Aconitum anthora

Aconitum anthora, sometimes called Anthore or Venomous Aconite, is a wild species with a rather compact habit and pale yellow flowers, widespread in the mountains of Southern Europe, which should thrive in sunny rock gardens. This plant, rare in cultivation, produces spikes of flowers in late summer topped with a large petal in the shape of an ancient helmet, characteristic of the genus Aconitum. Its flowering stems dominate a clump of strongly palmate leaves, cut into very thin strips. It is a very hardy Aconite, well adapted to rocky and limestone soils, very well-drained. Perfect for mountain gardens!

Aconitum anthora belongs, like all Aconites, to the Ranunculaceae family. It is a guest of limestone scree slopes and dry high-altitude meadows.

The flowering plant measures on average 65cm (26in) in height, with a width of 30 to 40cm (12 to 16in). This deciduous perennial, very resistant to cold, emerges from the ground in spring and disappears underground in winter. The flowering of this variety takes place in August-September. Clumps of leaves emerge from vertical, branched, green flowering stems, bearing a short inflorescence at their tip, composed of tightly clustered flowers. The irregular flowers are composed of 5 tepals. 4 form a pale yellow to yellowish corolla, revealing a throat with black stamens. The upper tepal, more colourful, widely inflated, in the shape of a Phrygian cap, envelops the rest of the flower. This plant develops from a fleshy to tuberous stump, from which an erect clump of sparsely hairy stems emerges in spring, adorned with tough, palmate, deeply lobed leaves. They are deeply veined, their colour a slightly shiny dark green. All parts of this perennial are highly toxic.

Aconites suffer from a bad reputation in the garden, due to their legendary toxicity, and this is truly regrettable, because they offer an unknown diversity, like this Anthora, well adapted to limestone rock gardens. They are robust, very hardy perennials, and their foliage is among the most beautiful among perennial plants. Not to mention their original and decorative flowering, ranging from almost white to Gentian blue, passing through yellow. Aconitum anthora can be planted in an alpine garden or in a rocky bed, with annual Delphiniums, Pulsatilla anemones, and Gentians for limestone soil, for example. Aconite flowers are magnificent in bouquets.