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Veratrum californicum
Also called California Veratrum, Skunk Cabbage, California Corn Lily, Californian False Hellebore, Corn Lily
Veratrum californicum is a tall, upright perennial from western North America that grows in moist meadows and along streams, producing dense clusters of white flowers on a cornstalk-like stem. It is a species, and it is extremely poisonous, so it is a plant for garden display rather than for handling or eating.
Veratrum californicum (California corn lily, white or California false hellebore) is an extremely poisonous plant native to western North America, including the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains, as far north as Washington and as far south as Durango; depending on latitude, it grows from near sea level to as high as 11,000 feet. It grows 1 to 2 meters tall, with an erect, unbranched, heavily leafy stem resembling a cornstalk. It prefers quite moist soil, and can cover large areas in dense stands near streams or in wet meadows. Many inch-wide flowers cluster along the often-branched top of the stout stem; they have 6 white tepals, a green center, 6 stamens, and a 3-branched pistil (see image below). The buds are tight green spheres. The heavily veined, bright green leaves can be more than a foot long.
White False-helleborine · Fringed false hellebore · Siskiyou false hellebore · White Hellebore · False hellebore · Veratrum stamineum · Green false hellebore · False Hellebore
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Veratrum californicum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
