Ancient poisons, wolves, witchcraft, and the line between medicine and murder.
Very few flowers in the garden carry a reputation quite as sinister as wolfsbane. Its striking violet-blue flowers rise in tall spires, each bloom shaped like the hood of a medieval monk. Their distinctive appearance gives the plant one of its familiar names, monkshood, but it has gone by many names throughout history; wolfsbane, aconite, and the Queen of Poisons. These names all hint at the more sinister side of the delicate blooms.
Belonging to the genus Aconitum, in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae), monkshood has been cultivated for its extraordinary flowers and studied for its powerful medicinal and poisonous properties for centuries. Unlike henbane, belladonna, and mandrake, it is not a member of the nightshade family, yet it shares their complicated history of healing, harm, and supernatural folklore.
Beneath the beautiful hooded flowers lies one of the most toxic plants commonly grown in ornamental gardens. Its history stretches from the writings of ancient Greek physicians and Roman naturalists to medieval apothecaries, legends of werewolves, and early criminal investigations.
The Queen of Poisons
The poisonous properties of aconite were well known throughout the classical world. Ancient Greek and Roman writers, including Theophrastus, Pliny the Elder, and Dioscorides, described the dangerous effects of the plant. As with many plants from the Poison Garden, Wolfsbane was associated with both poison, and potential medicinal use.
In the ancient world, the distinction between medicine and poison was not always determined by the substance itself, but by how it was used, by whom, and for what purpose. Similar to the more modern saying, “the dose makes the poison.”
The Greek and Roman understanding of aconite was complicated by the existence of several closely related plants and names. In an age before scientific classification, it’s hard to determine what ancient scholars were referring to. Regardless, the surviving writings demonstrate an awareness that these plants possessed extraordinary and potentially fatal properties.
Aconite also appears in ancient discussions of poisoning and law. Its reputation was established enough that Greek and Roman authors used it as an example of a particularly dangerous poison, while early physicians attempted to understand whether such a toxic plant could ever provide therapeutic value.
The plant's reputation wasn’t based on superstition. Aconite is believed to be the poison used by Cleoparta to murder her brother Ptolmey XIV in the year 44 BC, and part of the deadly cocktail she used to take her own life in 30 BC, mixed with opium and poison hemlock. Modern toxicology has identified powerful alkaloids, including aconitine, that interfere with the electrical signaling of nerves and muscles, particularly the heart. Severe poisoning can cause numbness, vomiting, dangerous disturbances of heart rhythm, and death.
From Cerberus to Werewolves: Wolfsbane in Folklore
Like many plants associated with death, aconite acquired a supernatural history as elaborate as its medicinal one.
In Greek mythology, the poisonous plant was associated with Cerberus, the monstrous three-headed hound that guarded the entrance to the Underworld. According to a tradition preserved in Ovid's Metamorphoses, the aconite plant sprang from the poisonous dripping saliva of Cerberus when Hercules dragged the creature into the world of the living.
This early lore and association with canids may be connected to the plant’s use in wolf baiting and hunting and it’s moniker Wolfsbane. Historical accounts describe Wolfsbane other plants from the poison garden being used against predators to poison arrow tips and bait. Over time, the connection between wolfsbane and wolves evolved into European legends of werewolves and shapeshifting.
In later folklore and popular supernatural traditions, wolfsbane developed an inverse reputation as protection against werewolves and other dangerous creatures. However, these associations vary considerably by region and period. The familiar modern idea of wolfsbane as a universal defense against werewolves has more to do with later storytelling than medieval traditions.
Aconite is also a key element in the wider folklore of poisonous plants associated with sorcery and harmful magic. Like henbane, belladonna, and mandrake, its powerful effects made it a common ingredient in lore about witchcraft, hexes, and supernatural transformation.
The appearance of a plant in contemporary literature or folklore does not necessarily mean that it was routinely used by people accused of witchcraft. Much of what survives reflects the use of these common plants by lay-healers, service magicians and cunningfolk, which excited the fears and imaginations of zealous Witch Finders and accusers.
The Apothecary's Dangerous Medicine
Despite its potential for deadly misuse, the use of aconite in medicine can be traced through early human history.
Ancient physicians recognized its toxicity, but some explored its potential therapeutic applications. Centuries later, European medical practitioners used carefully prepared aconite products in attempts to relieve pain, inflammation, fever, and neuralgia.
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, aconite appeared in European pharmacopoeias and medical literature. Early physicians experimented with medicinal preparations of the plant, particularly for conditions involving pain and inflammation.
Its use and experimentation as a medicine came with considerable danger. The strength of plant-based preparations could vary wildly, and errors in identification, preparation, or administration sometimes resulted in serious or fatal poisoning.
