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Aconitum infectum

(Arizona Monkshood)

Overview

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Critically Endangered

Threat status

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Arizona Monkshood

Description

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Family Ranunculaceae

Herbs perennial or annual , sometimes subshrubs or herbaceous or woody vines . Leaves basal and cauline, alternate, rarely opposite or whorled , simple or variously compound , palmately nerved, rarely penninerved , with or without stipules. Inflorescence a simple or compound monochasium, dichasium, simple or compound raceme, or flowers solitary. Flowers bisexual , sometimes unisexual , actinomorphic , rarely zygomorphic, hypogynous. Sepals 3--6 or more, free , petaloid or sepaloid , imbricate or sometimes valvate in bud. Petals present or absent, 2--8 or more, free, usually with nectaries. Stamens numerous , rarely few, free; filaments linear or filiform ; anthers latrorse , introrse , or extrorse ; sometimes some sterile stamens becoming staminodes. Carpels numerous or few, rarely 1, free, rarely connate to various degrees ; ovary with 1 to many ovules. Fruit follicles or achenes, rarely capsules or berries . Seeds small, with abundant endosperm and minute embryo.

About 60 genera and 2500 species: worldwide, but richly represented in N temperate regions , particularly in E Asia; 38 genera (four endemic) and 921 species (604 endemic) in China.[1]

Genus Aconitum

Herbs, perennial , from tubers or elongate , fascicled roots . Leaves basal and cauline, proximal leaves petiolate , distal leaves sessile or nearly so; cauline leaves alternate. Leaf blade palmately divided into 3-7 segments, ultimate segments narrowly elliptic or lanceolate to linear , margins incised and toothed . Inflorescences terminal , sometimes also axillary , 1-32(-more) racemes or panicles, to 28 cm; bracts leaflike, not forming involucre. Flowers bisexual , bilaterally symmetric ; sepals not persistent in fruit; lower sepals (pendents) 2, plane , 6-20 mm; lateral sepals 2, round-reniform; upper sepal (hood ) 1, saccate , arched, crescent-shaped or hemispheric to rounded-conic or tall and cylindric , usually beaked , 10-50 mm; petals 2, distinct , bearing near apex a capitate to coiled spur, concealed in hood, long-clawed; nectary present, on spur; stamens 25-50; filaments with base expanded; staminodes absent between stamens and pistils; pistils 3(-5), simple ; ovules 10-20 per pistil; style present. Fruits follicles, aggregate, sessile, oblong , sides prominently transversely veined; beak terminal, straight, 2-3 mm. Seeds deltoid, usually with small, transverse , membranous lamellae. x =8.

Species ca. 100: circumboreal , southward into n Mexico and n Africa.

The greatest concentration of species of Aconitum is in Asia, with a smaller group in Europe.

Aconitum is phylogenetically most closely related to Delphinium Linnaeus as evidenced by similarities in karyotype , production of diterpene alkaloids, and similarities in floral morphology. Distinctive and unique floral morphology clearly distinguishes Aconitum from all other genera.

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 (D. E. Brink 1982). Use of Aconitum alkaloids in modern medicine was largely discontinued by the late 1930s and early 1940s (E. E. Swanson et al. 1938; H. C. Wood and A. Osol 1943; A. Osol et al. 1960).

Aconitum is a circumboreal arctic and alpine genus that extends into lower latitudes where there is suitable mesic habitat at high elevations along the north-south chains of mountains in eastern and western North America, and also in outlying, scattered , mesic, interglacial refugia , occasionally at low elevations.

The genus Aconitum worldwide is notorious for complex patterns of morphologic intergradation that blur the lines between taxa. Aconites from different regions may be morphologically distinct but connected by a series of intermediate races. Aconitum columbianum exemplifies this in North America, and A. delphiniifolium may extend this complex of variation into Asia. Intergradation between A. columbianum and A. delphiniifolium should be more fully investigated.

Cultivated aconites with origins outside North America sometimes persist in old gardens or are encountered as garden escapes , especially in eastern Canada (New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec). These may include Aconitum lycoctonum Linnaeus, A. napellus Linnaeus, A. variegatum Linnaeus, and A. bicolor Schultes. Aconitum lycoctonum is similar to A. reclinatum of the southeastern United States in having the tall, conic-cylindric hood that is characterisitc of species in Aconitum sect. Lycoctonum de Candolle. Aconitum reclinatum has white flowers whereas A. lycoctonum has lilac-purple flowers.

A more complete treatment of the cultivated aconites likely to be encountered in North America can be found in H. J. Scoggan (1978-1979, part 3, pp. 718-720) and P. A. Munz (1945).[2]

Physical Description

Habit: Forb/herb

Flowers: Bloom Period: June. • Flower Color: blue-violet, dark blue

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 36-48" tall.

