Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Columbian Monkshood
Aconitum columbianum
Buttercup family (Ranunculaceae)

The monk-like cowl of the flowers gives the species its common name. We indicate that this plant is "D", distinctive, but it is often mixed in with the very similar looking Delphinium . Habitat, leaves, height, and flower color of the two are certainly very similar. But a good look at the flowers structure immediately shows the distinctiveness of the two plants. Monkshood is poisonous, containing a toxic alkaloid in its seeds and roots. Plants were used to poison bait in wolf traps. Linnaeus named this species in 1753. "Aconitum" is the classical Latin name and probably means "unconquerable poison." "Columbianum" refers to the plant's American (Columbian) location.


©2009 Walter Siegmund

Description

, 16-60" tall, with distinctive deep blue-purple hooded flowers which are flattened sideways with petal-like forming the hood which has a pointed over 2 fan-shaped . , divided into 3-5 main , and . Stems are hollow. are pods in erect clusters.

Field Marks

Purple monk-like cowl flower.

© Al Schneider

palmate -- Consisting of leaflets or lobes radiating from the base of the leaf.

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.

lobe -- A rounded parts of a leaf (or other organ).

A herb is a plant whose stems die back to the ground in the winter.

sp. -- The abbreviation for "species". The plural is "spp". When used it sometimes means that the exact species is unknown. For example, "Aster sp." would mean some species within the Aster genus but the writer may not know exactly which species.

Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom.

Like the teeth on a saw, leaves and other surfaces can have toothed edges.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

beak -- A pointy thing on a seed or fruit.

leaves alternate along the main stem and are attached singly.

linear -- Long and very narrow like a blade of grass.