Aconitum napellus
| Aconitum napellus | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| Order: | Ranunculales |
| Family: | Ranunculaceae |
| Genus: | Aconitum |
| Species: | A. napellus |
| Binomial name | |
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Aconitum napellus L. |
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Aconitum napellus (monk's-hood, aconite, wolfsbane) is a species of flowering plant in the genus Aconitum of the family Ranunculaceae, native and endemic to western and central Europe.
It is an herbaceous perennial plant growing to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) tall, with hairless stems and leaves. The leaves are rounded, 5–10 cm (2.0–3.9 in) diameter, palmately divided into five to seven deeply lobed segments. The flowers are dark purple to bluish-purple, narrow oblong helmet-shaped, 1–2 cm (0.39–0.79 in) tall.
Plants native to Asia and North America formerly listed as A. napellus are now regarded as separate species.
A. napellus is grown in gardens in temperate zones for their spiky inflorescences that are showy in early-mid summer, and their attractive foliage. There are white and rose colored forms in cultivation too. The cultivar 'Spark's Variety' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Nine subspecies are accepted by the Flora Europaea:
Aconitum napellus is grown in gardens for its attractive spike-like inflorescences and showy blue flowers. It is a cut flower crop used for fresh cutting material and sometimes used as dried material. The species has a low natural propagation rate under cultivation and is propagated by seed or by removing offsets that are generated each year from the rootstocks. The use of micropropagation protocols has been studied. This species has been crossed with other Aconitums to produce attractive hybrids for garden use, including Aconitum × cammarum.
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