View source for Eranthis

{{italic title}}
{{Taxobox
| name = ''Eranthis''
| image = Winterling-Bluete-70.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = ''Eranthis hyemalis''
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Ranunculales]]
| familia = [[Ranunculaceae]]
| genus = '''''Eranthis'''''
| genus_authority = [[Richard Anthony Salisbury|Salisb.]]
| subdivision_ranks = [[Species]]
| subdivision = 
See text.
}}

'''''Eranthis''''' ('''Winter aconite''') is a [[genus]] of eight [[species]] of [[flowering plant]]s in the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Ranunculaceae]] (Buttercup family), native to southern [[Europe]] and east across [[Asia]] to [[Japan]].

[[Image:Eranthis hyemalis.jpg|left|thumb|Foliage at the end of flowering]]
They are [[herbaceous]] [[perennial plant]]s growing to 10-15 cm tall. The [[flower]]s are yellow (white in ''E. albiflora'' and ''E. pinnatifida''), and among the first to appear in spring, as early as January in mild climates, though later where winter snowpack persists; they are frost-tolerant and readily survive fresh snow cover unharmed. The [[leaf|leaves]] only expand fully when the flowers are nearly finished; they are peltate, 5-8 cm diameter, with several notches, and only last for 2-3 months before dying down during the late spring. 

The genus exhibits [[aestivation]], growing on [[forest]] floors and using the sunshine available below the canopy of [[deciduous]] [[tree]]s before the leaves come out; the leaves die off when the shade from tree canopies becomes dense, or, in dry areas, when summer drought reduces water availability. 

They are popular [[ornamental plant]]s grown for their winter or early spring flowering. ''E. hyemalis'' is widely [[naturalisation (biology)|naturalised]] in northern Europe and North America.

Propagate by lifting the tubers as the plants begin to die down, cutting or breaking them into separate sections and replanting these at once.

All parts of the plants are [[poison]]ous, though the very acrid taste makes poisoning a low risk.

In Greek and Roman mythology, [[Medea]] tried to kill [[Theseus]] by poisoning him by putting aconite in his wine, in that culture thought to be the saliva of [[Cerberus]], the three-headed dog who guarded the [[Hades|Underworld]].  [[Hercules]] dragged Cerberus up from the Underworld, while the dog turned his face away from the light, barking and depositing saliva along the path.  The saliva hardened in the soil and produced its lethal poison in the plants that grew from the soil.  Because it was formed and grew on hard stones, farmers called it 'aconite' (from the Greek ''akone'', meaning 'whetstone').

;Species
*''[[Eranthis albiflora]]''. Western China.
*''[[Eranthis cilicica]]''. Southwestern Asia.
*''[[Eranthis hyemalis]]''. Southern Europe.
*''[[Eranthis lobulata]]''. Western China.
*''[[Eranthis longistipitata]]''. Central Asia.
*''[[Eranthis pinnatifida]]''. Japan.
*''[[Eranthis sibirica]]''. Northern Asia.
*''[[Eranthis stellata]]''. Eastern Asia (northern China, Korea, southeast Russia).

==See also==
* ''[[aconitum]]''
* [[aconitine]]

==External links ==
{{commons|Eranthis hyemalis|Eranthis}}
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=111902 Flora of China: ''Eranthis'']
{{Ranunculaceae genera}}
[[Category:Ranunculaceae genera]]
[[Category:Poisonous plants]]

{{Ranunculales-stub}}

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[[Category:2Fix]]