Eat the root and become a werewolf!
Wolf’s Bane (Aconitum napellus, Monkhood or Aconite) is an herbaceous perennial of the Ranunculaceae, growing to 1.5m in moist soil in woodlands in Europe, Asia and the USA. It is a tall, erect plant with palmately divided leaves with terminal spikes of purple to violet flowers in the shape of ancient Greek helmets. All parts of the plant are deadly poisonous – 10g will prove fatal.
The generic name is thought to derive from the Greek akon (dart) because the juice from the plant was used to tip arrows, and the specific name means ‘little turnip’, a reference to the shape of the root. Bane is from the Anglo Saxon bani (murderer) and Middle English bane (destroyer). This derived from observations of wolf packs uprooting vegetables in times of famine and dying as a result of eating this plant.
In Greek mythology, the poison was made by Hecate from the foam of Cerberus. On the island of Ceos, it was given to old men to drink when they were past usefulness and a burden on the state. It also has an association with werewolves; those who died from eating the root were said to return in this form, but it was also claimed to be a remedy against their bite. In medieval witchcraft, a mixture of wolfs bane, belladonna and datura were the basic ingredients of the ‘flying ointment’.
The Indians poisoned wells with it to halt the advance of invading armies and in the early 16th Century, in England, an experiment was conducted using wolfs bane as an alternative form of capital punishment but it was abandoned as although it was very effective, it was not thought sufficiently punishing.
Gerard states ‘So forcible is the herb, that when cast before scorpions and other venomous beasts, it causeth them to be without strength or force to hurt’. Culpeper recommended it to be made into a wash for parts bitten by poisonous spiders.
Wolfs bane was a hazard to all grazing domestic animals but it has been observed that field-mice will never eat it even in times of hardship.
The plant contains a number of alkaloids – aconitine, nenzylaconitine and napelline; the plant is cardio-active, antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal. It was used for many years as a heart relaxant, to dramatically lower blood pressure and relieve capillary engorgement. Internal use is no longer practised but the herb is still used topically to treat the extremely painful, facial and intercostal neuralgia. Homoeopaths use the herb extensively to give relief in cases of sciatica, lumbago, rheumatism, arthritis and nerve pain related ailments.
The Chinese use the plant as a remedy for shock, some heart diseases and uterine cancer. Recent research indicates that some species of Aconitum display anti-tumour properties.
On a current note, it was reported in the English press that Robert Woolmer, the Pakistani cricket coach found dead in his hotel room in Jamaica in suspicious circumstances, showed traces of aconitine in his body.
Given the foregoing it may come as a surprise that this is still a very popular border and mid-bed plant in English gardens.
Apologia: I stated that I would write about Cowbane this week, but realised I had covered most of the material in my article on Hemlock.
Next week Screwpine
