Aconitum balfourii in Valley of Flowers

The generic name Aconitum means arrow. Ancient Greek hunters used to smear the juice of roots on arrows for hunting practices. The species name is named after John Hutton Balfour who served as a Professor of Botany at Edinburgh and Glassgow University.

Aconitum balfourii is a erect herb of height 1 m. Roots are tuberous. Flowers are blue in color. Upper most sepal is of helmet shape. Sepals and Petals both are 5 in number. There are many stamens with hairy filaments.

English Name	Indian Aconite
Local Name	Meeta Vish, Mintha
Family	Ranunculaceae(The butter cup family)
Flowering time	July to September
Habitat	Mountains slopes and Meadows
Uses	Tubers are used for Fever, sciatica and bowel complaints. in Tibet it is used as an analgesic. Also used as an Antiinflammatory, Antirheumatic and Vermifuge
Location in the Valley of flowers	This flower is not so common in valley of flowers. But it is so prominent in color that you can not miss it if it is there in valley of flowers. We have seen it many time near the big rock (Generally people take rest under this rock) at the official starting point of valley of flowers.