Synonyms

Aconitum balfourii Stapf.: Aconitum atrox (Brühl) Mukerjee; Aconitum atrox Goris; Aconitum ferox var. atrox Brühl; Caltha codua Buch.-Ham. (Hassler 2020)

Aconitum ferox Wall. ex. Ser.: Aconitum atrox Walp; Aconitum virosum D. Don (Hassler 2020)

Aconitum heterophyllum Wall. ex Royle: Intraspecific taxa: Aconitum heterophyllum subsp. heterophyllum; Aconitum heterophyllum subsp. parciflorum R.A. Qureshi & M.N. Chaudhri; Aconitum heterophyllum var. roylei L.B. Chaudhary & R.R. Rao (Hassler 2020)

Aconitum laeve Royle: Aconitum lycoctonum Besser; Aconitum vitifolium Royle ex Stapf.

Aconitum naviculare (Brühl) Stapf.: Aconitum bhutanicum Y. Kadota; Aconitum creagromorphum Lauener; Aconitum ferox var. naviculare Brühl; Intraspecific taxon: Aconitum naviculare var. leiocarpum Tamura (Hassler 2020)

Aconitum spicatum Stapf.: Aconitum ferox var. spicata Brühl (Hassler 2020)

Aconitum violaceum Jacq. ex Stapf var. violaceum: Aconitum multifidum Koch ex Rchb.; Aconitum multifidum Royle; Intraspecific taxon: Aconitum napellus var. multifidum (Royle) Hook. fil. & Thoms.; Aconitum violaceum var. robustum Stapf; Aconitum violaceum var. weileri (Gilli) H. Riedl. (Hassler 2020); Aconitum violaceum var. multifidum (Royle) Qureshi & Chaudhri

Local Names

Aconitum balfourii: English: Balfour’s Monkshood; Nepali: Gobaree; Hindi: Meetha; Bhotiya: Meetha jari, Mithabish.

Aconitum ferox: English: Indian aconite, Monk’s hood; Hindi: Bachhnag, Mithabish; Nepali: Bis, Bikh, Nilo Bikh, Kaalo Bis; Kham: Dutsi loma; Tibetan: Bong-nag, zinpa; Sanskrit/Ayurvedic: Vatsanaavah; Unani: Bishnaag; Siddha/Tamil: Vasanaavi, Karunaab-hi; Sikkim: Bikhma; Lepcha: Nyine.

Aconitum heterophyllum: English: Atis root; Nepali: Atis; Sanskrit: Ativisha; Hindi: Atis, Arand, Ataicha; Tibetan: Bon-na, bon-na dhar-po; Malayalam: Athividayam; Ayurvedic: Ativishaa, Arunaa, Vishaa, Shuklakandaa; Siddha/Tamil: Athividayam; Urdu: Atis talkh; Gilgit-Baltistan: Patrees; Sikkim: Bikhma; North Pakistan: Mohri; Ladakh: Atees; Buwan, Paunkar, Boga-karpo, Boi; Jammu: Patrees; Kashmir: Pivak, Patis, Patrees, Paewakh, Bandalnag.

Aconitum laeve: Pashto: Zahamora زهرمورا, Hindi: Bariyara, Gulsakari Pakistan: Maniree, Ayurvedic: Vatsanaabha, Telugu: Nagabala.

Aconitum naviculare: Gurung: Ponkar, Boknar; Tamang: Mongar; Chinese: Chuan kui wu tou; Tibetan: Bong-nga kar-po; Amchi: Bongkar, Bongnga karpo.

Aconitum spicatum: English: Nepal Aconite; Nepali: Bikh; Gurung: Galtu; Kham: Tsen dug; Sherpa: Dug, Memen; Chinese: ya dong wu tou.

Aconitum violaceum: Pashto: Zaharmora; Urdu: Atees, Jadwar, English: Violet Monkshood; Nepali: Madhubish; Hindi: Bokar, Kali-Patish, Bauva (in Uttarakhand);North Pakistan: Booma, Mohri; Jammu: Mori, Patrishi; Kashmir: Atis, Bishmool, Mohand, Mori; Ladakh: Boga-karpo, Boga-nagpo, Jhimba, Yangtso, Jhimba.

Botany and Ecology

Aconitum species are mostly distributed in subalpine and alpine moist pastures, shady places and some species in temperate and subalpine forest edges (Singh et al. 2012).

