Veratrum californicum var. californicum

California corn lily

Family: Melanthiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

California corn lily is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, Modoc Plateau, and Sierra Nevada Eastern Slopes in streambanks, moist meadows, and forest edges at elevations up to 3,500 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces white to green flowers 10 to 15 millimeters long in dense, spreading inflorescences. Growing with robust stems 30 to 60 centimeters tall and a dense, woolly flowering structure, it forms impressive clusters in moist mountain habitats. Its large lower leaves are ovate, 20 to 40 centimeters long, with hairy margins and undersides that have a distinctive curly texture. The fruit develops as a narrowly ovoid capsule 2 to 3 centimeters long, containing winged seeds 10 to 12 millimeters in size.

Habitat: Streambanks, moist meadows, forest edges

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: < 3500 m

Bioregions: NW, CaRH, SNH, TR, PR, MP, SNE (Sweetwater Mtns)

California counties: Los Angeles, Mariposa, Mono, San Bernardino, Inyo, Modoc, Tulare, El Dorado, Alpine, Amador, Nevada, Placer, Del Norte, Glenn, Lake, Riverside, San Diego, Shasta, Tehama, Trinity, Calaveras, Siskiyou, Lassen, Butte, Sierra, Yuba, Tuolumne, Humboldt, Plumas, Colusa, Mendocino, Kern, Fresno, Madera

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.