Welcome to the world famous herb, aconite. In the West, we are referring to Aconitum napellus (aka wolfsbane or monkshood) and in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) we are referring to Aconitum charmichaeleae (aka Fu Zi and Chuan Wu).

There are many different aconite species, all of them poisonous, here we are focusing on A. napellus and A. charmichaeleae, collectively regarded as being “true aconite”.

In the West, aconite is largely known as the poisonous and highly toxic herb that it is, associated with assination and the killing of wolves. It was not until the 18th century that the herb began to be studied and recognized for its possible healing potentials.

In TCM, aconite (A. charmichaeleae) is revered as the “King of the 100 Herbs.” It is important to note that this tradition of using aconite as a healing medicine, is based on hundreds of years of usage that includes attention to proper preparation and blending techniques that help to counter the herbs toxicity making it a go-to herb for treating chronic and severe ailments such as cancer, endocrine disorders, cardiac arrest, anxiety, arthritis, and pneumonia due to Collapse of Yang. Symptoms of Collapse of Yang can include extremely cold extremities, chills, pain, cold sweats, and a very weak pulse.

Used properly, this is a classic example of a toxic herb being processed correctly to ready it for effective medicinal use.

Raw aconite is a deadly poison, and processed aconite, while still containing toxic compounds, can be softened and counteracted by processing techniques and the inclusion of other herbs that help to balance this herbs poisonous properties.

Find out more about this herbs history, applications, and more.

Discover Aconite / Wolfbane (Fu Zi) and other herbs by visiting our Herb Directory.