Buttercup Family
Monkshood, Aconite Aconitum Columbianum
The flowers of the Monkshood are usually deep purple-blue, but yellowish white ones are often found. The tall plants, 4-8 ft. high, grow in mountain meadows and along streams at 6000-12000 ft., and bloom from early July to late August. The Aconite disguises its relation to the buttercups by having irregular sepals, developed by insect visitors in search of nectar. The two nectaries are underneath and at the base of the cowl-shaped upper sepal which gives the plant its name. In seeking nectar, the bees crawl over the group of stamens and stigmas and in so doing either collect or deposit the pollen which clings to their legs and abdomens. The Monkshood is frequently cultivated in gardens and some of the species furnish a powerful drug, aconite, used in medicine. All are poisonous and often produce fatal results among stock when feed is scarce.