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Siskiyou False Hellebore (Veratrum insolitum)

Description

“Pet poisonous” – Toxic parts: roots, leaves, seeds Veratrum insolitum is a species of false hellebore, a type of plant closely related to the lily. Its common name is Siskiyou false hellebore. It is native to the northwestern United States: Washington (Klickitat County), western Oregon, and northwestern California as far south as Trinity County. Veratrum insolitum is a stout, hollow-stemmed perennial growing from a thick rhizome in the clay soil of wet evergreen forests. The erect cornstalk-shaped plant bears several large green elliptical leaves decreasing in size higher up on the grayish stem. The large panicle inflorescence is packed with many off-white hairy flowers each just under a centimeter wide. There are six fringed tepals and six stout stamens, each with a club-shaped yellow anther. The fruit is a capsule 2 to 3 centimeters long which contains large winged seed.

Taxonomic tree

  • Domain: Eukarya

    • Kingdom: Plantae

      • Phylum: Magnoliophyta

        • Class: Liliopsida

          • Order: Liliales

            • Family: Melanthiaceae

              • Genus: Veratrum