Xue Shang Yi Zhi Hao

Aconitum brachypodum, the short-stalk aconite, is a perennial herb of the Ranunculaceae family growing 30 to 100 cm tall from a cluster of carrot-shaped to fusiform tuberous roots 2 to 5 cm long. Stems are erect, slender, and sparsely covered with curved or appressed hairs in the upper part. Leaves are alternate, palmately divided nearly to the base into five primary segments, each further dissected into narrow linear ultimate lobes 1 to 2 mm wide, giving a finely divided lacy appearance. The terminal raceme bears few to many helmet-shaped flowers on very short pedicels (giving the species its name, brachypodum, short-footed), each with five deep blue-purple sepals, the upper one forming a tall narrowly conical galea. Fruits are clusters of three follicles. All parts contain highly toxic diterpenoid alkaloids of the aconitine series.