Aconitum carmichaelii is a flowering plant species native to East Asia, particularly in China and Japan. It is commonly known as Chinese Aconite, Carmichael's Monkshood and Chinese Wolfsbane. It is known in Mandarin as Fu Zi (meaning daughter root, or lateral root) and as Wu Tou (meaning tuberous mother root, or root tuber).

The anthocyanin in the purplish blue flowers of Aconitum chinense was identified as delphinidin 3-rutinoside-7-O-(6-O-(4-(6-O-(4-hydroxybenzoyl)-β-d-glucosyl)oxybenzoyl-β-d-glucoside), violdelphin by means of chromatography, FAB-MS including MS-MS, 1H and 13C NMR. The anthocyanin is stable in neutral or slightly acidic aqueous solution and the absorption spectra in the pH range of 4.0–6.2 exhibited three characteristic bands at 534,569 and 620 nm, which are practically identical with those of purplish blue petals of A. chinense. Thus the purplish blue flower colour is manifested by intramolecular co-pigmentation of the anthocyanin.