Aconitum carmichaeli (Chinese aconite, "Karatorikabuto")

Japanese name: カラトリカブト （唐鳥兜）
Scientific name: Aconitum carmichaeli

[Overview]
An aconite native to the Russian Far East and China.
It is found in somewhat moist places such as forests and grasslands, and is a pseudo-annual reaching 60–160 cm in height.
The stem is erect or leaning.
There are basal leaves and stem leaves; the basal leaves have withered by the flowering season.
The stem leaves, 12–18 in number, are evenly alternate and pentagonal, 8–12 cm long and 12–15 cm wide, palmately divided into 3 segments to the base; the central segment is rhombic, and the left and right segments are each further unequally divided in two.
The leaves are thick and glossy.
The leaf stalk is 6.5–9 cm long.
About 10 blue-purple flowers are borne densely at the stem tip, and the flower stalks are hairy.
In the flower, the 5 sepals are petal-like, and the uppermost one is shaped like a helmet.
The fruit is a follicle.

[Uses]
Although poisonous, the tuberous roots are used medicinally.
It is also used mainly as a cut flower for ornament, and many cultivars have been developed.

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