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Vascular Plants of California
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Veratrum viride


Higher Taxonomy
Family: MelanthiaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key
Common Name: FALSE-HELLEBORE FAMILY
Habit: Perennial herb, from rhizome or bulb, or rhizomes ending in weakly developed bulbs, scapose or not. Leaf: alternate, whorled, or mostly basal and spirally arranged, deciduous after 1 year or not. Inflorescence: raceme, panicle, or flowers 1. Flower: perianth parts 6, in 2 petal-like whorls or of sepals and petals, free or fused below, +- spreading; stamens 6, from perianth, anthers attached at base or near middle; ovary superior or partly inferior, chambers 3, styles 3, persistent. Fruit: capsule, loculicidal or septicidal.
Genera In Family: 10 genera, 130 species: northern hemisphere. Note: W North America Zigadenus moved to Toxicoscordion.
eFlora Treatment Author: Dale W. McNeal, except as noted
Scientific Editor: Dale W. McNeal, Thomas J. Rosatti.
Genus: VeratrumView DescriptionDichotomous Key


Common Name: CORN LILY, FALSE-HELLEBORE
Habit: Plant coarse, leafy; rhizome thick. Stem: erect, 1--2 m, simple, hollow. Leaf: many, alternate, lanceolate to widely ovate, clasping, generally acute at tip, coarse-veined, reduced upward. Inflorescence: panicle; flowers many. Flower: bisexual or staminate; perianth parts 6, free, spreading, petal-like, white or +- green to red-brown, nectary glands 1--2 near base; stamens 6, attached to perianth; ovary +- inferior, chambers 3, styles 3, short, stigmas long. Fruit: capsule, septicidal.
Etymology: (Latin: dark roots) Toxicity: Alkaloids used medicinally and TOXIC to both livestock and humans.
Veratrum viride Aiton
NATIVE
Leaf: elliptic to widely ovate; lower 15--35 cm, sparsely curly-ciliate, abaxially hairy, adaxially veins sparsely short-hairy. Inflorescence: generally 30--70 cm, open, woolly; branches +- spaced, lower drooping; pedicels 2--5 mm. Flower: 6--10 mm; perianth parts oblanceolate to oblong, green to +- yellow, +- irregularly toothed, adaxially hairy, glands 2, elliptic, dark green or +- yellow; stamens +- 1/2 perianth; ovary glabrous. Fruit: 2--3 cm, oblong-ovoid. Seed: 7--10 mm, widely winged. Chromosomes: n=16.
Ecology: Wet subalpine meadows; Elevation: 1500--2000 m. Bioregional Distribution: KR; Distribution Outside California: to Alaska, eastern North America. Flowering Time: Aug--Sep
Synonyms: Veratrum viride var. eschscholzianum (Roem. & Schult.) Breitung
Jepson eFlora Author: Dale W. McNeal
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

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Botanical illustration including Veratrum viride

botanical illustration including Veratrum viride

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Citation for this treatment: Dale W. McNeal 2012, Veratrum viride, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=47830, accessed on April 24, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 24, 2024.

Veratrum viride
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©2010 Keir Morse
Veratrum viride
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©2015 Barry Breckling
Veratrum viride
click for enlargement
©2010 Keir Morse
Veratrum viride
click for enlargement
©2009 Barry Breckling
Veratrum viride
click for enlargement
©2021 Barry Rice

More photos of Veratrum viride
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Geographic subdivisions for Veratrum viride:
KR
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map of distribution 1
(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).





 

Data provided by the participants of the  Consortium of California Herbaria.
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All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window.
Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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CCH collections by month

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).