Blue monkshood

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Blue monkshood
Blue monkshood (Aconitum napellus)

Blue monkshood ( Aconitum napellus )

Systematics
Order : Buttercups (Ranunculales)
Family : Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae)
Subfamily : Ranunculoideae
Tribe : Delphinieae
Genre : Monkshood ( aconite )
Type : Blue monkshood
Scientific name
Aconitum napellus
L.

The blue monkshood ( Aconitum napellus ) is a species of the genus monkshood ( Aconitum ) in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae).

The blue monkshood is a traditional ornamental and medicinal plant . All parts of the plant are highly poisonous. Even two grams of the root are deadly. The plant is under nature protection in Germany. In Bavaria it is on the red list for early warning.

description

Habit and inflorescences
Illustration of the tuber, the inflorescence, the flower structure and the fruits

Vegetative characteristics

The blue monkshood is a deciduous perennial herbaceous plant that reaches heights of 50 to 200 centimeters. A stiff, upright, strong stem emerges from a tuber-like, thickened root .

The numerous dense, alternate arranged on the stem leaves are divided into petiole and leaf blade. The dark green, almost bare leaf blade is hand-shaped five to seven times deep. The individual leaf lobes are usually 3 to 7 millimeters wide. The upper leaves are less articulated than the lower. Overall, the shape of the leaves is very variable.

Generative characteristics

The main flowering time in Central Europe is from June to August or July to September. Numerous flowers stand densely in an almost always branched, racemose inflorescence , with the terminal main shoot being significantly larger than the side branches. The inflorescence is usually densely covered with arch hairs, never with sticky glandular hairs. The flower stalks are relatively short.

The hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic . The five bracts are usually dark blue-violet, but can vary in color from deep blue to light blue or even blue-white piebald. The upper one is conspicuously shaped like a helmet. The helmet is almost always wider than it is high, at most the same in width and height. The many fertile stamens consist of stamens widened at their base and ellipsoidal-spherical anthers. The mostly three bald carpels are free.

In collective crops there are usually three sessile follicles . Each follicle contains several seeds and ends in a beak. The seeds are pyramidal triangular and winged on the edges.

Chromosome set

The basic chromosome number is x = 8; there is tetraploidy with a chromosome number of 2n = 32.

ecology

The blue monkshood is a mesomorphic, hygromorphic hemicryptophyte . The plant forms one or two daughter tubers during the growing season, from which it sprouts again in spring. The original shoot dies.

Rust fungus Puccinia actaeae-agropyri on Aconitum napellus leaves

There is protandry . It can self-pollination take place. The blue monkshood provides nectar and pollen for hover flies , bumblebees and beetles as well as leaves for caterpillars . The zygomorphic flowers are perfectly adapted to the bumblebee. The helmet-shaped top petal encloses two nectar leaves. Long stalks with a guide channel for the bumblebees' probes lead to an outwardly bent spur, in which nectar is secreted. Two bracts on the underside of the flower offer the bumblebees a landing opportunity.

The seeds function as diaspores .

The rust fungi Puccinia aconiti-rubrae , Puccinia actaeae-agropyri (possibly also Puccinia actaeae-elymi ) and Puccinia recondita s. l. attack the blue monkshood and form spermogonia and aecia on the leaves.

Location claims and occurrences outside of the original distribution area

Habit, leaves and inflorescence in the habitat in the Tannheimer Tal

The blue monkshood thrives best on cool and moist, nutrient-rich, also calcareous loam and clay soils and in light to partially shaded locations. The wild form occurs on the banks of streams, on damp meadows and in clear places in alluvial forests. The main natural distribution area are the European mountains and the higher elevations of the low mountain ranges. Occasionally it can also be found in the lowlands and grows here in plant communities of the Stellario-Alnetum or the Alnetum incanae. At higher altitudes it thrives in plant communities of the associations Adenostylion, Rumicion alpini, Filipendulion, Alno-Ulmion or Salicion elaeagni.

In the Allgäu Alps, it rises in Vorarlberg at the summit of the Elferkopf up to an altitude of 2380 meters.

The blue monkshood has become naturalized through overgrowth from ornamental plant stocks also at sites outside of its original range.

use

Historical use

Eisenhut was a popular poison for murder and arrows. In the Middle Ages, so-called witches used this and other deadly poisonous plant species to produce a witch's ointment that expanded the senses .

