13. Aconitum palmatum, Don. D. Prodr.

The medicinal plant Aconitum palmatum is a member of the Ranunculaceae (buttercup) family. This page includes its habitat, botanical descption, medicinal uses (eg., Ayurveda), chemical constituents and history of use in modern and ancient India.

Vernacular:—Biklima, Vakhama (Bomb.); Vakhamo (Guzr). Bis-hawa (H.)

Habitat:—Alpine Himalaya of Nepal, Sikkim and the adjoining part of South Tibet, from 10,000-16,000 feet.

Botanical description:—Roots: biennial, paired, tuberous; daughter-tuber shortly conic to long-cylindric, often irregularly shaped, 4 to more than 10 cm. long, 0.75-3 cm. thick, simple or branched, sometimes flexuous or twisted, bearing root-fibres, some of which are thread-like from the base and break off easily, while others are much thickened at the base or thick-cylindric, light-brown, smooth, fracture more or less horny and brownish in the thickest part of full-grown samples, almost farinaceous and white towards the tips and in the root-branches, cambium discontinuous, forming isolated strands of very varying shape and size, cylindric or tangentially flattened or crescent-shaped in cross-section, taste purely and persistently bitter; mother-tubers similar, but smaller, shrunk more or less hollow, and brown internally.

Innovation-bud: short, conic from broad base Stem erect, sometimes shortly flexuous in the upper part, simple or nearly so, inclusive of the inflorescence, 2-4ft. high, stout, hollow, shining, glabrous.

Leaves: scattered, rather distant, up to 10, rarely more, the lowest usually withered at the time of flowering, quite glabrous, or the uppermost finely pubescent on the nerves below; petioles slender, 4-10 cm. long; blade orbicular-cordate to reniform with a very wide sinus (1-2 cm. deep), 6-10 cm. high from the sinus to the tip, 7-15 cm. across 5-or the uppermost 3-palmati-partite to ⅘ or ¾, rarely more (to 8/9 in the inner incisions), divisions obovate cuneate to broadly lanceolate-cuneate or the outermost trapezoid, 3-lobed to about the middle or the outermost 2-lobed, intermediate lobe often elongated like others, acutely inciso-dentate or apiculately cre-nate.

Inflorescence: A very loose leafy panicle or raceme, 10-20 cm. long, glabrous, or pubescent in the upper part; rhachis rather slender; floral leaves, like the preceding cauline leaves, passing into the ovate or deltoid, dentate, shortly petioled bracts; bracteoles similar to bracts, but smaller, and sparingly dentate or entire, above the middle of the pedicels or even close to the flower; pedicels slender, curved, ascending, ultimately more erect, the lower up to 10 cm. long.

Sepals: bluish, or variegated white and blue, glabrous at least outside; uppermost helmet-shaped, helmet obliquely semi-orbicular (from the side) or more depressed and gaping very shortly or obscurely beaked, 20-24 mm. high, 18-24 mm. long from tip to the base, 10-12 mm. wide (seen from the side) lateral margin very slightly concave or almost straight, lateral sepals contiguous with the helmet, obliquely orbicular-quadrate, not clawed, 18-20 mm. long; lower sepals obliquely oblong or elliptic—Obtuse to acute, 12-15 mm. long.

Nectaries: glabrous, extinguisher-shaped; claw erect, or the upper-end more or less leaning forward, 16-18 mm. long; hood sub-cylindric, 4-8 mm. long, oblique to almost horizontal, top gibbous posteriorly, honey-gland occupying the gibbosity or the whole top, lip extremely short, crenulate, very broad.

Filaments: glabrous, 8 mm. long, narrowly winged to or beyond the middle, wings gradually alternated.

Carpels: 5, subcontiguous in the flower, but soon diverging, narrowly oblong, gradually passing into the short style, quite glabrous.

Follicles: subcontiguous or somewhat diverging in the upper part, oblong, obliquely truncate, 2.5-3 cm. long, 5-6 mm. broad, loosely reticulate.

Seeds: blackish, obovoid, about 3 mm. long, round in cross-section, obscurely winged along the rhaphe, transversely lamellate, lamellae dark, undulate.

Medicinal uses:—Nothing definite is as yet known of the medicinal properties of this root. It is believed to be non-poisonous as well as tonic and antiperiodic.

It has also earned some repute in the treatment of cholera (Sakharam Arjijn).

Note:—From the roots of this, an alkaloid, named Palmatisine has been isolated at the Imperial Institute, which crystallises well, and in some respects resembles atisine. J. Ch. S. 1905T, 1655.