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 15-18" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 5.6 • Maximum pH: 7.8

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b. (map)

Taxonomy

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Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Aconitum

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 71 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

A. alboviolaceum (White Monks Hood) · A. anthora (Yellow Monkshood) · A. austroyunnanense (Monkshood) · A. bicolor (Twocolor Monkshood) · A. cammarum (Blue Lagoon Monkshood) · A. carmichaelii (Carmichael's Monkshood) · A. carmichaelii 'Arendsii' (Monkshood) · A. carmichaelii 'Barker's Variety' (Azure Monkshood) · A. carmichaelii 'Blue Bishop' (Monkshood) · A. carmichaelii 'Kelmscott' (Monkshood) · A. carmichaelii 'Pink Sensation' (Monkshood) · A. carmichaelii 'River Dee' (Monk's Hood 'river Dee') · A. carmichaelii 'River Devon' (Monk's Hood 'river Devon') · A. carmichaelii 'River Finn' (Monk's Hood 'river Finn') · A. carmichaelii 'River Medway' (Monk's Hood 'river Medway') · A. carmichaelii 'River Severn' (Monk's Hood 'river Severn') · A. carmichaelii 'River Spey' (Monk's Hood 'river Spey') · A. carmichaelii 'Spatlese' (Monkshood) · A. columbianum columbianum (Aconite) · A. columbianum columbianum var. columbianum (Northern Monkshood) · A. columbianum viviparum (Columbian Monkshood) · A. columbianum subsp. viviparum (Columbian Monkshood) · A. delphinifolium (Larkspur-Leaf Monkshood) · A. delphiniifolium (Larkspur-Leaf Monkshood) · A. delphiniifolium chamissonianum (Larkspurleaf Monkshood) · A. delphiniifolium delphiniifolium (Larkspurleaf Monkshood) · A. delphiniifolium paradoxum (Larkspurleaf Monkshood) · A. episcopale (Climbing Monkshood) · A. ferox (Indian Aconite) · A. fischeri (Azure Monkshood) · A. grossedentatum (Monkshood) · A. hemsleyanum (Climbing Monkshood) · A. hemsleyanum 'Red Wine' (Monk's Hood 'red Wine') · A. heterophyllum (Aconitum) · A. infectum (Arizona Monkshood) · A. japonicum (Japanese Monkshood) · A. longecassidatum (Monkshood) · A. lycoctonum (Yellow Wolfsbane) · A. lycoctonum spetaianum (Badgersbane) · A. maximum (Kamchatka Aconite) · A. napellus (Garden Monkshood) · A. napellus formosum (Venus' Chariot) · A. napellus napellus (True Monkshood) · A. napellus neomontanum (Venus' Chariot) · A. napellus 'Album' (Monkshood) · A. napellus 'Anglicum Group' (Aconite) · A. napellus 'Rubellum' (Aconite) · A. noveboracense (Northern Blue Monkshood) · A. orientale (Downy Wolfsbane) · A. paniculatum 'Roseum' (Monks Cap) · A. pseudo-laeve var. erectum (Monkshood) · A. reclinatum (Trailing White Monkshood) · A. scaposum (Monkshood) · A. septentrionale (Wolfsbane) · A. septentrionale 'Ivorine' (Helmet Flower) · A. uncinatum (Blue Monkshood) · A. uncinatum muticum (Southern Blue Monkshood) · A. uncinatum uncinatum (Blue Monkshood) · A. uncinatum subsp. muticum (Southern Blue Monkshood) · A. variegatum (Manchurian Monkshood) · A. vulparia (Actaea) · A. vulparia neapolitanum (Wolfsbane) · A. x arendsii (Monks Hood) · A. variegatum (Twocolor Monkshood) · A. x cammarum 'Bicolor' (Bicolor Wolfbane) · A. x cammarum'Bressingham Spire' (Monkshood) · A. x cammarum 'Eleonora' (Monkshood) · A. x cammarum 'Stainless Steel' (Monkshood) · A. variegatum (Freemans Maple) · A. 'Blue Lagoon' (Monk's Hood 'blue Lagoon') · A. 'Spark's Variety' (Spark's Variety Monkshood)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 19, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Wencai Wang, Dezhi Fu, Liang-Qian Li, Bruce Bartholomew, Anthony R. Brach, Bryan E. Dutton, Michael G. Gilbert, Yuichi Kadota, Orbélia R. Robinson, Michio Tamura, Michael J. Warnock, Guanghua Zhu & Svetlana N. Ziman "Ranunculaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 6 Page 133. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. D.E. Brink & J.A. Woods "Aconitum". in Flora of North America Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012