Aconitum balfourii: Erect glabrous herb, up to 2 m tall. Stem simple or branched, lower leaves long-stalked, upper leaves short-stalked. Inflorescence many-flowered racemes with yellowish tomentum, up to 30 cm long; sepals 5, blue, pubescent, uppermost helmet-shaped; petals glabrous. Flowering and fruiting September to November (Gaur 1999).

Aconitum ferox: Erect perennial herb, 1–2 m tall. Leaves palmate, with 5 ovate or wedge-shaped lobes. Flowers deep blue, 2–3 cm long, in spike. Flowering and fruiting in August – November. Mostly found in shady and moist places, shrub land, moist forests between 2100–3800 m in the temperate, subalpine and alpine Himalayan regions (Polunin et al. 1987; Ghimire et al. 2008).

Aconitum heterophyllum: Biennial with 2 tubers. Stem (15–)25–70(–90) cm high, simple or with a few branches in the lower part, glabrous with a few very short crispate hairs above. Lower most leaves with long petioles, orbicular-cordate to ovate-cordate in outline, usually deeply 5-lobed with crenate lobes, the others with short petioles or sessile, semi-amplexicaul, irregularly crenate-dentate, rarely lobate. Inflorescence a loose raceme, rarely subpaniculate. Lower bracts similar to upper leaves, the others ovate to lanceolate, crenate or entire. In the longer peduncles the bracteoles are elliptical or usually entire. Sepals blue to violet, glabrous. Lateral sepals obliquely obovate with dark tips, 14–20 × 12–20 mm, not stipitate, lower ones narrower. Petals (nectaries) with a long (16–18 mm) claw and short (4 mm) very wide hood, lobed or entire. Filaments winged above the middle, 6–8 mm long. Carpels 5, oblong-elliptical, pubescent, abruptly contracted to the style of about equal length. Follicles straight, 16–18 mm, glabrescent or glabrous. Seeds obpyramidate, 3–4 mm long with almost winged angles. Common on grassy meadows, rocky moist areas, alpine dry scrubs, grassy and shady slopes between 2400–4500 m (Ali and Qaiser 1995–2020; Bhat et al. 2014) (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Aconitum heterophyllum (Ranunculaceae), Kalam Mehodand valley, Swat, Pakistan. (Photo I. Ur-Rahman & H. Sher)

Full size image

Aconitum laeve: Root elongate, cylindrical. Stem erect, up to 1.5 m high, simple or with a few branches, in the upper part hairy and viscid, glabrous below. Basal leaves with very long petioles, usually withered at flowering time, stern-leaves gradually decreasing in size toward the inflorescence, deeply five- to nine-palmatisect with obovate to obovate-oblong segments, coarsely dentate or sometimes incised again, orbicular to orbicular-reniform in outline, up to 30 cm wide, glabrous, uppermost merging with floral leaves. Inflorescence composed of branched racemes, up to 50 cm, with leafy apices. Bracteole linear to filiform. Helmet from a wide base suddenly tapering to a cylindrical hood, straight or slightly recurved at apex, 12–16 mm high, 3.5 mm wide, yellowish. Petals (nectaries) with a narrowly conical straight gibbulose or recurved hood, 5 mm long, with deflexed, oblong, shortly bilobed lips. Filaments winged to the middle. Follicles 3, 10–13 mm, spreading, glabrous or with yellowish hairs. Seeds elliptic-oblong, compressed, shiny, finely transversely rugose, 2.5–3 mm long. Flowering July–August. (Ali and Qaiser 1995–2020; Polunin et al. 1987; Chaudhary and Rao 1998) (Fig. 2). Aconitum laeve is found in forest edges, open meadows, and partially on shaded places (Khan et al. 2012; Kumar et al. 2020).

Fig. 2
figure 2

Aconitum laeve (Ranunculaceae), Pakistan. (Photo Hammad Ahmad Jan)

Full size image

Aconitum naviculare (Brühl) Stapf: Perennial herb, 10–30 (45) cm tall. Basal leaves, petiolate, petiole 2.5–21 cm, orbicular-cordate, deeply 3–5 lobed, upper leaves 1 or 2, much smaller, sub-sessile, deeply 3-lobed. Flowers in loose racemes, dull reddish purple/violet blue, with dark purple veins. Flowering September – early October, fruiting October (Stainton 1997; Ohba et al. 2008). Found in alpine meadows and shrublands between 4000 and 4800 m in semiarid and trans-Himalayan regions in open, relatively dry and sunny south facing slopes (Shrestha and Jha 2009, 2010).

Aconitum spicatum: Shrub, 1–1.5 m tall, usually simple, sparsely pubescent. Proximal cauline leaves withered at anthesis, middle ones slightly long petiolate, leaf blade cordate-pentagonal, 7 × 9.5 cm, both surfaces appressed pubescent, 3-parted; central lobe rhombic, 3-fid; lateral lobes obliquely flabellate, unequally 2-fid. Inflorescence 6–15 cm, many flowered; rachis and pedicels densely spreading yellowish pubescent and shortly glandular pubescent; bracts leaflike or lanceolate-linear to linear. Pedicels 2–8 cm, oblique upward, proximally with 2 bracteoles; bracteoles narrowly linear, about 4 mm. Sepals purple, abaxially densely pubescent; lower sepals about 1.6 cm; lateral sepals 1.5–1.7 cm; upper sepal galeate or lower galeate, 1.5–2 cm high, around 1.7 cm from base to beak, lower margin slightly concave. Petaline claw sparsely pubescent; lip about 5 mm, slightly concave; spur slightly incurved, ca. 1.5 mm. Stamens sparsely pubescent; filaments entire. Carpels 5, densely yellowish pubescent. Flowering September, up to 4000 m (Ghimire et al. 2008; Wu et al. 1994–2013).

Aconitum violaceum: Biennial with geminate tubers. Stem 10–30 cm high, usually simple, erect in the lower part, glabrous or hairy. Leaves forming a dense cluster near the base, rarely equally distributed throughout the whole length, with ± long petioles, orbicular, five-palmatipartite to the base, primary segments deeply bi-pinnatisect, lobes of the last order linear, acute or subobtuse, ± glabrous, the upper leaves much reduced in size. Inflorescence a dense or ± lax, simple raceme, rarely with a single branch. Bracts similar to upper leaves, but much reduced. Lower pedicels 4(−5) cm with spreading hairs. Sepals violet, rarely blue or yellowish-green with blue veins, pubescent, helmet 14–20 mm high, 18–24 mm long (including beak), lateral sepals broadly obovate, oblique, 12–16 × 10–14 mm, lower ones elliptical, 10–12 mm, deflexed. Petals (nectaries) glabrous, claw 12–18 mm, hood gibbous dorsally, with truncate recurved lips. Filaments hairy in the upper part, winged in the lower, wings ending in tiny teeth. Two varieties can be distinguished. Open and damp places, forests, and meadows 3000–4500 m in Pakistan. Distributed in Nepal, NE India, China, Kashmir, and Northern Parts of Pakistan. Locally found in the high altitude of Swat Dir, Chitral, Gilgit, and Hazara Division. Harvesting time: August and September. Threatened (Ali and Qaiser 1995–2020; Jabeen et al. 2013) (Figs. 3, 4 and 5).

Fig. 3
figure 3

Aconitum violaceum (Ranunculaceae), Pakistan. (Photo Wahid Hussain)

Full size image
Fig. 4
figure 4

Aconitum violaceum (Ranunculaceae), Pakistan. (Photo Haider Ali)

Full size image
Fig. 5
figure 5

Aconitum violaceum (Ranunculaceae), Pakistan. (Photo Haider Ali)

Full size image

Mostly found in rhododendron forest edges, rocky moist areas, open grassy alpine slopes, and alpine pastures of central Himalaya from 3600–4800 m in Jammu Kashmir and 4000–4500 m asl in Nepal (Sharma et al. 2014; Sabir et al. 2016; Rajbhandary and Rai 2017).

Phytochemistry

Aconitum balfourii: Contains pseudoaconitine, aconitine (Sharma and Gaur 2012), balfourine, (Khetwal et al. 1992; Khetwal and Pande 2004), norditerpenoid alkaloids (Khetwal et al. 1994).

Aconitum ferox: Tubers ferox: Tubers contain pseudaconitine, bikhaconitine, veratroyl pseudaconine, diacetyl pseudaconitine, norditerpenoid alkaloids (Hanuman and Katz 1993a), quinolinones (Hanuman and Katz 1993b), lipoalkaloides (Hanuman and Katz 1994a). Other compounds include 14-O-acetylsenbusine A, norditerpenoid alkaloids-chasmaconitine, crassicauline-A, falconericine, bikhaconine, pseudaconine, neoline, senbusine-A, isotalatizidine and columbianine (Hanuman and Katz 1994b).

Aconitum heterophyllum: Contains alkaloids heterophyllisine, heterophylline, heterophyllidine, atidine, F-dihydroatisine, hetidine, hetisinone, atisine and hetisine heteratisine (Pelletier et al. 1968; Aneja et al. 1973), the diterpenoid lactone atisenol (Pelletier et al. 1982), 6-dehydroacetylsepaconitine and 13-hydroxylappaconitine, lycoctonine, delphatine, lappaconitine (Ahmad et al. 2008).

Aconitum laeve: Contains 8-methyllycaconitine, 14-demethyllycaconitine, and N-deethyllycaconitine-N-aldehyde, swatinine, delphatine, lappaconitine, puberanine, N-acetylsepaconitine (Shaheen et al. 2005; Ulubelen et al. 2002), lappaconitine, puberanine, swatinine, N-acetylsepaconitine (Shaheen et al. 2005). Also flavonol glycosides (quercetin-3-O-ß-D-glucopyranoside -7-O-ά-L-rhamnoside and quercetin-3-O-rutinoside-7-O-rhamnoside) (Kumar and Verma 2011, swatinine-A, swatinine-B (Begum et al. 2014).

Aconitum naviculare: A very well researched species from which alkaloids (e.g., navirine, isoatisine, hordenine, atisine, hetisinone and delfissinol), flavonoid glycosides, and phenol glycosides have been reported (Gao et al. 2004; Shrestha and Dall’Acqua 2010; He et al. 2017). Cao et al. (2008) reported naviculine A and B, Dall’Acqua et al. (2008) navirine B, navirine C and chellespontine. He et al. (2017) found navicularine A, B, and C, chellespontine, hetisine, and heteratisine.

Aconitum spicatum: Especially in the root tubers aconitine, bikhaconitie, mesaconitine, hypaconitine, deoxyaconitine, spicatine A, spicatine B (Gao et al. 2005).

Aconitum violaceum: Contains diterpenes, flavonoids, fatty acids, aconitine, indaconitine, and polysaccharide such as starch, indaconitine, atisine (Bahuguna et al. 2000; Yadav and Verma 2010) and aconitine (Rawat et al. 2014).

Local Medicinal Uses

Aconitum balfourii Stapf: Mostly roots.

Aconitum ferox Wall. ex Ser.: The whole plant is used but root tubers are more preferred.

Aconitum heterophyllum Wall.: Mostly harvested for tubers.

Aconitum laeve Royle: Both aerial parts and roots are used.

Aconitum naviculare (Brühl) Stapf: Entire plant parts but the tuberous root is more preferred than aerial parts.

Aconitum spicatum (Brühl) Stapf: Whole plant but mostly harvested for tubers.

Aconitum violaceum Jacq. ex Stapf: Whole plant but tubers are preferred.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

Aconitum balfourii Stapf: Used to cure arthritis (Joshi 2016), fever and rheumatism (Kumar et al. 2015; Rawat 2005; Bisht et al. 2013), leprosy (Phondani et al. 2010) and boils (Uniyal 2003). Taken orally with lukewarm water for stomach acidity and the decoction with Picrorhiza kurroa for stomachache (Boktapa and Sharma 2010). Root powder [of Aconitum atrox (Bruchi) Mukherjee. (syn.)] prepared after drying in sunlight is mixed with tobacco and smoked to cure cough (Jain and Saklani 1991). Aconotum balfourii roots are used to treat snakebites, boils, gout, scorpion stings and insect bites (Singh et al. 2017).

Aconitum ferox: Used to treat fever, cuts, and inflammation (Ghimire et al. 2001), to treat joint pain (Uprety et al. 2010), leprosy, fever and cholera (Kunwar et al. 2006) and digestive problems and fever (Tiwari et al. 2009). The root material needs to be detoxified by boiling with water for 24 hours or more (Pradhan and Badola 2008). In India, dried tubers are detoxified by boiling in alcohol and used to treat like high fever, stomachache, tonsillitis and throat pain, and cheilitis (Tsering and Tag 2005), as analgesic and antipyretic (DPR 2007), antidote lethal poisons, ear and nose discharge, typhoid, body pain, rheumatism (Singh et al. 2002), and rabies (Quattrocchi 2012). In Sikkim it is used for asthma, blood clots, cough, diabetes, rheumatism, snakebites, stomachache, and toothache (Tamang et al. 2017). The Lepcha use the species to treat asthma, cough, leprosy, fever, and muscular rheumatism (Palit and Banerjee 2016).

