Aconitum ferox - Vatsanabha

Vatsanabha, Aconitum ferox

Aconitum ferox is an herb found in the temperate to alpine regions of the Himalaya in the altitude of 3300-5000 m. All parts are highy toxic but has great use in ayurveda.

Uses

Respiratory diseases, Cardiac tonic, Aphrodisiac, Urinary disorders, Inflammation, Enlarged spleen

Parts Used

Roots

Chemical Composition

Air-dried roots contain 1.2% total alkaloids of which pseudoaconitine is 0.4%. Pseudoaconitine is biologically 1.5 times as active as aconitine.

Common names

Language	Common name
Kannada	vasanabhi, vatsanabhi
Hindi	bachhnag, bachnak, bis, bish, mahoor, mitha-zahar
Malayalam	valsanabhi, vatsanabhi
Tamil	cirinkivisam, karunaabhi, karunapi, vashanavi, vatcanapi, visanapi
Telugu	ativasa, nabhi, vasanabhi
Marathi	bachnag, vachnag
Gujarathi
Punjabi
Kashmiri
Sanskrit	ativisa, garala, kshveda, prativisa, vatsanabha
English	Monk's hood, Indian aconite

Properties

Reference: Dravya - Substance, Rasa - Taste, Guna - Qualities, Veerya - Potency, Vipaka - Post-digesion effect, Karma - Pharmacological activity, Prabhava - Therepeutics.

Dravya

Rasa

Madhura (Sweet), Tikta (Bitter), Katu (Pungent), Kashaya (Astringent)

Guna

Laghu (Light), Teekshna (Sharp)

Veerya

Ushna (Hot)

Vipaka

Katu (Pungent)

Karma

Vata, Pitta, Kapha

Prabhava

Habit

Herb

Identification

Leaf

Kind	Shape	Feature
Simple	Alternate	scattered, distant, excepting the lowest 2 or 3 which are usually delayed at the time of the flowering, up to 7, glabrous, or the uppermost very sparingly hairy; petioles slender, the lower up to 25 cm. long and much dilated at the base, uppermost very short; blade orbicular-cordate to reniform in outline with a rather wide sinus (up to 8 cm. deep) up to 11 cm.

Flower

Type	Size	Color and composition	Stamen	More information
Bisexual	Terminal raceme			a loose raceme 10-25 cm. long, often with slender, erect, few-flowered additional branches from the leafy base; rhachis slender, densely yellow-pubescent to sub-tomentose; floral leaves like the preceding leaves, but much reduced, passing upwards into trifid or entire and linear-lanceolate bracts; bracteoles at or below the middle, resembling reduced bracts, very often suppressed; pedicels slender, erect, the lowest at length up to 7 cm. long. Sepals: blue, hairy; uppermost helmet-shaped, helmet semi-orbicular in profile, shortly beaked 20—24 mm. high, 17—20 mm. from tip to base, 7—9 mm. wide; lateral sepals slightly contiguous with the helmet, oblique, orbicular-obovate, broadly clawed, 16 mm. long, 14 mm. broad; lower sepals deflexed, oblong subacute, 10 mm. long.

Fruit

Type	Size	Mass	Appearance	Seeds	More information
Follicles			oblong, obliquely subtruncate, 15—20 mm. long, 4-5 mm. broad, dorsally sub-convex, loosely tomentose or at length almost glabrous, conspicuously reticulate.	obovoid or obpyramidal, 2.6—3 mm. long, winged along the raphe, transversely lamellate on the faces, lamellae undulate

Other features

List of Ayurvedic medicine in which the herb is used

• Mrityunjaya rasa
• Hingulesware rasa
• Anandabhairava agnitundi vati

Mode of Propagation

Seeds, Root Divisions

Commonly seen growing in areas

Himalayas, Temperate area

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