Aconitum noveboracense A.Gray ex Coville

Taxonomic Classification

Aconitum noveboracense A.Gray ex Coville, commonly called northern monkshood, belongs to the Aconitum genus, a group of herbaceous perennial plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae.

Genus Toxicity

All plants in this genus contain highly toxic alkaloids, including the cardiotoxin and neurotoxin aconitine; a dose of just 1.5–6 mg of aconitine can be lethal to humans.

Leaf Morphology

Northern monkshood has spirally arranged leaves with no stipules, each leaf divides into 5 to 7 segments, and each of these segments has three toothed lobes.

Flower Characteristics

Its flowers are bisexual, bilaterally symmetric, and can be a range of colors, most commonly blue or purple, but sometimes pink, yellow, or white.

Common Name Origin

The upper sepal forms a distinctive helmet shape, and the two true petals are held inside this hooded structure; this unique appearance gives the group its common name "monkshood".

Taxonomic Relationship

Northern monkshood was long classified as a disjunct population of Aconitum columbianum because of their similar physical features, and genetic testing confirms that Aconitum noveboracense is genetically similar to Aconitum columbianum populations native to western North America.

Core Population Distribution

Most populations of northern monkshood are located in northeastern Ohio, and parts of the Driftless Area in northeast Iowa and southwest Wisconsin.

New York Population Size

There are only seven populations of the species in New York's Catskill Mountains.

Preferred Habitat Types

This species typically grows on shaded or partially shaded cliffs, algific talus slopes, or cool streamside sites.

Shared Habitat Traits

All these habitats have cool soil, cold air drainage, or cold groundwater flow.

Algific Talus Slope Cooling Mechanism

On algific talus slopes, these cool conditions come from cool air and water outflow from ice stored in underground fissures; these fissures connect to sinkholes and act as conduits for air movement.

Seedling Growth Requirements

Northern monkshood seedlings are very sensitive to environmental conditions, and grow best in soil with high moisture content.

Seedling Survivorship Factors

Adult plants are less sensitive to environmental changes than seedlings, and seedling survivorship drops when temperature or moisture content decreases.