Veratrum insolitum

Siskiyou false-hellebore

Family: Melanthiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Siskiyou false-hellebore is a rare (CNPS 4.3) California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges in openings of mixed-evergreen forest on red clay at elevations above 900 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces white to pale yellow flowers 6 to 9 millimeters long with widely ovate perianth parts that have irregularly fringed edges. Growing 20 to 50 centimeters tall with ascending branches covered in grayish woolly hair, it forms a distinctive clump with robust stems. Its lower leaves are elliptical, 10 to 23 centimeters long, with a notably hairy underside and leaf sheaths. The fruit develops as an oblong-ovoid structure 2 to 3 centimeters long, covered in woolly hair and containing widely winged seeds.

Habitat: Openings in thickets, mixed-evergreen forest on red clay

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: > 900 m

Bioregions: KR

California counties: Humboldt, Del Norte, Trinity, Siskiyou, Shasta, Sonoma

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