W3 



COLUMBIA MONKSHOOD 



Aconi'tum columbia'num, syn. A. pa' tens 



Leaves alternate, variable in size from 

 small up to 6 in. broad, stalked, some- 

 times bearing bulblets in their axils, 

 palmately 3- to 5-lobed; lobes some- 

 what diamond-wedge-shaped, with 

 lance-shaped teeth 



Stem up to 4 (rarely 6) ft. high, 

 solid or pithy, usually sticky-hairy 

 above 



Flowers showy, blue or purple, some- 

 times nearly white', irregular, in a 

 loose, bracted, sometimes branched, 

 end cluster (raceme) 



Outer flower parts (sepals) 5, petal- 

 like, dissimilar, usually hairy; upper 

 sepal hehnet-or hood-shaped, up. to % 

 in. long, with a nearly straight front 

 line, and a prominent and variable 

 "beak"; 2 side sepals broad-oval- 

 shaped; 2 lower sepals small, oblong 



Petals usually 5, small; 2 upper ones 

 with long, stalklike base, concealed 

 inside the sepal hood; other 3 petals 

 very small or lacking ; stamens numerous 



Seed pods (follicles) 3 to 5, usually 

 more or less hairy, many-seeded 



Roots clustered, tuberlike, fleshy, per- 

 ennial, with numerous, fibrous rootlets 



Columbia monkshood is representative of the western species of 

 Aconitum both in appearance and palatability and is the most com- 

 mon and widely distributed species of this genus in the West. It is 

 a tall, perennial herb inhabiting all of the eleven western range 

 States and occurs from British Columbia to California, New Mexico, 



