ACON1TUM. 



large, of a pale blue tinged with lilac. 

 Leaves, alternate, palmate-3-cleft, pale 

 underneath. Southern Europe. Re- 

 sembles A. japonicum, but is something 

 taller in habit, and its flowers are of a 



lighter hue. Borders, and fringes of 



shrubberies, in ordinary light garden 

 soil. Division. 



Aconitum chinense. A large and 

 stately species, 4 ft. to 6 ft. high. 

 Flowers, in summer ; large, showy, of an 

 intense and very bright blue, in large 

 compound racemes ; pedicels slightly 

 hairy above ; upper flowers with small 

 bracts. Leaves, lower ones large, 

 deeply cut into three wedge-shaped 

 segments tapering at the base ; upper 

 leaves sessile, gradually becoming more 



entire. China. Warm borders in 



sandy loam. Division. 



Aconitum japonicum (Japan Monies- 

 hood). A noble late-flowering kind, 

 2 ft. to over 3 ft. high. Flowers, in 

 autumn; large, of a deep blue or lilac, 

 in a dense short spike rarely branch- 

 ing; helmet with a small point; 

 upper petals with a broad, swollen 

 tube ; spur thick, bent, almost rolled. 

 Leaves, alternate, somewhat thick, of 

 a pale green underneath, palmate- 

 3-cleft; lateral lobes 2-cleft, middle 

 lobe 3-cleft, all obtuse, toothed ; teeth 



rounded with a point. Japan. 



Borders, and here and there among 

 rather low shrubs in fine, deep, sandy 

 soil, or in peat. Division. 



Aconitom lycoctonum ( Wolfs-bane 

 Aconite). An interesting and vi- 

 gorous perennial, with a stout, 

 twisted, and angular branching stem 

 3 ft. to 4 ft. high. Flowers, late in 

 summer ; pale creamy yellow, in dense 

 elongated clusters at the ends of the 

 branches. Leaves, palmate, with from 

 5 to 7 deeply incised and toothed 

 segments ; lower leaves nearly 1 in. 

 across, almost reniform in outline, 

 long-stalked; stem, branches, and 

 leaf-stalks covered with very fine, 



soft, short down. Alps of Europe. 

 Margins of shrubberies, and natu- 

 ralization in woods and semi-wild 

 places in any soil. Division. 



Aconitum Napellus (Common Monk- 

 hood). A very common plant in 

 gardens, 2 to 4 ft. high. Flowers, in 

 summer ; dark blue, on erect stalks, 

 forming a handsome terminal raceme 

 1 to 2 ft. long. Leaves, darkish green, 

 smooth or slightly downy, divided to 

 the base into 5 or 7 deeply- cut, 

 narrow, pointed segments. There are 

 several varieties. Britain, Europe, 

 and Virginia. Borders, or natu- 

 ralization by wood-walks and in wild 

 places; but it is such a frightfully 

 poisonous plant that many will rather 

 destroy than cultivate it. It should 

 never be grown in a vegetable garden 

 of any sort. Thrives in ordinary soil, 

 and is very easily increased by divi- 

 sion. 



Aconitum paniculatum (Panicled 

 MonJcshood). A tall and handsome 

 kind, 34 to 5 ft. high. Flowers, late 

 in summer ; blue or variegated with 

 white; end of the helmet greenish- 

 blue ; spur short and recurved ; ar- 

 ranged in wide-spreading and branch- 

 ing panicles ; sepals smooth or slightly 

 downy. Leaves, smaller than those of 

 A. Napellus, palmate, with segments 

 twice 3-cleft, incised-dentate, lozenge- 

 shaped. Root tubercular; stem fre- 

 quently bent zigzag, always more or 

 less branching at the top. South of 



France. Borders and groups of the 



bolder and handsomer herbaceous 

 plants. It prefers peat. Division. 



Aconitum septentrionale (Northern 

 MonJcshood). A distinct late-flower- 

 ing kind, about 3 feet high. Flowers, 

 late in summer; reddish lilac or wine- 

 coloured, arranged in panicled clusters 

 at the summit of the stems. Leaves, 

 alternate, of a deep green. Siberia. 

 Borders and fringes of shrub- 

 beries. It prefers peat soil. Division. 



