Everything about Winter Aconite totally explained
Eranthis (
Winter aconite) is a
genus of eight
species of
flowering plants in the
family Ranunculaceae (Buttercup family), native to southern
Europe and east across
Asia to
Japan.
They are
herbaceous perennial plants growing to 10-15 cm tall. The
flowers are yellow (white in
E. albiflora and
E. pinnatifida), and among the first to appear in spring, as early as January in mild climates, though later where winter snowpack persists; they're frost-tolerant and readily survive fresh snow cover unharmed. The
leaves only expand fully when the flowers are nearly finished; they're peltate, 5-8 cm diameter, with several notches, and only last for 2-3 months before dying down during the late spring.
The genus exhibits
aestivation, growing on
forest floors and using the sunshine available below the canopy of
deciduous trees before the leaves come out; the leaves die off when the shade from tree canopies becomes dense, or, in dry areas, when summer drought reduces water availability.
They are popular
ornamental plants grown for their winter or early spring flowering.
E. hyemalis is widely
naturalised in northern Europe and North America.
Propagate by lifting the tubers as the plants begin to die down, cutting or breaking them into separate sections and replanting these at once.
All parts of the plants are
poisonous, though the very acrid taste makes poisoning a low risk.
In Greek and Roman mythology, Medea tried to kill Theseus by poisoning him by putting aconite in his wine, thought to be the saliva of Cerberus, the three-headed dog who guarded the Underworld. Hercules dragged Cerberus up from the Underworld, while the dog turned his face away from the light, barking and depositing saliva along the path. The saliva hardened in the soil and produced its lethal poison in the plants that grew from the soil. Because it was formed and grew on hard stones, farmers called it 'aconite' (from the Greek
akone, meaning 'whetstone').
Species
External links
Further Information
Get more info on 'Winter Aconite'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://eranthis.totallyexplained.com">Eranthis Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
