aconite (redirected from winter aconites)

aconite (ăk`ənīt), monkshood, or wolfsbane, any of several species of the genus Aconitum of the family Ranunculaceae (buttercup family), hardy perennial plants of the north temperate zone, growing wild or cultivated for ornamental or medicinal purposes. They contain violent poisons that were recognized from early times and were mentioned by Shakespeare (2 King Henry IV, iv:4); more recently they have been used medicinally in a liniment, tincture, and drug, and in India on spears and arrows for hunting. The drug aconite, the active principle of which is the alkaloid aconitine, is used as a sedative, e.g., for neuralgia and rheumatism, and is obtained from A. napellus. Aconites are erect or trailing, with deeply cut leaves and, in late summer and fall, hooded showy flowers of blue, yellow, purple, or white. The name wolfsbane derives from an old superstition that the plant repelled werewolves. Winter aconite is a name for plants of the genus Eranthis, wild or garden perennials of the same family. Aconites are classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Ranunculales, family Ranunculaceae.

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aconite

Any member of two genera of perennial herbaceous plants of the buttercup family: Aconitum (monkshood or wolfsbane), consisting of summer-flowering poisonous plants, and Eranthis (winter aconite), consisting of spring-flowering ornamentals. The dried tuberous root of A. napellus was formerly used as a sedative and a painkiller.

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aconite, aconitum

1. any of various N temperate plants of the ranunculaceous genus Aconitum, such as monkshood and wolfsbane, many of which are poisonous

2. the dried poisonous root of many of these plants, sometimes used as an antipyretic

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aconite [′ak·ə‚nīt]

(botany)

Any plant of the genusAconitum. Also known as friar's cowl; monkshood; mousebane; wolfsbane.

(pharmacology)

A toxic drug obtained from the dried tuberous root ofAconitum napellus;the principal alkaloid is aconitine.