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Green false hellebore

Veratrum viride

Also called False Hellebore, American False Hellebore, Giant False Helleborine, American White Hellebore, American Wild Hellebore, American Hellebore, Green False Helleborine

Green false hellebore
Photo: User:SB_Johnny, CC BY-SA 3.0

Green false hellebore is a tall, leafy perennial from North American wetlands and meadows, grown mainly as a bold native for damp or boggy spots. It is highly poisonous, so handle it with care and keep it away from children and animals.

Family
Melanthiaceae (Melanthi family)
Grows as
Bulb
Light
Part shade, Full sun
Water
Keep the soil consistently moist, as it naturally grows in wet meadows and streambanks.
Soil
Rich, moist, humus-heavy soil or boggy garden soil.
Temperature
Hardy to cold winters, roughly USDA zones 3 to 8; tolerates deep winter cold.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Toxic: All parts, especially the roots and rhizome, contain steroidal alkaloids such as veratrine that can cause nausea, slowed heartbeat, low blood pressure and, in severe cases, death.
Native range
Alaska to W. U.S.A., E. Canada to E. U.S.A.
Climate
temperate

About

Veratrum viride, known as Indian poke, corn-lily, Indian hellebore, false hellebore, green false hellebore, or giant false-helleborine, is a species of Veratrum native to eastern and western (but not central) North America. It is extremely toxic, and is considered a pest plant by farmers with livestock. The species has acquired a large number of other common names within its native range, including American false hellebore, American white hellebore, bear corn, big hellebore, corn lily, devil's bite, duck retten, itchweed, poor Annie, blue hellebore and tickleweed.

Where it grows

In eastern North America, var. viride occurs from southwestern Labrador and southern Quebec south to northern Georgia. In the west, var. eschscholzianum occurs from Alaska and Northwest Territory south through Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon to northwestern California (Del Norte, Siskiyou, Trinity, and Humboldt Counties).

Other Veratrum plants

White False-helleborine · False hellebore · False Hellebore

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Veratrum viride 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.

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