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Aconitum heterophyllum

Heteroleaf Monkshood · Atis

Family RanunculaceaeGenus Aconitum

Pale pinkish-white hooded flowers spaced up a tall green stem, against a black background
FlowerKarunpuriCC BY-SA 4.0
A hand-colored plate of a spike of hooded blue flowers above broad toothed leaves, with the pale forked root, a cut-open flower and a dry seed pod drawn separately
IllustrationArtist: Vishnupersaud (=Vishnu Prasad); Text by John Forbes RoylePublic domain

About the plant

What it is and where it grows — not part of any germination protocol.

Habit
perennial or tuberous geophytePlants of the World Online
Flower
Pinkish-whiteRead from the photograph on this page

Toxicity is noted only where a source states it. No note here is not a finding of safety.

Sources: Plants of the World Online — Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Read from the photograph on this page — Deno's Garden.

Worth knowing

  • This aconite, called ativiṣā in Sanskrit, is used in Ayurveda and other Indian systems of traditional medicine. It grows on subalpine and alpine slopes in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Pakistan and Nepal. Wikipedia: Aconitum heterophyllum

This source reports two treatments. Both are shown.

Protocol 1

DerivedN. C. Deno, 1993

Difficulty Low Rated by us, not by the source.

Start around March 1, 2027 for a May 3 last frost.

  1. Sow and cover

    Temperature: 70°F 21°C Light: light

No stated waiting before sowing. Then 35 days to germinate.

89% germination in 21–35 days.

Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed. — N. C. Deno, 1993 · Ch. 20, Aconitum p. 86Public domain
Show the original text
Aconitum (Ranunculaceae). Seed of A. heterophyllum germ. best in 70L(8/9 in 3-5 w) and none in 70D. The photorequirement in this Aconitum contrasts with
Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed., Ch. 20, Aconitum p. 86. Quoted exactly. Every value on this card comes from this record, except the difficulty rating, which is ours; the step names come from a fixed list.

Protocol 2

DerivedN. C. Deno, 1993

  1. Sow and cover

    Temperature: 70°F 21°C Light: dark

No stated waiting before sowing.

0% germination.

Nothing germinated at 70.

Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed. — N. C. Deno, 1993 · Ch. 20, Aconitum p. 86Public domain
Show the original text
Aconitum (Ranunculaceae). Seed of A. heterophyllum germ. best in 70L(8/9 in 3-5 w) and none in 70D. The photorequirement in this Aconitum contrasts with
Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed., Ch. 20, Aconitum p. 86. Quoted exactly. Every value on this card comes from this record; the step names come from a fixed list.

How each step is done, in Deno’s words, and what Verified and Derived mean.

Germination trials

Readers’ own records of sowing this species, published after review. Share your trial · All trials

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