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Southern Blue Monkshood

Aconitum uncinatum

Found in seepages, saturated swamps, cove forests, other moist forests. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

Highly poisonous

Native to Virginia. Not suggested for planting. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 88%

Light
Dappled sunlight, Partial shade
Soil moisture
Usually moist

Highly poisonous. Highly toxic plant. Avoid ingestion and unprotected handling; excluded from default planting suggestions. Plant caution source

Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.

At a glance

Life cycle
Perennial
Leaves
Deciduous
Bloom
August to October

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread

Height: NC species account not read yet.

Spread: no source found yet.

Recorded in 57 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 4

Seeps and springs

Weymouth Woods Gum Swamp Trail seep
Groundwater seep. Shown: Gum Swamp Trail, Weymouth Woods, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Weymouth Woods Gum Swamp Trail seep, ncwetlands.org, undated. CC BY 2.0. Source record.

Swamps

View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina
Named place / source context. Shown: Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretation, a neighboring state.View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Rich cove forests

Cove hardwood forest
Regional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Cove hardwood forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

Moist forests

Shortia beneath rhododendrons in mountain woodland
Regional / representative. Shown: Mountains of North and South Carolina; exact site not identified, a neighboring state.Shortia beneath rhododendrons in mountain woodland, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 113 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

2CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Aconitum

  • Pyrrhia ciliscaAmerican Bordered Sallow, Noble Sun Moth
  • Pyrrhia exprimensPurple-Lined Sallow, Purple-Lined Sun Moth
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
1BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Aconitum

Individual names are not available yet.

Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Ranunculaceae
Hardiness
Zones 4b–8b
Soil pH
Acidic to neutral
Flower color
Blue or purple
Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Appalachian Blue Monkshood; Eastern Blue Monkshood

Conservation status

Virginia rankS4
Global rankG4
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources