''Aconitum lycoctonum'' (wolf's-bane or northern wolf's-bane)Pharmacographica indica Vol 1
/ref> is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of flowering plant in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

'' Aconitum'', of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Ranunculaceae,

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to much of Europe and northern Asia.Flora Europaea
''Aconitum lycoctonum''
/ref> It is found in lowlands to the subalpine zone, mainly in forests and shaded habitats. Along with ''A. napellus, A. lycoctonum'' is of the most common European species of the ''Aconitum'' genus. They are also grown ornamentally in gardens, thriving well in ordinary garden soil. As such, ''A. lycoctonum'' can be found in North America, especially in eastern Canada, often in old gardens or as garden escapees. ''Lycoctonum'' is a rendering in modern Latin of the traditional name "wolf's-bane". ''Aconitum lycoctonum'''s name was given by Carl Linnaeus, who found ''A. lycotonum'' growing in Lapland, Finland in 1727. High morphological variability has been described across specimens of ''A. lycoctonum'', however molecular studies showed small genetic distances between populations, and thus ''A. lycoctonum'' describes a species complex containing multiple taxa of uncertain taxonomic rank. It is an herbaceous

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

growing to 1 m tall. The leaves are palmately lobed with four to six deeply cut lobes. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are 18–25 mm long, dark violet, rarely pale yellow.Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). ''Flora of Britain and Northern Europe''. ''Aconitum'' flowers are five-petaled, zygomorphic, and protandrous. The posterior petal resembles a helmet, hiding two nectaries. In ''A. lycoctonum'', the nectary tips are long and highly curled, conducive to specialized pollination. There are multiple stamens. The ovary is made up of usually three, but up to five free carpels. The fruit are follicles. The herb's inflorescence is a raceme, with maturation occurring from bottom to top. Specimens found in high elevations tend to have more flowers-per-inflorescence and more inflorescences-per-plant than those found in low elevations. ''Aconitum'' is bumblebee-pollinated (genus ''Bombus''). ''A. lycoctonum'' is mainly pollinated by ''Bombus hortorum'' in the lowlands and ''Bombus gerstaeckeri'' in the highlands, both species being long-tongued bumblebees which are able to reach the nectar at the end of the nectaries. The flower's nectar also attract other insects, including flies, and short-tongued bumblebees such as ''B. wurflenii'', which act as nectar robbers but may also occasionally pollinate. Like all species in the genus, it is poisonous. All parts of the plant contain a multitude of alkaloids. These alkaloids act primarily on the muscular endplates. Alkaloids gigactonine, demethylenedelcorine, 14-O-methyldelphinifoline, and pseudokobusine, lycoctonine, lycaconitine, and myoctonine have been isolated from roots and seeds of ''A. lycoctonum.'' Gigactonine was found to be the main alkaloid in the flowers, along with 6-Oacetyldemethylenedelcorine (1) and 6-O-acetyl-14-O-methyldelphinifoline, 14- O-methyldelphinifoline, and lycoctonine. The toxicity of alkaloids in ''A. lycoctonum'' are much lower than that of ''A. napellus.'' Indeed, ''A. lycoctonum'' also does not possess the main alkaloid of ''A. napellus,'' aconitine, and while ''A. napellus'' was used for its antipyretic and analgesic properties until recent times, the medical use of ''A. lycoctonum'' seems to have become obsolete far earlier, it mention limited to ancient texts.

References

lycoctonum Flora of Europe Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Ranunculales-stub