A very importan medicinal plant. Flora of India by BSI consider it different from *A.violaceum* var. *robustum* though the TPL 2013 consider both of them as same. I still remember to have seen few large specimens of A.violaceum in Kedarnath area (4000m) which matched to *A.violaceum* var *robustum* of Flora of India but those were different from this plant. Taxonomy of Aconites in Western Himalaya is far less satisfactory and need revisionary study based not merely on herbarium specimens but also on live collections.
On Sunday, January 11, 2015 at 9:27:19 AM UTC+5:30, Gurcharan Singh wrote: > > *Aconitum chasmanthum* Stapf ex Holmes, Mus. Report, Pharm. Soc. Great > Britain 1903 > syn: *Aconitum napellus* Hook.f. & Thoms. (non L.); ; *Aconitum* > *chasmanthum* subsp. *baltistanicum* Qureshi & Chaudhri; *Aconitum* > *kurramense* Qureshi & Chaudhri; *Aconitum* *violaceum* var. *robustum* > Stapf > > > Common names: Indian Napellus, Ban-bal-nag, Beshmolo, Mori > > Tall leafy plant, up to 90 cm with ruberous root; leaves similar, though > upper slightly smaller, 3-8 cm broad, cut alomost up to base into linear > segments; flowers blue or purplish, in up to 30 cm long racemes; upper > sepal curved back helmet-shaped, lateral oborbicular to nearly square; > petals (nectaries) 2-5 with 5-7 mm long claw; carpels usually 5, follicles > oblong, 10-15 mm, truncate. > > Often confused with A. napellus, this species is distributed from Chitral > to Kashmir at higher altitudes.The whole plant is highly toxic - simple > skin contact has caused numbness in some people. The dried root is > analgesic, anodyne, diaphoretic, diuretic, irritant and sedative. The root > is a rich source of active alkaloids, containing around 3%. It is best > harvested as soon as the plant dies down in the autumn. This is a very > poisonous plant and should only be used with extreme caution and under the > supervision of a qualified practitioner. > > Photographed from Apharwat, Kashmir in August, growing along forest > margins. It has also been introduced into newly developed alpine garden > near Kongdor, middle stop of Gondola above Gulmarg. > > Dr. Gurcharan Singh > Retired Associate Professor > SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007 > Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018. > Phone: 011-25518297 Mob: 9810359089 > http://www.gurcharanfamily.com/ > http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "efloraofindia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
