White false hellebore is a tall, highly poisonous lily-like plant of damp meadows and forests in northeast Asia; in the US it grows wild only in western Alaska. In Japan its spring shoots are mistaken for edible wild greens almost every year, and similar poisonings happen in Korea.
Appearance
- Growth form
- An upright perennial about 2–5 ft (0.6–1.5 m) tall with a hollow stem.
- Leaves
- Large, broad, strongly pleated leaves, about 6–12 in (15–30 cm) long, alternating up the stem.
- Flowers
- Small greenish-white to pale yellowish-white flowers packed into a branched cluster at the top, in summer.
- Fruit
- Egg-shaped capsules that split into three at the top.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Moist meadows
- Wetlands
- Forest
- Range
- Siberia and the Russian Far East, northeast China, Korea, and Japan, east to western Alaska. In the US it grows wild only in western Alaska.
- Preferred conditions
- Grows in damp places such as wet meadows, bogs, and woodland openings.
Cautions
- Cautions
- All parts contain toxic such as jervine and veratrine. Eating it can cause vomiting and diarrhea, and large amounts can cause dangerously low blood pressure and breathing failure.
Name and classification
- About the name
- Some references treat it as the eastern subspecies of the European Veratrum album and write it Veratrum album subsp. oxysepalum.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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