Veratrum album
Encyclopedia
Veratrum album, commonly known as the False Helleborine
(also known as White Hellebore, European White Hellebore, White Veratrum; syn. Veratrum lobelianum Bernh.), is a medicinal plant of the Liliaceae
(lily family) or Melanthiaceae
which is native to Europe
.
herb
with a stout vertical rhizome
covered with remnants of old leaf sheaths. The stems are stout, simple, 50 to 175cm tall. They have been mistaken for yellow gentian, Gentiana lutea, which is used in beverages, resulting in poisoning.
Resveratrol
has been isolated from it.
and cevadine were present in the blood at 0.17–0.40 nanograms/milliliter and 0.32–0.48 nanograms/milliliter, respectively. In 1983 sneezing powders produced from the herb in West Germany
were reported to have caused severe intoxications in Scandinavia
.
or senecio
) was mixed by the physicians of Antikyra
, a city of Phokis in Greece
.
False Helleborine
False Helleborine is a name is used in different parts of the world to describe several different plants of either the Orchid family or the Lily family....
(also known as White Hellebore, European White Hellebore, White Veratrum; syn. Veratrum lobelianum Bernh.), is a medicinal plant of the Liliaceae
Liliaceae
The Liliaceae, or the lily family, is a family of monocotyledons in the order Liliales. Plants in this family have linear leaves, mostly with parallel veins but with several having net venation , and flower arranged in threes. Several have bulbs, while others have rhizomes...
(lily family) or Melanthiaceae
Melanthiaceae
Melanthiaceae is a family of flowering perennial herbs in the Northern Hemisphere. The family has been recognized by relatively few taxonomists, and the circumscription has varied...
which is native to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Plant description
The plant is a perennialPerennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
herb
Herb
Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...
with a stout vertical rhizome
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
covered with remnants of old leaf sheaths. The stems are stout, simple, 50 to 175cm tall. They have been mistaken for yellow gentian, Gentiana lutea, which is used in beverages, resulting in poisoning.
Resveratrol
Resveratrol
Resveratrol is a stilbenoid, a type of natural phenol, and a phytoalexin produced naturally by several plants when under attack by pathogens such as bacteria or fungi....
has been isolated from it.
Uses
The root is very poisonous, with a paralyzing effect on the nervous system. In two cases of fatal poisoning from eating the seeds, the toxins veratridineVeratridine
Veratridine is a steroid-derived alkaloid from the family of Liliaceae that functions as a neurotoxin by activating sodium ion channels. It is a derivative of veracevine. It is primarily obtained from the herb Veratrum and sabadilla seeds. It binds to intramembrane receptor site 2 and increases...
and cevadine were present in the blood at 0.17–0.40 nanograms/milliliter and 0.32–0.48 nanograms/milliliter, respectively. In 1983 sneezing powders produced from the herb in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
were reported to have caused severe intoxications in Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
.
History
In antiquity, an effective emetic based on white hellebore and a bitter oval seed (which Hahneman believed was the seed of erigeronErigeron
Erigeron is a genus of about 390 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest species diversity in North America, where 173 species occur....
or senecio
Senecio
Senecio is a genus of the daisy family that includes ragworts and groundsels. The flower heads are normally rayed, completely yellow, and the heads are borne in branched clusters...
) was mixed by the physicians of Antikyra
Anticyra
Anticyra, or Antikyra the ancient name of a city in Phokis, Greece.-Name and Mycenaean past:Mod. name Antikyra; until the early 20th century it was called "Aspra Spitia", a name given after 1960 to a wholly new adjacent settlement, 3 km to the East; in Phocis, on the bay of Anticyra, in the...
, a city of Phokis in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
.