In the photo below, the aconite plant looks modest, but has its own special charm and attractiveness, and of course, can decorate personal plot with a competent gardener approach: