Aconitum alboviolaceum – Botanically Inclined

Yesterday I sowed the first Aconitum seeds of the season! – a good occasion to also publish this post, drafted since late spring.

Aconitum is a large genus with many beautiful species, usually growing in mountainous regions of the Northern Hemisphere, popularly known as wolf’s banes or monkshoods. Many know that they are toxic/medicinal species, but more than that they are highly valued as garden plants.

Like many other species from fam. Ranunculaceae they can prove difficult to germinate from dry stored seeds. Most often it is not possible to moist pack the seeds right away; some collectors are not aware of the requirement or they are unwilling to do it because it is too tedious.

Experienced growers from all over the world will confirm the fact that dry kept seeds of various Aconitum species will generally germinate poorly/germinate in the second year after sowing, or in many cases will never germinate.

My intention is to compile a list for Aconitum species showing their germination pattern when using fresh, moist packed or dry seeds. Knowing which species retain good germination capacity even after their seeds are kept dry for a given amount of time would be very useful.

Generally speaking, we know for sure few facts about Aconitum seeds/germination:
– at the time of seed collecting the embryos are underdeveloped
– the germination can’t occur until the embryos reach a certain size, usually after a period of cold/moist stratification.
– GA3 treatment can promote embryo growth for some species, and thus can be useful in combination with the cold/moist period.

The list below was compiled from my own data and supplied by others on the Scottish Rock Garden Forum, where you can also find a thread open on this subject. Feel free to contribute.

And few pictures with various Aconitum species that germinated this spring (2018), in the second year after sowing (dry seeds, GA3 treatment), seedlings, new seeds and the new batch of Aconitum sowings!

Aconitum species germinated 2018

Aconitum alboviolaceum seedlings 2018

Aconitum moldavicum seeds

Aconitum species sown Dec. 2018

Few Aconitum species will be available late next week!

Yet another subject that I don’t have enough time to dedicate – the climbing Aconitum species. While the old fashioned monkshoods have been in the gardens and are well known for a long time (yes, despite the fact that they are highly poisonous), the climbing ones are still to raise a few eyebrows. Most of them, like A. hemsleyanum, A. volubile, and A. uncinatum with the usual blue flowers are a bit more common than this one that makes me start the conversation: Aconitum alboviolaceum – from China, Korea, Far East Russia, where it grows in “forest, scrub in valleys, mountains; 300-1400 m” (Flora of China vol.6). Two varieties are recognized: var. alboviolaceum: with twining stems – 100-250 cm and var. erectum – stems up to 30 cm tall.

Aconitum alboviolaceum var. alboviolaceum

Raised from seed and in its third year now, it twined very gracefully around a snake bark maple in the Display Garden at Lost Horizons, without becoming too cumbersome. In a perfect match with the snake bark, rows of monks with pink&white hoods are now, slowly climbing up….