Family: buttercups (Ranunculaceae)
Flowering time: July–September
Size: 60–200 cm
Habitat: damp forests, forest edges, among tall stems and shrubs
Painted monkshood (Aconitum variegatum) is a tall plant with a stem that is upright to lance-shaped and curved. Toward the top of the bare stem, which is often zigzag, lateral shoots arise from the leaf axils with a few large, bilaterally symmetrical flowers. For the pale bluish flowers with a touch of light green at the tips of the petals, it is characteristic that they lack a spur, the upper petals are gathered into the so-called helmet. All the petals of the painted monkshood are hairless on the outside, and the helmet is clearly higher than its width. The flower stalks are also completely bare. Under the helmet hide nectaries, which have straight stalks and do not touch the top of the helmet. Among the stamens we will find 3 to 5 pistils, which are markedly hairy along the ventral seam.
Painted monkshood is a highly poisonous plant! It thrives in partial shade on alkaline, moist, nitrogen-rich soils. Except for the northeastern part, it is distributed throughout Slovenia.
