Question

The drug plant Aconitum napellus belongs to the family of which plant?

Answer 1

As it has elegant spike-like inflorescences and showy blue flowers, Aconitum napellus is cultivated in gardens. It is a cut flower crop used as a fresh cutting material and often used as a dried material. Under cultivation, the species has a low natural propagation rate and is propagated by seed or by extracting offsets that are produced from the rootstocks each year.

Complete answer:
Aconitum napellus is a flowering plant species belonging to the genus Aconitum of the Ranunculaceae family, native to and endemic to western and central Europe. From Aconitum napellus, Aconite is obtained. Aconitum napellus is mostly used in use today for acute medical presentations, including sudden high fever with chills, fever associated with sewing discomfort, fever or chill associated with restlessness and anxiety, and particularly fevers that begin about midnight.

Related to other animals in the genus, A. Napellus contains a variety of poisonous compounds, including sufficient cardiac poison that in ancient times was used on spears and arrows for hunting and war. The Persian physician Avicenna (980-1037) wrote that arrows dipped in the sap were used to kill, and Dr Antonio Guaineri wrote in one of the first medical dictionaries, 'Practica,' that arrows used to kill wild goats in Italy had the poison from the plant's roots.

Note: Thanks to its spicy inflorescences that are showy in early-mid season, and its appealing foliage, Aconitum napellus is cultivated in gardens in temperate areas. In agriculture, too there are white and rose coloured types. The cultivar 'Spark's Range' has received the Garden Merit Award from the Royal Horticultural Society.