Aconitum heterophyllum: Used to treat diarrhea dysentery and hemorrhoids; used against fever, sexual weakness, as anthelminthic (Ahmad et al. 2014), for flu, cough and abdominal pain, dysentery, cirrhosis, vomiting and stomach disorders, for colds and cough (Kayani et al. 2014), as tonic, febrifuge, and aphrodisiac (Ali et al. 2011). Also employed to treat stomach pain, gastric trouble, typhoid, tuberculosis (Bano et al. 2014; Waseem et al. 2006), bronchitis, pneumonia, constipation, stomachache, and toothaches (Mahmood et al. 2012), and as general body tonic (Sher and Hussain 2009). Roots ‘Ativisa’ used widely in ayurvedic medicines to treat fever, cough, asthma, and digestive problems (Shah and Joshi 1971; Kunwar and Duwadee 2003; Palit and Gurung 2008; Khan et al. 2010), diarrhea, dysentery, headache, cough, and cold (Rokaya et al. 2010), and to cure constipation (Tiwari et al. 2009). Tubers boiled in milk are used for fever, flu, digestive problems, and vomiting, and with mustard oil to cure arthritis (Lone et al. 2014), snakebites and Aconitum poisoning (Tsering and Tag 2005). They serve as antiperiodic, aphrodisiac, astringent, and tonic (DPR 2007) and sometimes are chewed as an aphrodisiac, vermifuge, anthelmintic, and febrifuge (Quattrocchi 2012). In Pakistan, root powder is given against kidney stones, for toothache, and rheumatism (Ahmad et al. 2009), and menstrual problems (Kumar et al. 2009). A decoction of Aconitum heterophyllum roots is used to cure diarrhea and to enhance memory (Sher et al. 2016). The dried roots are eaten by women during pregnancy to have a male child. In India the plant is used externally to treat wounds, cuts and boils, and headache, and ingested to treat fevers, stomach aches, and as anthelminthic (Singh et al. 2017). Also used to treat bile, remedy headache, colds, fever, and clean the digestive tract. In Sikkim it is used for snakebites, as antidote for food-poisoning, stomachache, anti-periodic, to treat piles, body-ache, could, cough, nose discharge, sore-throat, and as contraceptive (Tamang et al. 2017). In Ladakh used for fever and cough (Ballabh et al. 2008; Malik et al. 2015). In India the species is applied for body-ache, colic (Kala 2005; Kala et al. 2004). In Northern Pakistan it is used for fever, snakebite, joint pain, diarrhea, cough, and stomachache (Kayani et al. 2015).

Aconitum laeve Royle: Plant is used for kidney stone and other kidneys problem, as anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, and antioxidant (Quattrocchi 2012) and in the treatment of diarrhea, vomiting, cough, and cold (Srivastava et al. 2010). Also for the treatment of sciatica in Ladakh (Kala 2006), against kidney stones, kidney problems, nervous disorders.

Aconitum naviculare: Often used by Amchis (traditional Tibetan medicine practitioners) (Shrestha and Dall’Acqua 2010; Bhattarai et al. 2007; Shrestha et al. 2007; Ghimire et al. 2020). In Dolpa (western Nepal), used against poisoning (Lama et al. 2001), for gall bladder problems in Mustang (Chetri et al. 2006), against fever, headache, jaundice, high blood pressure, and cold in Manag (Bhattarai et al. 2006; Shrestha et al. 2007). In Tibet, used as a sedative, analgesic, and febrifuge (Gao et al. 2004), and for gastritis, hepatitis, and nephritis (Cao et al. 2008). The species is also widely used Bhutan (Nawang 1996) and Sikkim (Shrivastava 1998). In Kashmir, Ladakh and Jammu used as aphrodisiac, astringent, to treat cough, diarrhea, dysentery, dyspepsia, inflammations, as tonic, for abdominal ailments, abdominal pain, as anthelmintic, anti-periodic, to remedy arthritis, fever, general weakness, headache, hysteria, male impotence, intestinal inflammation, intestinal worms, joint pain, malarial fever, piles, skin problems, spleen enlargement, stomach ailments, stomach ache, throat infections, throat swelling, as tonic, for toothache, urinary infection, and vomiting (Gairola et al. 2014).

