Abstract: "Dula", a chinense herbal drug used to prevent from poisioning of the Aconitum plants, is first recorded in Chih Wu Ming Shih Thu Khao written by Wu Chi Chun. According to his description and figure, it can be only known that "Dula" belongs to the genus Aconitum, but which species it is has becomed a problem unsolved for a long time. Almost all of the climbing plants of Aconitum, such as A. bulleyanum Diets, A. delauayi Franch., A. stapfianum Hand.-Mazz., A. episcopate Levl., A. vilmorinianum Kom., A. contortum Finet et Gagnep., are named "Dula" by the native people of Yunnan. Through the field investigation and taxonomic study combined with the data of the chemical components of the plants above mentioned, it is found that the original plant of "Dula" is A. contortum Finet et Gagnep., and the other several plants are false "Dula" and must be strictly prohibited from using as "Dula".

Key words: Dula