Aconitum napellus (root)

Introduction

Introduction from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitum_napellus, retrieved 02/20/2012).

Aconitum napellus (Monkshood, "aconite", "Wolf's Bane", Fuzi, "Monk's Blood", or "Monk's Hood") is a species of Aconitum in the family Ranunculaceae, native and endemic to western and central Europe.

It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 1 m tall, with hairless stems and leaves. The leaves are rounded, 5–10 cm diameter, palmately divided into five to seven deeply lobed segments. The flowers are dark purple to bluish-purple, narrow oblong helmet-shaped, 1–2 cm tall.

Plants are grown in gardens in temperate zones for their spike-like inflorescences that are showy in early-mid summer and their attractive foliage. There are white and rose colored forms in cultivation too.

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Microscopic Entries

Wolf's Bane (root) (Aconitum napellus).Predominating elements are derived from the more or less broken, large, rather thick-walled, essentially isodiametric closely united parenchyma cells filled with compound starch granules. A few slightly brownish, essentially rectangular only slightly elongated, rather thin-walled, very porous sclerenchyma cells, which generally occur singly, rarely in twos. Some porus ducts and tracheids; spiral ducts rare. Starch granules singly, in twos, fours, and aggregates of from five to seven; hili distinct in the larger granules, centric; single granules 5μ to 15μ; cross bands quite distinct, broad, right angled. There should be no thick-walled sclerenchyma, no true bast, and vascular tissue should be sparingly present. Source: Schneider, A. (1921) The Microanalysis of Powdered Vegetable Drugs, 2nd ed.