Eranthis (winter aconite) is a genus of eight species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae (Buttercup family), native to southern Europe and east across Asia to Japan. The common name comes from the early flowering time and the resemblance of the leaves to those of the related genus Aconitum, the true aconite. Like the notoriously toxic Aconitum (and, indeed, many other genera of the Ranunculaceae) Eranthis is poisonous, although its chemistry is different, the toxic compounds present being mainly cardiac glycosides of the bufadienolide group similar to those found in Adonis vernalis, rather than the extraordinarily virulent alkaloids of Aconitum.