Veratrum californicum
Deadly poisonous — never eat any part of it.
If someone has eaten it, call emergency services or your poison control centre.
About
Veratrum californicum is an extremely poisonous plant native to western North America, including the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains, as far north as Washington and as far south as Durango; depending on latitude, it grows from near sea level to as high as 11,000 feet. It grows 1 to 2 meters tall, with an erect, unbranched, heavily leafy stem resembling a cornstalk. It prefers quite moist soil, and can cover large areas in dense stands near streams or in wet meadows. Many inch-wide flowers cluster along the often-branched top of the stout stem; they have 6 white tepals, a green center, 6 stamens, and a 3-branched pistil. The buds are tight green spheres. The heavily veined, bright green leaves can be more than a foot long.
- Family
- Melanthiaceae
Ecology
How it lives
- Propagated by
- Seed
Full detailsevery field on the record, to copy
- Name
- Veratrum californicum
- Slug
- veratrum-californicum
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Family
- Melanthiaceae
- Genus
- Veratrum
- Species
- californicum
- Wikidata QID
- Q2712513
- Propagule type
- seed
- Container suitable
- No
- Indoor suitable
- No
- OSSI pledged
- No
- Hazard level
- 5
- Data completeness
- 43
Generated sections & citations
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