DESCRIPTION : There are several varieties of this plant. The 2 varieties that are most popular for the garden are aconitum carmichaelii and a. napellus. A. carmichaelii is a little over 3 feet tall and is sometimes sold as a. fischeri. A. napellus is about 4 feet with more finely divided leaves. It flowers earlier than carmichaelii (July-August).

CULTIVATION : Aconite does best in part shade, with deep, moist , well dug, composted soil. It will grow in full sun if mulched well. It does not like to be transplanted, so find a spot for it and let it be. Propagation is most successful by root division in autumn, every 3-4 years. It is a hardy perennial, growing in Zones 2-7 in the U.S. Soil pH 5-6 is best for this plant.

PART OF THE PLANT USED : The whole plant is used.

COLLECTION : The leaves, stems, flowering tops and roots are dried. The leaves and flowering tops are used for the extract of aconite. Cut when the flowers are just breaking into blossom. The leaves are in the best condition in June. The roots are collected in autumn after the stem dies back but before the bud that is to produce next years stem has begun to develop.

PLANT ANALYSIS : This plant contains aconitine, picratontine, aconine, benzoyoamine, and neopelline. POISONS. These first stimulate then depress the central and peripheral nerves. A dose as little as 5 milliliters of a tincture may cause death. Cases of poisoning happen because the leaves of aconitum may be mistaken for wild parsley or the roots for horseradish.

MEDICINAL USE : Aconite slows the heart, decreases blood pressure, induces sweating, and reduces inflammation. Applied locally, it is absorbed into the skin. It produces a warm, tingling sensation followed by numbness. Liniments containing aconite were used to relieve rheumatic and neuralgic pains.

It was introduced as a medicinal herb in 1763 in Vienna. In 1788 it was added to the London Pharmacopoeia and in the first U.S. Pharmacopoeia.

Because the therapeutic dose is so close to the toxic dose, it was deleted from the United States and British Pharmacopoeia.

MEDICINAL ACTION : Aconite is a diuretic and diaphoretic.

DOSAGE : Never Attempt to use Aconitum. The Information on This Plant is for Educational Purposes Only! This Plant will Kill.

MAGICKAL USE: Add to protection sachets, it is a protector.

HISTORY : The name wolfsbane comes from the fact that is was used as a poison to eradicate the wolf from the European continent. It was added to meat that was used as bait.

In imperial Rome, it was used as a human poison. Its use was so prevalent the Emperor Trajon forbade the growing of it. If you were found growing it the punishment was death.

In ancient times on the island of Ceos, in the Aegean Sea, it was given to old men when they became ill and were no longer useful to the state.

In Europe and Asia, soldiers dropped aconite into water supplies of enemies.

In the Middle Ages aconite was mixed with belladonna in ointments called "flying ointment." This ointment was rubbed on their bodies. Irregular heartbeat action was produced by aconite and delirium was caused by the belladonna. This combination of actions may have produced the sensation of "flying".

LORE : Aconite is used by werewolves to cure themselves of their "affliction." If you wrap a seed in lizard skin, it will allow you to become invisible at will.

Women who were fed it daily from infancy could poison others with sexual contact.

Pliny, the Roman historian, says" Aconite sprang out of the dog Cerberus when Hercules dragged him from the underworld." Aconite grows on hills of Aconitus where the fight took place. The dog guarded the entrance of Hades. The deadly poison of the aconite plant is from the saliva of Cerberus dripping on the plant as the fight progressed. Pliny believed wolfsbane would neutralize poison of scorpions and "even at a long distance" aconite's smell would kill rats and mice.

Hecate, the Greek goddess of magic arts and spells, poisoned her father with aconite. Meda is said to have killed Thesus with it.

SYMPTOMS OF POISONING : Tingling and numbness of the tongue and mouth, sensation of ants crawling over the body, nausea, vomiting with epigastric pain, labored breathing, irregular and weak pulse, cold and clammy skin, paleness, giddiness, staggering.

1/50 of a grain of Aconitine will kill a small bird in a few seconds, 1/10 of a grain will kill a rabbit in 5 minutes. 1/100 of a grain will act locally to produce well-marked sensation in any part of the body of a human for a whole day. The juice applied to a wounded finger affects the whole system, causing pain in the limbs, a sense of suffocation and syncope, slow heart rate intense thirst, headache, coldness, paralysis, convulsions and coma.