Abstract
Aconites distribute widely in northern hemispere of the earth reaching to arctic zone from warm and temperate one. Chinese crude drug 'Cho O'(草烏) has been used as a remedy for apoplexy, dyspepsia, neuralgia, chronic rheumatis etc. Though the botanical origin of the crude drug has been considered to be Aconitum species of Ranunculaceae, there has been no confirmation on it. To clarify the botanical origin of Cho O, the morphological and anatomical characteristics of the roots of Aconitum species growing in Korea, i.e. A. chiisanense, A. ciliare, A. jaluense, A. napiforme, A. proliferum, A. pseudoproliferum and A. triphyllum were studied. As the result, Cho O was proved to be the roots of Aconitum triphyllum, A. jaluense, A. chiisanense and A. napiforme.