Aconite also holds a place in several Asian medical traditions, particularly Traditional Chinese Medicine, where certain Aconitum species have been used for more than two thousand years. These traditions developed specialized methods of processing the plant to reduce its toxicity, although poisoning is still a risk as preparation, storage and dosage are not standardized.
This dual role as a deadly poison and a healing remedy shows that despite millennia of study and experimentation, a history of traditional medicinal use doesn't necessarily mean a plant is safe. Some of the natural materials that form the base of our most powerful substances also rank among the most dangerous. Today, modern medicine has developed more reliable treatments for ailments once treated with aconite.
A Poison in the Victorian Medicine Cabinet
By the nineteenth century, aconite's reputation as both medicine and poison had created a particularly troubling opportunity. It was a substance familiar to physicians and pharmacists, and its dangerous effects could make it a weapon in the hands of someone with medical knowledge.
One of the most notorious historic murder by aconite poisoning cases comes from Victorian England. The case involved Dr. George Henry Lamson, a physician convicted of murdering his teenage brother-in-law, Percy John, in 1881. Percy was a student at a boarding school in Wimbledon and expected to inherit family money. Lamson was experiencing financial difficulties, and saw the boy as an opportunity to solve his money problems. He had access and knowledge of medicinal plants and was known to have visited the young man shortly before his sudden death.
Investigators from Scotland Yard eventually concluded that Percy had been poisoned with aconitine, a compound derived from the wolfsbane or monkshood plant The investigation became an important episode in the history of forensic toxicology, demonstrating the growing ability of chemists and medical examiners to test for and identify plant-derived poisons in suspicious deaths.
Dr. Lamson was tried, convicted, and executed in 1882.
The case attracted widespread public attention, not least because the accused was a physician whose professional knowledge should have been used to preserve life rather than end it. Although it had a notorious association from ancient Rome and Egypt, this was the first documented case of Aconite crossing the boundary from medicine to murder.
Poison, Medicine, and the Stories We Tell
The history of wolfsbane illustrates why the plants of the Poison Garden are so fascinating.
To a gardener, monkshood is an delicate ornamental flower, with elegant spires of deep violet-blue blossoms. To an ancient physician, it represented a dangerous substance whose properties demanded caution. To a storyteller, it became a plant born from the jaws of a monstrous guardian of the Underworld. To a Victorian criminal, its toxic properties offered an instrument of murder.
These conflicting roles reflect the different ways people have interacted with and used the same plant across centuries.
It’s tempting to focus on Wolfsbane’s connection to witches, werewolves, and devious criminals, but after a deeper dive it’s clear that the dark history goes back much farther than our recent ancestors. There's a deeper story about ancient power struggles, early medical science, and the way culture and place shape our understanding of the natural world.
The delicate Monkshood flowers remain as beautiful as ever, a showstopping addition to garden landscapes, while their chemistry remains just as dangerous. In folklore, we are reminded that the natural world is ambivalent to humanity. A plant isn’t inherently good or bad, but possesses properties that make it successful. Humans have discovered ways to use those properties to meet their own needs throughout history.
Part of the Studio Henbane Journal series, The Poison Garden: Baneful Herbs, Witches & Healers, exploring the documented history, folklore, and cultural traditions surrounding some of the world's most fascinating and dangerous plants.
Safety note: All parts of monkshood are highly poisonous. This article explores historical and cultural uses and is not intended as advice for preparing or using aconite medicinally.
References
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Ovid. Metamorphoses, Book VII, lines 404–424. The story of Medea, Theseus, Cerberus, and the mythical origin of aconite. Read the English translation.
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Jagusiak, Krzysztof, and Konrad Tadajczyk (2022). "Aconite: A Poison, or a Medicine? Ancient and Early Byzantine Testimonies." Studia Ceranea, 12. An academic examination of ancient medical and legal writings concerning aconite. Read the research article.
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Wimbledon Museum. "The Tale of the Wimbledon Poisoner." An accessible historical account of Dr. George Henry Lamson, Percy Malcolm John, and the 1882 trial. Read the museum article.
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Singhuber, Judith, et al. (2009). "Aconitum in Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Valuable Drug or an Unpredictable Risk?" Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 126(1), 18–30. View the research.
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"The Toxicology and Detoxification of Aconitum: Traditional and Modern Views" (2021). Chinese Medicine. Covers historical medical uses, toxicology, and the continuing dangers of aconite preparations. Read the open-access article.
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National Capital Poison Center. "Aconitum napellus (Monkshood): A Purple Poison." Useful botanical and toxicological background, including documented accidental poisonings. Read the poison safety overview.