Aconitum RANUNCULACEAE-LARDIZABALACEAE Akebia 



9. Aconitum Linn. Monkshood ^WM (Wu T'ou Shu; Black-head Genus) 



Perennial herbs with palmately lobed or divided Ivs. and showy irregular fls.: 

 sepals petal-like, one of them forming a large hood enclosing two petals: carpels 

 3-5, becoming follicles. About 100 species, in cool parts of the north temperate 

 zone; 10 in China. (The Greek name.) 



Key to the Species 



Stems erect, robust, 1-2 m. high: fls. bluish purple without, whitish 

 within; posterior sepal a hood. 

 Pedicels crisp-recurved-pubescent; helmet 20-30 mm. high; sepals 



and carpels usually pubescent 1 . A. carmichaelii 



Pedicels spreading -glandular-pubescent; helmet 15-20 mm. high; 



sepals and carpels glabrous 2. A. chinense 



Stems flexuous, twining: fls. whitish; posterior sepal a conical spur.. 3. A. fivwtianum 



1. Aconitum carmichaelii Debx. (A. kusnetzoffii Reichb. var. hodinieri Levi. & Vant.) 

 %&% (Tu Pai Ts'ao; The-only-white Herb) (B.G.6:488). Erect herb, to lm.; 

 fls. bluish purple, VIII-IX; fr. IX-X; sepals somewhat soft-hairy. China; locally 

 in An., Che., Ki., Ku. Brushy slopes. 



2. Aconitum chinense Paxt. {A. uncinatum var. japonicum Fin. & Gagn., non 

 (Thunb.) Regel.) ^mW\ (Ts'ao Wu T'ou: Herbaceous Aconitum (B.G.6:493; Go. 

 A.13:115). Erect herb, to 2 m.; fls. bluish purple, VIII-IX; fr. IX-X. Eastern 

 and northern China; locally in An., Che., Ku. Woodland shade. 



3. Aconitum finetianum Hand.-Mazz. (A. lycoctonum Linn. var. volubile Fin. & 

 Gagn.) ^^j (Niu Pien) (Go.A.13:80). Twining herb; fls. pale yellow and purple, 

 VIII-IX; fr. IX-X. Eurasia; locally in Ki. Mountain meadows. 



61. LARDIZABALACEAE Lardizabala Family ^MPr (Mu T'ung K'o) 



Woody vines with alternate compound lvs.: fls. regular, often unisexual, ivithout 

 petals; sepals petal-like, 6 or 3; stamens 6; carpels usually 3, becoming large berries. 

 8 genera and over 20 species, in eastern Asia and Chile; 6 genera and about 20 

 species in China. 



Key to the Genera 



Lvs. deciduous : sepals 3 1 . Akebia 



Lvs. evergreen : sepals 6 2. Holboellia 



1. Akebia Decne. ^MM (Mu T'ung Shu) 

 Deciduous (occasionally half -evergreen) twiners with digitate lvs. : fls. monoecious, 

 in axillary racemes, the pistillate at the base of the infl.; sepals 3; carpels 3-12. 

 Two species, in eastern Asia. (From Akebi, the Japanese name.) 



Key to the Species 



Lf ts. 5, entire I. A. quinata 



Lfts. 3, margins sinuate or entile 2. A. trifoliata 



1. Akebia quinata Decne. ?fCjfi (Mu T'ung) (R.M.221). Woody vine; fls. reddish 

 purple, IV-V; fr. VIII-X. Central China, Korea, Japan; locally in An., Ku. 

 Woods and roadsides. Fig. 111. 



2. Akebia trifoliata (Thunb.) Koidz. (A. lobata Decne.) HS^M (San Yeh Mu 



122 