Ornamental plant

The blue monkshood, especially in the subspecies . napellus is occasionally planted as an ornamental plant in parks and gardens in temperate areas and is also used as a cut flower. It is particularly suitable for planting in perennial beds . It prefers lime-rich soils in sunny to partially shaded locations. Propagation takes place by sowing and dividing the tuber-like thickened roots. As a cold germinator, the moist seeds need a cold period for successful germination. Numerous varieties have been created through breeding , which differ mainly in the color of the flowers. Examples of this are the Bavarian variety with a blue flower envelope, the Gletschereis variety with a white or pink-tinted flower envelope, or the Snow White variety , which is characterized by silvery-white flowers. In addition, some culture hybrids between the A. napellus and A. variegatum groups have been developed, such as A. x cammarum L.

Symptoms of intoxication

Structural formula of aconitine

The blue monkshood is a poisonous plant.

All parts of the plant are very poisonous. It is considered to be the most poisonous plant species in Europe. The tuber contains between 0.2 and 3% aconitine, depending on the season and size. As little as 0.2 g of these cause symptoms of poisoning, 2 g are fatal.

When the poison comes into contact with the skin for a short time, the nerve cells are excited so that a feeling of warmth, burning and tingling occurs. With prolonged exposure, the excitement turns into numbness and paralysis. The same manifests itself after oral intake - tingling and numbness to paralysis of the tongue and lips. Ingestion leads to sensitivity to cold, nausea, intestinal colic, nervous excitement, ringing in the ears, dizziness, cardiac arrhythmias and cramps (for example, cramps) and, in severe cases, paralysis. The heart rhythm accelerates and death most often occurs as a result of paralysis of the upper respiratory muscles. A blockage of the muscle end plates by the poison is responsible.

Drug

Aconitum napellus supplies medicinal substances in two forms:

  • Tubera Radix Aconiti or Aconiti tuber, also known as monkshood bulbs: The "bulbs" are dark gray-brown to black-brown, have a rough surface, are 5 to 10 centimeters long and over 2 centimeters thick. Their taste is sweet at first, then scratchy and later chokingly hot.
  • Herba aconiti or monkshood herb. The drug has a shelf life of only one year.

The main active ingredients are:

With prolonged storage, the alkaloids decompose through hydrolysis , which brings about a decrease in the effectiveness of the drug. Other ingredients are:

According to the EC Cosmetics Directive and the German Cosmetics Regulation, preparations of Aconitum napellus may not be included as an ingredient in cosmetic products .

Therapeutic use

An excerpt from the (negative) Monograph of Commission E ( phytotherapy ): Aconitum napellus risks: Because of the low therapeutic index may occur already in the therapeutic dose range intoxication. These are: paresthesia , vomiting , dizziness , muscle cramps, hypothermia , bradycardia , cardiac arrhythmias, and central respiratory paralysis. Evaluation: In view of the already existing risks of blue monkshood in the therapeutic area, its use is no longer justifiable.

In traditional Chinese medicine , preparations made from different types of monkshood, in particular from Aconitum carmichaelii , are used to treat colds, rheumatism, nerve pain, edema and dysentery .

Common names

Other common names for the blue monkshood in German-speaking countries are monk's, fisherman's and rider's hat, poison and storm hat, and Venus' chariot and carriage. In addition, there are or existed for the blue monkshood also the names Apollonienkraut ( Austria ), Apollonienwurzel ( Fusch im Pinzgau ), Bacheisenhut ( Bernese Oberland ), blue cap flowers ( Silesia ), Bloze ( Aargau ), Böanarn ( St. Gallen ), which are often only used regionally ), Bohnen (St. Gallen), Savory ( Graubünden ), Stage (Graubünden), Chile (Bernese Oberland), Duwenkutschen ( Altmark ), Duwenwagen ( Mecklenburg ), Eisenhart (Silesia), Eisenhütel (Austria, Silesia), Eisenhütlin, Blaue Elster (Pinzgau), Eyterwurz ( Old High German ), Fenye ( Middle High German ), Fischerkip (Mecklenburg), Blue Foxes (Bernese Oberland), Foxes ( Switzerland ), Blue Gelstern ( Salzburg , Zillertal ), Poison Flowers (Graubünden), Poison Herbs (Middle High German), Hambörger hats ( East Friesland , Mecklenburg), Helmblom (Mecklenburg), Helgiftkraut, skullcap, dog poison, dog death, Isenhood ( Delmenhorst ), Isenhütlein ( Bern ), cap flowers, Kile (Bernese Oberland), Kille, Kuts ch un Peer (Mecklenburg, Oldenburg , Bremen ), leaf rush (Bernese Oberland), leopard shrike, Lubritschen (Berner Oberland), Lubscheten (Berner Oberland), Luppegift (Old High German), Luppewurz (Old High German), Malam ( Upper Engadine ), Mönchskappen (Silesia) , Möchswurz, Münchskappen, Mütz un Huwe ( Pomerania ), Nappelnkraut, Narrenkappen, Papenmütze (Ostfriesland), Peterskappe (Ostfriesland), rapeseed flowers, Schoblom (Mecklenburg, Altmark), Schoiken ( Göttingen ), Sturmhut (Silesia), Taubele in the nest (Austria ), Teufelswurz (Austria), wolf poison, Wolfswörza (St. Gallen), Blaue Wolfswurz ( Carinthia , Salzburg), Würgling (Silesia) and Ziegentod (Silesia).

