Plantae > Tracheophyta > Liliopsida > Liliales > Melanthiaceae > Veratrum > Veratrum viride

Veratrum viride (Indian Poke)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

Veratrum viride, known as Indian poke, Indian hellebore, false hellebore, green false hellebore or giant false-helleborine, is a species of Veratrum native to eastern and western (but not central) North America. It is extremely toxic, and is considered a pest plant by farmers with livestock. The species has acquired a large number of other common names within its native range, including American false hellebore, American white hellebore, bear corn, big hellebore, corn lily, devils bite, duck retten, itch-weed, itchweed, poor Annie, blue hellebore and tickleweed.
View Wikipedia Record: Veratrum viride

Infraspecies

Attributes

Allergen Potential [1]  Medium-High
Edible [2]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Flower Type [2]  Hermaphrodite
Hazards [2]  All parts of the plant are highly poisonous; After the plant dies down in the autumn and has been frosted, the toxins decrease and the plant becomes harmless to animals;
Lifespan [2]  Perennial
Pollinators [2]  Bees, Flies, Lepidoptera
Usage [2]  The dried and powdered root is used as an insecticide and a parasiticide; It is also effective against caterpillars and mammals so great caution is advised; The roots have been grated, then added to the laundry water and used to clean clothing; A fibre obtained from the stem is used for weaving wallets etc;
Height [2]  6.56 feet (2 m)
View Plants For A Future Record : Veratrum viride

Protected Areas

Predators

Eupithecia cretaceata[3]
Marmota caligata (hoary marmot)[4]
Marmota vancouverensis (Vancouver marmot)[5]

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
1Derived from Allergy-Free Gardening OPALS™, Thomas Leo Ogren (2000)
2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
3HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
4Marmota caligata (Rodentia: Sciuridae), JANET K. BRAUN, T. SCOTT EATON, JR., AND MICHAEL A. MARES, MAMMALIAN SPECIES 43(884):155–171 (2011)
5Marmota vancouverensis, David G. Nagorsen, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 270, pp. 1-5 (1987)
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0