Green False Hellebore

There are few wildflowers in our area that are green when blooming. One of those, noted earlier in my post about Lookout Mountain, is Green False Hellebore (Veratrum viride). As you can see from the pictures below, the plant gets quite tall and the flowers bloom in clusters that bend down with their weight. They almost look artificial to me. The large leaves resemble lily plants and at one time the plant was classified as a lily.

The ones we saw at Lookout Mountain were growing in a large colony, in a meadow that was damp earlier in the season. These were new to me, so I was fascinated by their odd looking appearance. They are in the Melanthiaceae family, which includes our native Western Trillium.

In reading up about Green False Hellebore, I quickly learned that this plant is highly toxic. In fact, at one time an insecticide was made from its powdered roots! In spite of this, some Native Americans used it externally and in the past it was used in small quantities to treat high blood pressure and rapid heart beat. 

And finally, this zinger: the plant was used by some tribes to elect a new leader. All the candidates would eat the root, and the last to start vomiting would become the new leader! Yow!