In the literature

Gustav Meyrink : The Cardinal Napellus. In: bats. Seven stories, Kurt Wolff Verlag , Leipzig 1916. - A former member of a fictional sect called "The Blue Brothers", whose religious focus is the Blue Monkshood and which they indulge in hallucinations , succumbs to madness when, by chance, he repeats one after years saw such a plant.

Systematics and distribution

Aconitum napellus subsp. vulgare in Andorra

The first publication of Aconitum napellus was made in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum , the first side 532. The epithet napellus means "little turnip". Synonyms for Aconitum napellus L. are: Aconitum formosum Rchb. , Aconitum pyramidale Mill. , Aconitum strictum DC. , Aconitum napellus subsp. formosum (Rchb.) Gáyer .

Depending on the author, there are some subspecies within the species Aconitum napellus :

  • Aconitum napellus subsp. castellanum Molero & Blanché : It occurs only in Spain .
  • Aconitum napellus subsp. corsicum (Gáyer) Seitz (Syn .: Aconitum corsicum Gáyer ): This endemic occurs only in Corsica .
  • Aconitum napellus subsp. fissurae (EINyárády) Seitz (Syn .: Aconitum firmum subsp. fissurae Nyár. , Aconitum adriaticum Gáyer ): It occurs in Croatia , Romania and the Ukraine .
  • Aconitum napellus subsp. lobelii Mucher (Syn .: Aconitum lobelianum Host ): It received the rank of a subspecies in 1991. It occurs in Germany , Austria , Liechtenstein and Italy .
  • Aconitum napellus subsp. lusitanicum Rouy (Syn .: Aconitum napellus var. bauhini Rchb. , Aconitum bauhini (Rchb.) Gáyer , Aconitum linnaeanum Gáyer , Aconitum neomontanum Koelle , Aconitum napellus subsp. neomontanum Gáyer ): It occurs in Central and Southern Europe. earlier also in Sweden and Denmark.
  • Aconitum napellus L. subsp. napellus : only found in the UK .
  • Aconitum napellus subsp. superbum (RMFritsch) W.Seitz ( Aconitum superbum R.M.Fritsch , Aconitum sostaricianum R.M.Fritsch nom. illeg.): It occurs only in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia .
  • Aconitum napellus subsp. vulgare Rouy & Foucaud (Syn .: Aconitum capsiriense (Jeanb. & Timb.-Lagr.) Gáyer , Aconitum compactum (Rchb.) Gáyer , Aconitum occidentale Timb.-Lag.f. , Aconitum napellus subsp. compactum (Rchb.) Gáyer , Aconitum napellus subsp. Splendens (Font Quer) Rivas Mart. , Aconitum occidentale var. Splendens Font Quer ): It occurs in Spain, Andorra , France , Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Austria.

Probably does not belong to the species Aconitum napellus :

  • Aconitum napellus subsp. firmum (Rchb.) Gáyer → It is called Aconitum firmum Rchb. with the subspecies Aconitum firmum Rchb. subsp. firmum , Aconitum firmum subsp. maninense (Skalický) Starm. , Aconitum firmum subsp. moravicum Skalický , Aconitum firmum subsp. skerisorae (Gáyer) Starm. respected: It occurs in Poland, the former Czechoslovakia, Romania and Ukraine.
  • Sudeten monkshood ( Aconitum napellus subsp. Hians (Rchb.) Gáyer ) → It is a separate species Aconitum plicatum Rchb. (Syn .: Aconitum callibotryon Rchb. , Aconitum hians Rchb. , Aconitum rigidum Rchb. ) With the subspecies Aconitum plicatum Rchb. subsp. plicatum , Aconitum plicatum subsp. Sudeticum Mitka respected: It occurs in Central Europe (Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland).
  • Tauern monkshood ( Aconitum napellus subsp. Tauricum (Wulfen) Gayer ) → It is as a separate species Aconitum tauricum Wulfen (Syn .: Aconitum eustachium Rchb. , Hunyadense Aconitum sword , Aconitum koelleanum Rchb. , Aconitum latemarense Degen & Gayer , Aconitum napellus subsp . koelleanum (. Rchb) Mucher , Aconitum tauricum subsp. hunyadense (Degen) Ciocârlan , Aconitum tauricum subsp. latemarense (Degen & Gayer) Starm. ) Trace: you come in Germany (Berchtesgaden Alps), Austria, Italy, the former Yugoslavia, in Poland, Romania and Ukraine.

