Veratrum

Veratrum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Melanthiaceae. It occurs in damp habitats across much of temperate and subarctic Europe, Asia, and North America.

Veratrum species are vigorous herbaceous perennials with highly poisonous black rhizomes, and panicles of white or brown flowers on erect stems. In English they are known as false hellebores, false helleborines, and corn lilies. However, Veratrum is not closely related to hellebores, helleborines, maize, or lilies.

Veratrum is from the Latin word for "hellebore", of uncertain origin; Anatoly Liberman believes that the reconstructed Proto-Slavic term for the genus Veratrum, *čemerъ, is probably cognate with the English word hemlock, a plant similarly used for poison in antiquity.

Veratrum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Setaceous Hebrew Character.

Widely distributed in montane habitats of temperate Northern Hemisphere, Veratrum species prefer full sunlight and deep, wet soils, and are common in wet mountain meadows, swamps, and near streambanks.

Veratrum plants contain highly toxic steroidal alkaloids (e.g. veratridine) that activate sodium ion channels and cause potentially fatal cardiac arrhythmias if ingested. The teratogenic steroid Cyclopamine is also found in these plants and is known to induce holoprosencephaly in farm animals. All parts of these plants are poisonous, with the roots and rhizomes being the most poisonous. If ingested, symptoms, which typically occur between thirty minutes and four hours, include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, numbness, headache, sweating, muscle weakness, bradycardia, hypotension, cardiac arrhythmia, and seizures. Treatment for poisoning includes gastrointestinal decontamination with activated charcoal followed by supportive care including antiemetics for persistent nausea and vomiting, along with atropine for treatment of bradycardia and fluid replacement and vasopressors for the treatment of hypotension.

The toxic alkaloids are only produced during active growth, and are degraded and metabolized during the winter months. Native Americans harvested their roots for medicinal purposes during their dormant period.

Native Americans were well aware of Veratrum's extreme toxicity and used the roots to poison arrows before combat. The roots, when dried and ground into powder, were also used as an insecticide. Western American Indian tribes have a long history of using these plants medicinally, and combined minute amounts of the winter-harvested root of these plants with Salvia dorii to potentiate the effects and reduce the herb's toxicity.