Aconitum spicatum: Although very toxic, the species is used as antipyretic and analgesic (Kunwar and Duwadee 2003), and to treat cough, bile fever, lung and intestine infection, headache, cuts, and wounds (Lama et al. 2001), as well as fever and headache (Uprety et al. 2010). The roots are detoxified by boiling them with Terminalia chebula Retz. (Ghimire et al. 2008), and roots are mixed with fruits of Terminalia bellerica (Gaertn.) Roxb. and roots of Stellera chamaejasme L. for joint pain and arthritis (Ghimire et al. 2008). The roots are also used for allergies, boils, cuts, wounds, and liver problems (Kunwar and Adhikari 2005; Bhattarai et al. 2010), the leaf paste for fever and headache (Kunwar and Adhikari 2005). Aconitum spicatum is used in Nepal as antidote and analgesic (Kunwar et al. 2006, 2016).

Aconitum violaceum: Roots used to treat rheumatism, stomachache, colds (Kumar et al. 2015). The root powder is eaten with sugar to treat stomachache and acute cough in children (Uniyal 2003), a root decoction in milk or ghee serves to treat fever, asthma, cough, and rheumatism, abscess, boils, and skin diseases (Noor et al. 2012), and rheumatism (Akhtar et al. 2013). In Kashmir ‘Khambir’ is prepared by fermenting sundried petals and sugar for 10–15 days, and serve to treat cough, cold, fever, stomach, and liver disorders, and root pieces are applied to cavities to treat toothache, and a mixture of roots and oil for boils and joint pains (Lone et al. 2014), as well as the root powder for sciatica and as analgesic, and the root juice used for snake and scorpion bites (Thakur et al. 2016). Roots are also used to remedy heart problems and high blood pressure (Rana et al. 2013; Sharma et al. 2010). It is used in Northern Pakistan to treat snakebites, scorpion stings, infections, cold, cough and fever (Kayani et al. 2015). In Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh for toothache, colds, cough, fever, liver ailments, stomach problems, as anthelmintic, appetizer, to treat asthma, gastric disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, joint pain, renal pain, rheumatism, as stomachic (Gairola et al. 2014).

In Middle Asia Aconitum extracts are used to treat tumors, rheumatism, and tuberculosis. In Kyrgyz medicine the infusion of the tubers in fermented horse milk or water is used for tuberculosis, radiculitis, headaches, and cancer. An infusion of the roots of Aconitum talassicum is used to treat rheumatism and malaria. (Bussmann et al. 2020).

Root powder of Aconitum atrox prepared after drying in sunlight is mixed with tobacco and smoked to cure cough (Jain and Saklani 1991). The plant is also used for fever, rheumatism, and abdominal pain (Malik et al. 2015).

Aconitum chasmanthum is used as body tonic (Kayani et al. 2015), neuralgia, rheumatism, beurological problems, and as anthelminthic (Gairola et al. 2014).

Aconitum rotundifolium serves as a remedy for joint pain, liver disorders, jaundice, and headache (Kayani et al. 2015), and as an antidote and anti-pyretic.

Local Handicraft and Other Uses

Aconitum ferox: Used to poison arrowheads (Rokaya et al. 2010) and as insecticide (Rana et al. 2015). Aconitum spicatum is used as an arrow poison in Nepal (Manandhar 1986; Rokaya et al. 2010). In Kangchenjunga, roots are tied on babies and mothers as ‘buti’ (amulet) against evil powers (Sherpa 2001).

Aconitum heterophyllum sometimes serves as fodder, and has high economic value (Wali et al. 2019).

Aconitum laeve: It is also used as veterinary medicine in Kashmir, where the roots are used to treat stomach and internal disorders (flukes, worms), and also as a tonic to treat weakness after diarrhea and delivery of cattle (Khuroo et al. 2007). In veterinary medicine some species are used to treat wounds and ulcers. All species are highly toxic. (Bussmann et al. 2020). In the Himalayas Aconitum is used to poison arrows.

Many species are heavily collected, and by now endangered due to over-harvesting (Jan et al. 2019), and high economic revenue (Aumeeruddy-Thomas et al. 2004; Gurung and Pyakurel 2017; Mulk Khan et al. 2014; Olsen 2005; O’Neill et al. 2017).