Aconitum ferox (syn. A. virorum) is a member of the monkshood genus Aconitum of the Ranunculaceae. The common name by which it is most often known in English is Indian Aconite, while the Hindi names used by practitioners of Ayurveda include वत्सनाभ vatsanabha (= "root resembling the navel of a child") and महाविषा mahavisha (= "great poison"). A tuberous-rooted, herbaceous perennial reaching 1.0 metre tall by 0.5 metres wide and tolerant of many soil types, Aconitum ferox forms the principal source of the Indian poison known variously as bikh, bish, and nabee. It contains large quantities of the extremely toxic alkaloid pseudaconitine (also known as nepaline, after Nepal) and is considered to be the most poisonous plant found in the Himalaya and one of the most poisonous in the world. The symptoms of poisoning usually appear 45 minutes to an hour after the consumption of a toxic dose and consist of numbness of the mouth and throat and vomiting. Respiration slows, with blood pressure falling synchronously, while the heart rate slows to 30-40 beats per minute. Consciousness characteristically remains unclouded until the end, which consists usually of death by asphyxiation, although occasionally of death due to cardiac arrest. Monier-Williams lists it as one of the definitions of <bhRGga> or Bhringa. Range The species is native to the eastern Himalayas from central Nepal eastward through the north of West Bengal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to Assam. Habitat A. ferox grows at altitudes of 2,100-3,600m, favouring shrubberies and forest clearings. The flowering period is from August to October. Mountain named for species The plant formerly grew abundantly at Sandakphu, which is a mountain peak (3636 m; 11,930 ft) in the Singalila Ridge, forms the highest point of the Darjeeling Hills and lies on the border between the Indian State of West Bengal and Nepal. Indeed, this former abundance is reflected in the name Sandakphu itself, which derives from the (Tibeto-Burman) Lepcha language and translates as "the height of the poisonous plant". Such was the danger of fatal poisoning to sheep and cattle being driven through the area that they had to be muzzled to prevent them grazing/browsing upon the extremely toxic A. ferox and certain toxic Rhododendron species which were also present. Medicinal use in Sikkim With due caution in regard to its extreme potency and toxicity (and the consequent danger of overdose), the plant has long been used in the