Veratrum viride

Veratrum viride
Veratrum viride
Veratrum viride var. viride in flower
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Melanthiaceae
Genus: Veratrum
Species: V. viride
Binomial name
Veratrum viride
Aiton

Veratrum viride (Indian Poke, Indian Hellebore, False Hellebore, Green False Hellebore) is a species of Veratrum native to eastern and western (but not central) North America.[1][2][3] It is extremely toxic, and is considered a pest plant by farmers with livestock. The species has acquired a large number of common names within its native range, including American False Hellebore, American White Hellebore, Bear Corn, Big Hellebore, Corn Lily, Devils Bite, Duck Retten, Indian Hellebore, Itch-weed, Itchweed, Poor Annie, Blue Hellebore, and Tickleweed.

Each flower is 5–12 mm long, with six green to yellow-green tepals (Alpine Lakes Wilderness}

It is a herbaceous perennial plant reaching 0.7–2 m tall, with a solid green stem. The leaves are spirally arranged, 10–35 cm long and 5–20 cm broad, elliptic to broad lanceolate ending in a short point, heavily ribbed and hairy on the underside. The flowers are numerous, produced in a large branched inflorescence 30–70 cm tall; each flower is 5–12 mm long, with six green to yellow-green tepals. The fruit is a capsule 1.5–3 cm long, which splits into three sections at maturity to release the numerous flat 8–10 mm diameter seeds. The plant reproduces through rhizome growth as well as seeds.[1][4][5][6]

There are two varieties:[1]

  • Veratrum viride var. viride. Eastern North America. Side branches of inflorescence erect or spreading.
  • Veratrum viride var. eschscholzianum (Roemer & Schultes) Breitung. Western North America. Side branches of inflorescence drooping.

The related western North American Veratrum californicum (White False Hellebore, Corn Lily) can be distinguished from sympatric var. eschscholzianum by its whiter flowers, with erect side branches of the inflorescence.[6]

Distribution and habitat

In eastern North America, var. viride occurs from southwestern Labrador and southern Quebec south to northern Georgia. In the west, var. eschscholzianum occurs from Alaska and Northwest Territory south through Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon to northern California.[1][3]

It is found in wet soils in meadows, sunny streambanks, and open forests, from sea level in the north of the range, up to 1,600 m in the southeast and 2,500 m in the southwest.[1][4][5]

Medicine

The plant is highly toxic, causing nausea and vomiting. If the poison is not evacuated, cold sweat and vertigo appears. Respiration slows, cardiac rhythm and blood pressure falls, eventually leading to death.

It is used externally by several Native American nations. Although is rarely ever used in modern herbalism due to its concentration of various alkaloids, it has been used in the past against high blood pressure and rapid heartbeat; a standardized extract of V. viride alkaloids known as alkavervir was used in the 1950s and 1960s as an antihypertensive.[7][8] The root contains even higher concentrations than the aerial parts.[9]

The plant was used by some tribes to elect a new leader. All the candidates would eat the root, and the last to start vomiting would become the new leader.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Flora of North America: Veratrum viride
  2. ^ USDA Plants Profile: Veratrum viride
  3. ^ a b Germplasm Resources Information Network: Veratrum viride
  4. ^ a b Plants of British Columbia: Veratrum viride
  5. ^ a b Jepson Flora Veratrum viride
  6. ^ a b Columbia River Gorge plants: Green False Hellebore
  7. ^ Council on Drugs (American Medical Association) (1964). New and Nonofficial Drugs. J. B. Lippincott. pp. 297–9. http://books.google.com/books?id=eY4wAAAAIAAJ&q=alkavervir&dq=alkavervir. 
  8. ^ "alkavervir". Online Medical Dictionary. University of Newcastle upon Tyne Centre for Cancer Education. n.d.. http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?alkavervir. Retrieved 2008-08-31. 
  9. ^ Plants for a Future: Veratrum viride
  10. ^ Fleurbec Group (ed), 1981, Plantes cauvages comestibles. Saint-henri-de-Lévis, Quebec, Canada. ISBN 2-920174-03-7

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Veratrum viride — Veratrum viride …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Veratrum viride — Veratrum viride …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Veratrum viride —   Falso eléboro verde …   Wikipedia Español

  • Veratrum viride — žaliasis čemerys statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Melantinių šeimos dekoratyvinis, vaistinis nuodingas augalas (Veratrum viride), paplitęs Šiaurės Amerikoje. atitikmenys: lot. Veratrum viride angl. American hellebore; American white… …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

  • Veratrum viride — Hellebore Hel le*bore, n. [L. helleborus, elleborus, Gr. ?, ?; cf. F. hell[ e]bore, ell[ e]bore.] [1913 Webster] 1. (Bot.) A genus of perennial herbs ({Helleborus}) of the Crowfoot family, mostly having powerfully cathartic and even poisonous… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Veratrum viride — Indian In di*an (?; 277), a. [From India, and this fr. Indus, the name of a river in Asia, L. Indus, Gr. ?, OPers. Hindu, name of the land on the Indus, Skr. sindhu river, the Indus. Cf. {Hindu}.] [1913 Webster] 1. Of or pertaining to India… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Veratrum viride — ID 87304 Symbol Key VEVI Common Name green false hellebore Family Liliaceae Category Monocot Division Magnoliophyta US Nativity Native to U.S. US/NA Plant Yes State Distribution AK, AL, CA, CT, DC, DE, GA, ID, MA, MD, ME, MT, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH,… …   USDA Plant Characteristics

  • Veratrum viride — the American or green hellebore, a poisonous variety formerly important in folk medicine and homeopathy but no longer used because of its high toxicity …   Medical dictionary

  • Veratrum viride — noun North American plant having large leaves and yellowish green flowers growing in racemes; yields a toxic alkaloid used medicinally • Syn: ↑white hellebore, ↑American hellebore, ↑Indian poke, ↑bugbane • Hypernyms: ↑hellebore, ↑false hellebore …   Useful english dictionary

  • Veratrum viride Aiton — Symbol VEVI Common Name green false hellebore Botanical Family Liliaceae …   Scientific plant list

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