About Aconitum lycoctonum L.
Aconitum lycoctonum, commonly called wolf's-bane or northern wolf's-bane, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Aconitum of the family Ranunculaceae. It is native to most of Europe and northern Asia, growing from lowlands to the subalpine zone, primarily in forests and other shaded habitats. Alongside A. napellus, A. lycoctonum is one of the most common European species in the Aconitum genus. It is grown as an ornamental plant in gardens, and grows well in ordinary garden soil. As a result of cultivation, A. lycoctonum can now be found in North America, especially in eastern Canada, where it often grows in old gardens or persists as a garden escapee. The specific epithet lycoctonum is a modern Latin rendering of the traditional common name "wolf's-bane". Carl Linnaeus formally named this species, after he found Aconitum lycoctonum growing in Lapland, Finland in 1727. A. lycoctonum specimens have been described as having high morphological variability, but molecular studies have found small genetic distances between populations. Because of this, A. lycoctonum is currently considered to be a species complex that contains multiple taxa with uncertain taxonomic rank. Aconitum lycoctonum is an herbaceous perennial plant that grows up to 1 meter tall. Its leaves are palmately lobed, with four to six deeply cut lobes. Its flowers measure 18–25 mm long, are dark violet, and very rarely pale yellow. All Aconitum flowers have five petals, are zygomorphic, and are protandrous. The posterior petal forms a helmet-like shape that hides two nectaries. In A. lycoctonum, the tips of these nectaries are long and highly curled, a trait that supports specialized pollination. The plant produces multiple stamens, and its ovary is usually made up of three free carpels, though it can have up to five. Its fruits are follicles. Its inflorescence is a raceme, which matures from bottom to top. Specimens growing at high elevations typically produce more flowers per inflorescence and more inflorescences per plant than specimens growing at low elevations. All Aconitum species are pollinated by bumblebees of the genus Bombus. A. lycoctonum is mainly pollinated by Bombus hortorum in lowlands and Bombus gerstaeckeri in highlands; both are long-tongued bumblebee species able to reach nectar at the end of the plant's nectaries. The flower's nectar also attracts other insects, including flies and short-tongued bumblebees such as Bombus wurflenii. These insects act as nectar robbers, but may also occasionally pollinate the plant. Like all species in the genus Aconitum, A. lycoctonum is poisonous. All parts of the plant contain a wide variety of alkaloids, which act primarily on muscular endplates. Alkaloids including gigactonine, demethylenedelcorine, 14-O-methyldelphinifoline, pseudokobusine, lycoctonine, lycaconitine, and myoctonine have been isolated from the roots and seeds of A. lycoctonum. Gigactonine is the main alkaloid found in the plant's flowers, alongside 6-O-acetyldemethylenedelcorine, 6-O-acetyl-14-O-methyldelphinifoline, 14-O-methyldelphinifoline, and lycoctonine. The alkaloids in A. lycoctonum are much less toxic than those found in A. napellus. A. lycoctonum does not contain aconitine, the main toxic alkaloid that occurs in A. napellus. A. napellus was used for its antipyretic and analgesic properties until recent times, while medical use of A. lycoctonum became obsolete far earlier, and it is only mentioned in ancient texts.
