Herb latin name: Aconitum violaceum


Family: Ranunculaceae (Buttercup Family)



Medicinal use of Aconitum violaceum:

The entire plant is used in Tibetan medicine, it is said to have a bitter taste and a cooling potency. Antidote, anti-inflammatory and febrifuge, it is used in the treatment of snake and scorpion bites, contagious infections and inflammation of the intestines.

Description of the plant:



Plant:
Perennial


Flowering:
August to
October

Habitat of the herb:

Shrubberies and open slopes, 3600 - 4800 metres from Pakistan to C. Nepal.

Edible parts of Aconitum violaceum:

Root - cooked. It is eaten as a pleasant tonic. These reports should be treated with great distrust due to the poisonous nature of the genus.

Propagation of the herb:

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. The seed can be stratified and sown in spring but will then be slow to germinate. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter. Plant them out in late spring or early summer. Division - best done in spring but it can also be done in autumn. Another report says that division is best carried out in the autumn or late winter because the plants come into growth very early in the year.

Cultivation of Aconitum violaceum:

Shrubberies and open slopes, 3600 - 4800 metres from Pakistan to C. Nepal.

Known hazards of Aconitum violaceum:

The whole plant is highly toxic - simple skin contact has caused numbness in some people. Another report suggests that the root of this species might not be toxic.

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.