Aconitum columbianum

Columbian monkshood

Family: Ranunculaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Columbian monkshood is a California native perennial found in mountain and foothill regions in moist meadows, streambanks, and conifer forests at elevations of 600 to 3,000 meters. Flowering from July to September, this plant produces distinctive deep blue-purple to white flowers with an unusual helmet-shaped upper sepal 10 to 22 millimeters tall. Growing with erect stems 30 to 150 centimeters tall that may become reclining or twining at higher points, it develops a robust and graceful form. Its large leaves, typically 5 to 15 centimeters wide, are deeply divided into 3 to 5 wedge-shaped segments with irregular teeth or lobes toward the leaf tips. The plant produces glabrous to slightly hairy fruit clusters in an open, spreading arrangement.

California counties: Mono, Mariposa, Inyo, Fresno, Tulare, Trinity, Nevada, Humboldt, Siskiyou, Kern, Butte, Madera, Plumas, Alpine, Modoc, El Dorado, Stanislaus, Placer, Sierra, Lake, Lassen, Tehama, Shasta, Amador, Del Norte, Tuolumne, Colusa, Calaveras, San Mateo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.