CHAP. I.] 



THE GENUS ACONITUM. 



27 



THE GENUS ACONITUM. 



We are so accustomed to see in our gardens 

 the tall showy perennial called monkshood or 



Fig. 8. — Flower and seed-vessels of the Monkshood. 



wolfsbane {Aconitum Napellus), that few persons 

 think of examining the flowers in detail. They 

 well deserve, however, to be examined, as they 

 are very curious in their construction. The 

 showy part of the flower is an ornamental calyx 

 of six sepals, but the upper two of these are 



