Aconitum columbianum Nutt.

vernacular Columbian monkshood — species · Ranunculaceae

USDA: ACCO4
GBIF: 3033668
Rank: species

Columbian monkshood (Aconitum columbianum) — Platephotograph · agcosciaCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Forb/herb
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Ranunculaceae Juss.
Genus: Aconitum

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 15 counties across 2 states/territories

Legend Native · 15 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: Medium
Moisture use: High
Fire: Medium
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: Medium
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -28 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 110 min.
Precipitation: 12–50 in/yr
pH range: 5.4–7.2
Root depth: 10 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Single Crown
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 5 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Blue
Fruit colour: Black
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: Moderate

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Early Summer
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Moderate
Stratify: No
Propagation: seed, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 15 counties across 2 states/territories.

Arizona view state ↗ 8 N ▾

Montana view state ↗ 7 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/ACCO4 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3033668 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T03:31:52Z