Aconitum napellus (Monkshood); sedative

Aconitum carmichaelii (Azure Monkshood)

Monkshood (Aconitum napellus. Family: Ranunculaceae) : Dindevan.

Monkshood (Aconitum napellus): flowering stem and floral segments. Coloured etching.

Monkshood (Aconitum napellus): flowering plant. Colour process print, c. 1924.

Monkshood (Aconitum napellus): entire flowering plant. Coloured etching by C. Pierre, c. 1865, after P. Naudin.

Aconite or monkshood (Aconitum napellus L.): flowering stem with separate labelled floral segments. Engraving by J.Caldwall, c.1804, after P. Henderson.

Four poisonous plants: monk's hood (Aconitum napellus), deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), woody nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) and thorn-apple (Datura stramonium) Coloured engraving by J. Johnstone, 1855.

Helmet flower (Aconitum anthora L.): flowering stem with separate floral segments and a description of the plant and its uses. Coloured line engraving by C.H.Hemerich, c.1759, after T.Sheldrake.

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Aconitum carmichaelii Debeaux. Ranunculaceae. Chinese aconite, Chinese wolfsbane, Carmichael's monkshood. Herbaceous perennial. Distribution C. to W. China to N. America. Named for Dr J.R. Carmichael (d. 1877), English physician, plant collector and Protestant missionary from 1862-1877 in Guangdong and Shandong, China initially in Canton. He aided Francis Forbes to collect plants for Kew. Aconitum plants are so poisonous that Theophrastus states that death was the punishment for possessing them. Aconitine is the poison and was used - from Aconitum ferox - in the 'curry murder' in London in 2009. It causes respiratory paralysis, bradycardia (slowing of the pulse), cardiac arrhythmias, tingling, sweating, gastric cramps, diarrhoea and death, both by ingestion and by absorption through the mucous membranes and the skin. Despite this it is widely used in Chinese herbal medicine. It is a restricted herbal medicine which can only be dispensed by a herbal practitioner for external use following a one-to-one consultation, or by prescription from a registered doctor or dentist (UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.

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Aconitum napellus (Monkshood); sedative

Aconitum carmichaelii (Azure Monkshood)

Monkshood (Aconitum napellus. Family: Ranunculaceae) : Dindevan.

Monkshood (Aconitum napellus): flowering stem and floral segments. Coloured etching.

Wellcome uses cookies.

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Images

Catalogue

Aconitum napellus (Monkshood); sedative

Aconitum carmichaelii (Azure Monkshood)

Monkshood (Aconitum napellus. Family: Ranunculaceae) : Dindevan.

Monkshood (Aconitum napellus): flowering stem and floral segments. Coloured etching.