Veratrum insolitum
Encyclopedia
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 from Washington to far northern California
. This flowering plant is a stout, hollow-stemmed perennial growing from a thick rhizome
in the clay
soil of wet evergreen forest
s. 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 just under a centimeter wide each. There are six fringed petals and six stout stamen
s, each with a club-shaped yellow anther. The fruit is a capsule 2 to 3 centimeters long which contains large winged seeds.
Veratrum
Veratrum is a genus of coarse, highly poisonous perennial herbs of the Melanthiaceae family. In English they are known as the False hellebores or corn lilies. Members of Veratrum are known both in western herbalism and traditional Chinese medicine as toxic herbs to be used with great caution...
, a type of plant closely related to the lily
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...
. Its common name is Siskiyou false hellebore. It is native to the northwestern United States from Washington to far northern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. This flowering plant is a stout, hollow-stemmed perennial growing from a thick 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...
in the clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
soil of wet evergreen forest
Evergreen forest
An temperate evergreen forest is a forest consisting entirely or mainly of evergreen trees that retain green foliage all year round. Such forests exist in the tropics primarily as broadleaf evergreens, and in temperate and boreal latitudes primarily as coniferous evergreens.-Tropical evergreen...
s. The erect cornstalk-shaped plant bears several large green elliptical leaves decreasing in size higher up on the grayish stem. The large panicle
Panicle
A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched indeterminate inflorescence with pedicellate flowers attached along the secondary branches; in other words, a branched cluster of flowers in which the branches are racemes....
inflorescence is packed with many off-white hairy flowers just under a centimeter wide each. There are six fringed petals and six stout stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s, each with a club-shaped yellow anther. The fruit is a capsule 2 to 3 centimeters long which contains large winged seeds.