photos

  • Inflorescence and tuber

  • Foliage leaf

  • Blossom cut open

  • Fruits and seeds

  • Illustration from Koehler's medicinal plants

literature

Web links

Commons : Blauer Eisenhut ( Aconitum napellus )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Blauer Eisenhut . In: BiolFlor, the database of biological-ecological characteristics of the flora of Germany.
  2. ↑ Andreas Alberts, Peter Mullen: Psychoactive plants, fungi and animals: purpose, effect, use . Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-Gmbh & Company KG, 2015, ISBN 978-3-440-13969-1 , p. 28 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  3. ↑ Blue Monkshood. In: The Bund Naturschutz. Accessed January 30, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e f Oskar Sebald, Siegmund Seybold, Georg Philippi (Ed.): The fern and flowering plants of Baden-Württemberg . 2nd, supplemented edition. tape 1 : General Part, Special Part (Pteridophyta, Spermatophyta): Lycopodiaceae to Plumbaginaceae . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1993, ISBN 3-8001-3322-9 , pp. 248 .
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g Dietmar Aichele, Heinz-Werner Schwegler: The flowering plants of Central Europe . 2nd Edition. tape 2 : Yew family to butterfly family . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-08048-X , p. 80 .
  6. ↑ a b Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp.  399-400 .
  7. ↑ a b c Margaret Grieve: A Modern Herbal. Online version (English).
  8. ↑ Peter Zwetko: The rust mushrooms Austria. Supplement and host-parasite directory to the 2nd edition of the Catalogus Florae Austriae , III. Part, Book 1, Uredinales. Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2000, page 31.
  9. ^ Aconitum napellus in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  10. ↑ Erhard Dörr, Wolfgang Lippert : Flora of the Allgäu and its surroundings. Volume 1, IHW, Eching 2001, ISBN 3-930167-50-6 , p. 523.
  11. ^ Profile of Aconitum napellus. at NRCS, United States Department of Agriculture
  12. ↑ S. Börngen: "Plants help heal." 12th unchanged edition, VEB Verlag Volk und Gesundheit, Berlin 1985, pp. 51-52.
  13. ↑ Giambattista della Porta : Magiae naturalis sive de miraculis Rerum naturalium , 1558 (Alchemy) digitized output Naples 1589
  14. ↑ a b Eckehart J. Jäger, Friedrich Ebel, Peter Hanelt, Gerd K. Müller (eds.): Exkursionsflora von Deutschland . Founded by Werner Rothmaler. tape 5 : Herbaceous ornamental and useful plants . Springer, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8274-0918-8 , pp. 131 .
  15. ↑ Blue Monkshood. In: Natur-Lexikon.com. Retrieved June 5, 2018 .
  16. ↑ a b H. Dörfler, G. Roselt: Our medicinal plants. 7th revised edition, Urania-Verlag, Leipzig, Jena, Berlin, 1976, pp. 14-16.
  17. ↑ Jean Marie Pelt: The secrets of medicinal plants. Knesebeck, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-89660-291-8 , pp. 79f.
  18. ↑ Negative monograph from Commission E Digitized
  19. ↑ A good overview can be found in: George Arthur Stuart. Chinese Materia Medica. Vegetable Kindom . Shanghai 1911. Digitized
  20. ^ Carl Jessen : The German folk names of plants , published by Philipp Cohen Hanover 1882, page 8 f.
  21. ↑ Linné 1753: scanned in at biodiversitylibrary.org .
  22. ^ Aconitum napellus at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, accessed December 26, 2018.
  23. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m E. von Raab-Straube, R. Hand, E. Hörandl, E. Nardi, 2014+: Ranunculaceae. : Datasheet In: Euro + Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity .