378 



MELANTHACEAE 



1. Veratrum viride Ait. 



Green False Hellebore. 



Fig 924. 



I'cratrum viride Ait. Hort. Kew. 3: 422. 1789. 



rciatnini lobelianiiin eschsclioltsianum Roem. iS; Sch. Svst. 7: 



1555. 1829. 



Veratrum eschscholt^ii A. Gray, Ann. Lye. N. Y. 4: 119. 



1837. 



t'eratrum eschscholtzianum Rvdb.; Heller, Muhlenbergia 1: 



120. 1905. 



Stems stout, 5-20 dm. tall, very leafy ; rootstock 

 erect. 5-8 cm. long, 2.5-5 cm. thick, with numerous 

 tibrous-fleshy roots. Leaves acute, the lower broadly 

 oval or elliptic, 15-30 cm. long, 7-15 cm. wide, 

 sessile or short-petioled, sheathing, the upper suc- 

 cessively narrower and acuminate ; panicle 2-6 dm. 

 long, the lower branches spreading and more or 

 less drooping ; pedicels 2-6 mm. long, mostly shorter 

 than the bracts ; flowers yellowish green ; perianth- 

 segments oblong or oblanceolate, acute, 8-10 mm. 

 long, woolly-pubescent, ciliolate-serrulate ; stamens 

 about half the length of the perianth-segments ; cap- 

 sule 20-25 mm. long, 8-12 mm. thick, many-seeded; 

 seeds 4-10 mm. long. 



Swamps and wet woods, Hudsonian Zone; Alaska to Mount 

 Hood, Oregon, and Montana, eastward to the Atlantic Coast. 

 Type locality: North America. 



2. Veratrum caudatum Heller. 

 Tailed False Hellebore. Fig. 925. 



1899. 



I'cratniin caudatum Heller, Bull. Torrey Club 26: 588. 



Stems tall, 2-2.5 m. high, leafy, short woolly- 

 pubescent. Leaves glabrous, ciliate on the margins, 

 elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate, 3-4 dm. long, 1.5-2 dm. 

 wide, gradually becoming smaller and narrower 

 above ; panicle 4 dm. or more in length, branched 

 below, the main rachis prolonged above into a tail- 

 like extension 2 dm. long or more ; bracts lanceolate 

 acuminate, extending to about the middle of the 

 perianth; pedicels 3-5 mm. long; perianth-segments 

 linear-lanceolate, 12-15 mm. long, 2-3 mm. wide, 

 acuminate, serrulate toward the apex, white with 

 a green and pubescent base ; stamens 2-3 mm. long. 



Wet meadows. Humid Transition Zone; western Washing- 

 ton. Type locality: Montesano, Chehalis County. 



3. Veratrum californicum Durand. 

 California False Hellebore. Fis". 926. 



Fig. 



'cratrum californicum Durand, Journ. Philad. 

 3: 103. 1855. 



Acad. II. 



Stems Stout, 1-2 m. tall, tomentose above, leafy. 

 Leaves sparsely and inconspicuously pubescent, 

 ciliate on the margin, the lower broadly oval to 

 ovate, acute or obtuse, 2-5 dm. long, 1-2 dm. 

 wide, the upper becoming narrower, finely lan- 

 ceolate and acuminate ; inflorescence tomentose, 

 2-5 dm. long, the branches of the panicle spread- 

 ing mostly simple, the lower usually sterile ; 

 bracts membranous, ovate-lanceolate, equalling or 

 exceeding the pedicels, these stout rarely over 

 3 mm. long ; perianth-segments ovate, mostly ob- 

 tuse, 12-15 mm. long, 5-8 mm. wide, white with 

 greenish veins and a green V-shaped spot at base ; 

 stamens 6-8 mm. long; capsule 25-35 mm. long; 

 seeds 12-15 in each cavity, broadly winged, 10-12 

 mm. long. 



Wet meadows, Arid Transition Zone; Washington to western Montana. Utah and northern Lower Cali- 

 fornia. Type locality: near Nevada City, Nevada County, California. This is one of the characteristic 

 plants of the mountain meadows of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains. 



