VERATRUM. 



tide, ) which Mr. Ker would unite with Veratrum, has a 

 roundifh three-celled capfule, and a different habit. 



1. V. album. White Veratnim, or Common Wliite Helle- 

 bore. Linn. Sp. PI. 1479. Willd. n. i. Ait. n. 1. Jacq. 

 Auftr. t. 335. Fl. Dan. t. 1120. Mill. Ic. t. 271. Mill. 

 Illuftr. t. 98. Woodv. Med. Bot. t. 100. (Helleborus 

 prsECOx ; Ger. Em. 440. Elleborum album ; Matth. Valgr. 

 V. 2.559. ) — Panicle thrice compound. Petals afcending, 

 elliptical. — Native of alpine meadows in moft parts of Eu- 

 rope, from Norway to Greece ; but not of Britain. It is, 

 of courfe, a hardy perennial in our gardens, where it has 

 been cultivated time out of mind, flowering from June to 

 Auguft. The root is tuberous, black on the outfide, with 

 long, fimple, white, cylindrical fibres.. Stem from two to 

 four or five feet high, ftout, ereft, fimple, leafy, terminat- 

 ing in a large, branching, downy panicle, of innumerable 

 greenifli-white^^oTwrj, with little or no fcent, an inch broad, 

 whofe petals when in full perfeftion fpread horizontally, but 

 in fading return to their original afcending pofture, becom- 

 ing green, leafy, and coriaceous. The leaves are large, el- 

 liptical, entire, with many ribs, plaited, fmooth, of a fine 

 green ; the uppermoft becoming oblong or lanceolate brac- 

 ieas. Each partial Jlonuer-Jlalk is alfo accompanied by an 

 elliptic-lanceolate downy bradea, various in length. This 

 ftately plant, accompanied by Gentiana lulea, makes a mag- 

 nificent appearance in rich paftures on the alps of Switzer- 

 land and Savoy, where they both grow more luxuriantly 

 than in gardens. — Mr. Sieber of Prague has fent us from 

 the alps of Auftria, under the name of " V^. viriJe Bern- 

 hai-di," what feems a greener-flowered variety of the album, 

 and dilTerent from the following ; but it is extremely diffi- 

 cult to decide on this point, without feeing the plants alive. 



2. V. •uiride. Green Veratrum. Ait. n. 2. Willd. n. 2. 

 Purlh n. I. Bigelow Bolt. 246. [V. album; Michaux 

 Boreal. -Amer. v. 2. 249. Helonias viridis ; Curt. Mag. 

 t. 1096.) — Spikes panicled, denfe, cylindrical. Petals 

 afcending, elliptical. — In fwamps and on mountain bogs, 

 from Canada to Carolina, flowering in July. A ftately 

 plant, from three to fix feet high. Purfh. Dr. Bigelow, in 

 his Flora Bojlomenfis, fays this plant, not unfrequent in 

 meadows and iwam.ps about Bollon, is called Poke root, or 

 Swamp Hellebore. It was cultivated in England by Peter 

 Collinfon, in 1 742. Ths foliage and habit are like the pre- 

 ceding, but the panicle is larger and greener ; its branches 

 longer and more cylindrical, ipiked, not racemofe, each 



Jlo'wer being nearly or quite feffile. The petals are broader ; 

 their margins thickened and mealy about the bafe. 



3. V. nigrum. Dark Veratrum. Linn. Sp. PI. 1479- 

 Willd. n. 3. Ait. n. 4. Jacq. Auftr. t. 336. Curt. Mag. 

 t. 963. (Helleborus albus precox ; Ger. Em. 440. f. 2.) 

 — Clufters panicled, denfe, cylindrical. Petals obovate, 

 widely fpreading ; at length reflexed Native of dry moun- 

 tainous fituations, in Siberia, Hungary, Auftria and Greece, 

 flowering in July. Perfeftly hardy in our gardens, where 

 it bloffoms freely, and increafes without any care, provided 

 the foil be dry. It agrees with the firft fpecies in habit and 

 leaiHS, but is rather taller, and is very remarkable for the 

 dark purphfh-brown, almoft black, hue of '\t&Jloiutrs, which 

 exhale a faint cadaverous fcent. They compofe long, cy- 

 lindrical, feffile clujlers, aftcjnbled into a long panicle, accom- 

 panied by narrow ftrap-fliaped bralleas in the lower part. 

 Each j^aiwr is but half as broad as thofe of V. album, and 

 the petals turn backward as they fade, becoming finally of a 

 -dull green. 



/^. V . virginicum. Virginian Veratrum. Ait. n. 3. (Me- 

 lanthium virginicum ; Linn. Sp. PI. 483. Willd. Sp. PI. 

 v. 2. 266. Purlh 240. Helonias virginica ; Curt. Mag, 

 t. 985. Afphodelo affinis floridana, ramofo cauk, floribus 



4 



ornithogali obfoletis ; Pluk. Amalth. 40. t. 434. f. 8.) — 

 Clufters panicled, loofe. Petals clhptical, fpreading, with 

 two fpois at the bafe ; hairy afthe back. — In low grounds, 

 amongft luxuriant herbage, from New York to Carolina, 

 flowering in June and July, perennial. Rather fcarce in 

 gardens, though tolerably hardy. The _/?fm is from three 

 to five feet high, downy. Leaves linear-lanceolate, folded, 

 ribbed, pointed. Panicle pyramidal, of numerous, loofely 

 racemofe, many-flowered branches, whofe partial ftalks are 

 about half as long again as the petals. Flowers green, with 

 two brown fpots on each petal. After being expanded for 

 fome time, they turn to a red-brown. 



^ . \ . parniijlorum. Small- flowered Veratrum. Michaux 

 Boreal. -Amer. v. 2. 250. Willd. n. 4. Ait. n. 5. Purfli 

 n. 2. — " Clufters panicled, with flender branches. Petals 

 oval-lanceolate, acute at each end. Leaves elhptical, flat, 

 fmooth." — On high mountains in Carolina, flowering in 

 July. Flowers fmall, green. Root perennial. Purjh. The 

 leaves are like thofe of a Veratrum, but not fo much fur- 

 rowed, or plaited. Petals without glands. Jnjlorefcence 

 that of a Melanthium. Michaux. We have feen no fpeci- 

 men nor figure, neither of this nor the following. 



6. V. angujlifolium. Narrow-leaved Veratrum. Purffi 

 n. 3. — " Dioecious. Panicle fimple. Petals linear. Leaves 

 very long, linear, keeled." — On high mountains of Virginia 

 and Carolina. Perennial, flowering in June. Stem tall. 

 Flowers greenifli-yellow. Purjb. 



7. V. Sabadilla. Cauftic Veratrum, or Indian Cauftic 

 Barley. Retz. Obf. fafc. I. 31. n. 107. Willd. n. 5. (Ce- 

 vadilla ; Dale Pharmac. 286. Hordeum caufticum ; Bauh. 

 Pin. 23. Theatr. 467, with a probably fictitious figure. 

 Yt'zcvimpatli, feu Canis interfeftor, vel Hordeolum ; Her- 

 nand. Mex. 307, with an apparently authentic figure.) — 

 Leaves linear-lanceolate, ribbed. Clufter fimple, denfe, fo- 



litary, terminal Native of the colder regions of Mexico. 



The leaves appear to be all nearly radical. Stem fohtary, 

 fimple, ereft, almoft naked, three fpans high. Clujler ere£x, 

 cylindrical, a fpan long, nearly or quite fimple. Flowers 

 turned to one fide, of a very dark purple. Petals ovate. — 

 Retzius, who firft introduced this plant into a fcientific bo- 

 tanical work, found a fpecimen of the Jlowers, imported 

 along with the feeds, in a druggift's ftiop. They anfwered 

 to the charaAer of a genuine Veratrum, as might be ex- 

 pected from the feeds and capfules, which we have occafion- 

 ally met with, and whofe qualities are analogous to thofe of 

 V. album. But the learned profeflbr never thought of 

 tracing out the fynonyms, or fearching for any figures, of 

 this little-known plant ; which defedt we have endeavoured 

 to fupply. For the medical properties of the feeds in quef- 

 tion, fee Cevadilla. 



For V. luteum, Linn. Sp. PI. 1479- Willd. n. 6, fee 

 Helonias, n. 3. 



Veratkum, in Gardening, contains plants of the hardy, 

 herbaceous, perennial kind, among which the fpecies cul- 

 tivated are, the white-flowered veratrum, or white hellebore 

 (V. album) ; the dark-flowered veratrum (V. nigrum) ; 

 and the yellow-flowered veratrum (V. luteum 1. 



The firft fort has the ftems three or four feet high, and 

 branching out on every fide almoft their whole length ; the 

 branches and principal ftem being terminated by ipikes of 

 flowers fet very clofe together, whicli are of a greeniffi- 

 whiteor herbaceous colour, and appear in July. 



The fecond fort has the ftalks rifiiig higler, but the flowers 

 are of a dark -red colour, which appear alniolt a month fooner. 



The third fort has a large tuberous root with a fingle 

 ftem, about a foot high, having the flowers produced at the 

 top, in a fingle thick clofe fpike, which are fmall, and of a 

 yellowiffi-wbite colour, appearing in June. 



Method 



