Veratrum viride

American false hellebore

Family: Melanthiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

American false hellebore is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges in wet subalpine meadows at elevations of 1,500 to 2,000 meters. Flowering from August to September, this plant produces green to yellowish-green flowers 6 to 10 millimeters long with oblanceolate perianth parts. Growing with tall, open inflorescences 30 to 70 centimeters high, it has drooping lower branches and a woolly appearance. Its large leaves are elliptic to widely ovate, measuring 15 to 35 centimeters long, with sparsely curly-ciliate edges and hairy undersides. The fruit is an oblong-ovoid capsule 2 to 3 centimeters long with widely winged seeds.

Habitat: Wet subalpine meadows

Bloom period: Aug-Sep

Elevation: 1500-2000 m

Bioregions: KR

California counties: Trinity, Siskiyou, Humboldt, Del Norte

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