Ranunculaceae FAMILY

Aconitum columbianum

Edibility

0/5

Medicinal

1/5

Safety & Hazards

The whole plant is highly toxic - simple skin contact has caused numbness in some people. The roots and seeds are the most toxic and also the leaves just before the plant flowers[ 212 Title A Field Guide to Rocky Mountain Wildflowers Publication Author Craighead. J., Craighead. F. and Davis. R. Publisher The Riverside Press Year 1963 ISBN 63-7093 Description Excellent little pocket guide to the area, covering 590 species and often giving details of their uses. ]. Available information suggests that Aconitum columbianum is probably not one of the extremely toxic aconites[ 270 Title Flora of N. America Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses. ]. The aconites have been of interest since ancient times because they contain diterpene alkaloids that range from relatively nontoxic to deadly poisonous. In various parts of the world they have been used medicinally and as a source of poisons throughout history. The use of Aconitum alkaloids in modern Western medicine was largely discontinued by the late 1930's and early 1940's, though the roots are still widely used in traditional medicine, especially in Asia[ 270 Title Flora of N. America Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses. , K Title Plants for a Future Author Ken Fern Description Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips. ].

Botanical Description

Aconitum columbianum is a herbaceous perennial plant with an erect to scandent stem 20 - 300cm long. The stem grows from a biennial tuberous root that produces a new tuber each year, the old tuber dying after the plant flowers[ 270 Title Flora of N. America Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses. ]. One form of this plant (subspecies viviparum (Greene) Brink) produces bulbils in the leaf axils and sometimes in place of flowers in the inflorescence[ 270 Title Flora of N. America Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses. ]. Although poisonous, the plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental.

Habitat & Origin

Origintemperate

Native RangeNorth-western N. America - Alaska to California.

HabitatMoist woods to sub-alpine meadows, mostly along streams[ 60 Title Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. Publication Author Hitchcock. C. L. Publisher University of Washington Press Year 1955 ISBN - Description A standard flora for Western N. America with lots of information on habitat etc. Five large volumes, it is not for the casual reader. ]. Spring-fed bogs, seep areas, meadows, along streams, and in other wet areas at elevations of 300 - 3,500 metres[ 270 Title Flora of N. America Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses. ].