Zhi Fu Zi

Aconitum carmichaelii (Zhi Fu Zi when properly processed; the unprocessed daughter root is Fu Zi and the mother root is Chuan Wu) is a perennial herb in the Ranunculaceae family, growing 60 to 150 centimeters tall from a paired tuberous root system consisting of a parent tuber and one or more lateral daughter tubers. Stems are erect, sometimes finely pubescent in the upper portion, bearing alternate, palmately divided leaves whose blades are 6 to 11 centimeters across with three to five deeply incised, pointed lobes. The striking inflorescences are terminal racemes of helmet-shaped blue-purple flowers 3 to 4 centimeters long, the uppermost sepal forming a tall hood characteristic of the genus. The follicles are erect, 1.5 to 1.8 centimeters long, containing winged seeds. Native to central, southern, and eastern China and naturalized in parts of East Asia, Aconitum carmichaelii is highly toxic in its raw state; only the rigorously processed roots are used clinically, traditionally prepared by prolonged soaking, boiling, and steaming with adjuncts to hydrolyze toxic diester diterpene alkaloids.