Aconitum

"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?" - Severus Snape, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

If you've read the Harry Potter books, you might know the answer to the question posed in this scene. There is absolutely no difference between monkshood and wolfsbane - they are two names for the same genus of plants, Aconitum.

Overview

- General Aconitum

- The Toxin(s)

- History, legends

General Aconitum

There are over 250 species in the Aconitum genus, which really begs the question as to why they're collectively referred to with the same common names. They are perennials mostly native to the mountainous regions of the northern hemisphere in cool, moist, but well-draining soil. They belong to the Ranunculaceae (buttercup) family, which is known for its toxicity. The flowers have a very distinctive appearance reminiscent of a monk's hood, according to some old English guy, giving them the very creative name of monkshood. Any of the names for this genus involving the word "bane" (leopardsbane, womansbane, wolfsbane) come from its very dangerous properties.

Despite the fact that these plants are extremely toxic, many caterpillars feed on them and somehow don't die. They are also the primary food source for certain species of bumblebees with long tongues that can reach up to the nectar at the highest point of the flower, although apparently it's good enough that some short-tongued bees will drill holes into the flowers to reach the nectar. Not very nice of them 😞.

The name of this genus comes from the Greek word ἀκόνιτον (aconiton), which could come from the word for dart, as Aconitum were frequently used for poisoning darts, or it could come from the rocky soil that the plants supposedly grew on. However, Wiktionary does have a couple other ideas about its origin so probably take this one with a grain of salt.

The Toxin(s)

The primary toxin in this genus is aconitine, but like many kinds of plants, they have a mix of alkaloids. I will focus on aconitine for the sake of simplicity, and also because I suspect they are all fairly similar.

The main problem with aconitine is that it causes paralysis and problems with the heart. Even though touching the plant can cause numbness in the fingers, they're still grown as ornamental flowers and for gardening shows because we gardeners are weird like that. Aconitine acts quickly, with symptoms such as nausea and sweating presenting in 20 minutes to an hour after intake, followed by vomiting, pain, paralysis, and heart problems, followed by death depending on the dose and method of poisoning.

It does have some potential applications as a cancer treatment, as it slows or prevents cell replication and induces programmed cell death (apoptosis) in tumors.

History

Wolfsbane is relatively well-known as a poison and appears in fiction often enough, although it's not always portrayed accurately. See Professor Lupin's wolfsbane potion from the Harry Potter series😑. However, it has been notably used in traditional Chinese medicine, which sometimes works and sometimes results in poisonings, depending on how effective the processing is. 

In Greek mythology, aconitum came from the spit of a monster Heracles had to slay as one of his twelve labours, or possibly Cerberus, the guard dog to the underworld - I found conflicting sources.

I was quite surprised to find out how little information there is available about this genus from a scientific perspective. I wasn't able to find records from early horticulturalists or as much interesting literature as I thought there would be about its history, unfortunately. Oh well - there was plenty in my post about deadly nightshade.

Thanks for reading!