Poison-Plant Nilobikh Photo

Photographer’s Note

The Poison plant: Nilobikh or Bikobikh or Akphale in Nepali.

Here is an interesting lesson for the Trek Earth members:
While trekking to Sandakphu, Niladidi at Tumling detailed me about this plant. Both the sides of the trek route at Bikhey Bhanjan and Sandakphu was full with this plant. I snapped a few and this was the best.

Scientific Name: Aconitum ferox
A Perennial herb. Its bulbous root is highly poisonous. A cardiac poison acting directly on the heart muscles. It is available from 10,000 to 14,000 feet of altitude. Flowering (blue colour) time is from July to August. The effective alkaloids of the root are used for making medicines (Homeopath medicine 'Aconite').

The name of the last village Bikhey Bhanjan on the trekking trail to Sandakphu has been derived from its name, as the whole area is full of these wild herbs. Bikh = Poison. Bikhey Bhanjan = Valley of Poison.

Trekking detail and map of Sandakphu and labelled peaks are in the web page of Sandakphu
Dr. J. Bhunia

sayan, sabyasachi1212, bhawnaslakter, thaprem, somraj, bebep has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

sayan (2609) 2006-07-16 9:36

Dear Dr Bhunia,
Indeed a very informative capture. Worthy of posting in TE. But I must say that the background is a problem here. The poison plant can not be distinguished very clearly from the bg.
Regards,
Sayan

sabyasachi1212 (19546) 2006-07-17 4:50

Hello Doctor,
Good note but as Sayan said, not the best of images. Thanks for sharing the info anyway. Have passed through Bikhey Bhanjan without knowing what it really meant.
Best Regards
Sabyasachi

bhawnaslakter (30) 2006-07-17 9:10

Bhunia,

Thanks for sharing this important information. I will never pick this poisonous plant's flowers now.

Bhawna

rzesynepkarzarn (0) 2007-02-02 6:11

Dear Dr. Bhunia,
I'm not sure if I ever will come across this poisonous plant during my trekkings, but I find this photo and piece of information very useful for the trekkers of TE community :) I appreciate your thoughtfulness.
Best wishes
Zeynep