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FOC | Family List | FOC Vol. 6 | Ranunculaceae

10. Aconitum Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 532. 1753; Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 236; 1754.

乌头属 wu tou shu

Li Liangqian; Yuichi Kadota

Herbs perennial or pseudoannual, rarely annual, with taproots or 2 to several caudices. Stem erect or twining. Leaves simple or compound, cauline ones alternate, sometimes all basal, palmately divided, rarely undivided. Inflorescence usually racemose. Pedicel with 2 bracteoles. Flowers bisexual, zygomorphic. Sepals 5, petaloid, purple, blue, or yellow; lower sepals 2, narrowly lanceolate or oblong, small; lateral sepals 2, suborbicular; upper sepal falcate, navicular, galeate to cylindric. Petals 2, clawed; limb usually with lip and spur, secretory tissue usually at limb apex, rarely abaxial. Staminodes usually absent. Stamens numerous; anthers ellipsoid-globose. Carpels 3--5(--13); style short, persistent.

About 400 species: temperate regions of the N hemisphere; 211 species (166 endemic) in China.


Key 2

1 Inflorescence a 1-flowered scape; upper sepal navicular, petaline limb very small, lip and spur indistinct; carpels 6--8   22 A. fletcheranum
+ Inflorescence usually racemose, many flowered; upper sepal cylindric or high galeate; petals with distinct lip and spur; carpels 3.   (2)
       
2 (1) Stem twining.   (3)
+ Stem erect.   (4)
       
3 (2) Inflorescence rachis retrorse and appressed pubescent   11 A. finetianum
+ Inflorescence rachis spreading pubescent   12 A. alboviolaceum
       
4 (2) Upper sepal high galeate or subcylindric, 6--10 mm high, broader than high.   (5)
+ Upper sepal cylindric, more than 13 mm high, higher than broad.   (7)
       
5 (4) Stem retrorse and spreading hispid, to 65 cm tall, ca. 4 mm in diam.; sepals blue-purple, upper sepal subcylindric   1 A. chrysotrichum
+ Stem retrorse pubescent or subglabrous, 100--200 cm tall, more than 8 mm in diam.; upper sepal galeate or high galeate.   (6)
       
6 (5) Stem to 200 cm tall, ca. 1.5 cm in diam.; leaf blade to 25 cm wide; petals not spurred; sepals yellowish or white   3 A. apetalum
+ Stem to 100 cm tall, ca. 1 cm in diam.; leaf blade to 10 cm wide; petals shortly spurred; sepals pale purple   2 A. novoluridum
       
7 (4) Leaf blade ternate   21 A. barbatum
+ Leaf blade deeply to medially 3-lobed.   (8)
       
8 (7) Stem scapose to subscapose; pedicel with 2 bracteoles at base.   (9)
+ Stem leafy; pedicel with 2 bracteoles above base.   (14)
       
9 (8) Pedicels (except lowermost pedicels of inflorescence) 1.5--7 mm.   (10)
+ Pedicels of basal part of inflorescence 5--20 mm or longer.   (11)
       
10 (9) Upper sepal 1.3--1.5 cm high; petaline spur ca. 1 mm   4 A. brevicalcaratum
+ Upper sepal ca. 1.1 cm high; petaline spur ca. 4 mm   5 A. kialaense
       
11 (9) Distal pedicels 5--12 mm; bracteoles linear; petaline spur nearly equal to lip in length.   (12)
+ Distal pedicels 14--20 mm; bracteoles narrowly ovate; petaline spur 2--3 × longer than lip.   (13)
       
12 (11) Pedicels spreading pubescent; flowers dark purplish blue to violet or pink, sometimes yellowish white; petaline spur circinate   8 A. crassiflorum
+ Pedicels appressed pubescent; flowers dull yellow; petaline spur gently incurved   9 A. rilongense
       
13 (11) Pedicels appressed pubescent; leaf blade 3-parted nearly to base   7 A. cavaleriei
+ Pedicels spreading pubescent; leaf blade 3-parted to or slightly beyond middle   6 A. scaposum
       
14 (8) Lower pedicels less than 1 cm   10 A. longecassidatum
+ Lower pedicels more than 1.2 cm.   (15)
       
15 (14) Sepals yellow.   (16)
+ Sepals blue-purple.   (19)
       
16 (15) Inflorescence spreading pubescent   17 A. monticola
+ Inflorescence appressed pubescent.   (17)
       
17 (16) Stem sparsely retrorse pubescent basally; petaline spur subspirally incurved or circinate   18 A. umbrosum
+ Stem and petioles spreading pubescent, sometimes with intermixed retrorse hairs; petaline spur erect, slightly curved or spirally curved.   (18)
       
18 (17) Upper sepal 1--1.3 cm high; petaline spur spirally incurved   19 A. ranunculoides
+ Upper sepal 1.5--2 cm high; petaline spur erect or slightly incurved   20 A. kirinense
       
19 (15) Inflorescence usually retrorse and appressed pubescent   14 A. sinomontanum
+ Inflorescence spreading pubescent.   (20)
       
20 (19) Leaf blade abaxially with straight hairs, hairs 0.8--1.2 mm   16 A. septentrionale
+ Leaf blade abaxially with slightly crisped hairs, hairs 0.2--0.5 mm.   (21)
       
21 (20) Leaf lobes shallowly divided, acute or shortly acuminate at apex, ultimate lobules triangular, acute at apex   13 A. wardii
+ Leaf lobes deeply divided, long acuminate at apex, ultimate lobules narrowly triangular, sharp at apex   15 A. leucostomum

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